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Hokitika Guardian, 3 January 1923, Page 2

Thr stream of traffic south this season again emphasises the importance of the main south rnatf being maintained in a condition fit to carry the traffic. As it is at present the road is being maintained so' indifferently that it= state is rather to repel than to attract traffic. and in such a condition is a drawback to the fortunes of South "Westland. This is not a new subject, but it is more essential now than ever that the public should he demanding improved roads for the reason that Gorernment is about to discard over forty miles of main road which ore to lie thrown hoci>

on the vat-epdyorg and that the remainder of the main highway penetrates a district without railway access; in fact lacks it, because the very same Government by its policy enforced as far back as 191], blocked the extension' of the railway south. The Government elected to give the people a road in lieu of the railway, but the present experience is in the direction of demonstrating that while the district is minus the railway, the substituted road is rather more than inadequate, it is a menace to practical progress. The road surface iii parts is in a deplorable condition, while several of the minor bridges are in a dangerous state, and traffic loading is so restricted as to prevent lorry transpot which is the one factor to ensure progress for thr .b- trict in the absence of a railway. While it is so far satisfactory to find that rhe last, of the major livers is now being bridged, there remains a great deal more to bo done if the district- is to come into its own, and the local body, in unison with the settlors organisations in the south, should cooperate in such a way as to ensure the subject being taken up in a practical manner to secure the needed reforms so urgently required for the progress of the south.