The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, MARCH 15th, 1923. MAIN ROADS MAINTENANCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, MARCH 15th, 1923. MAIN ROADS MAINTENANCE.

At ih.- County inciting <>n Tuesday, o n o or two members spoke very plainly on tin- Government proposal to seriously restrict loading oil the main south road, and at. the same time impose a very high fee for the right to transport moderate loading. Transport naturally plays a very important part in the progress and prosperity of any district. For years the south has been retarded by the difficulties and cost of transport.’ First there was the pack horse stage: then the small drav; later the coach traffic and larger waggon; and finally motor traction, Until the last phase ,vas retched, freights were , necessarily undid? ilifidb Motor trans.

port for instance reduced freights by over £2 per ton. That was an important di op and now that the district is coming into its own in the matter of bridges, there would in the ordinary course he a further drop in freights. Hut at this juncture with the road facilities brought up to the conveniences long enjoyed l>y other more favorably situated centres, a road fax lor heavy traffic ranging from £l5O to £2OO per annum is imposed for vehicles weighing with loads from three to five tons. If the total weight of the vehicle and load is over five tons, then the owner of the vehicle is liable to a penalty of C 5 per day, for every day he plies on the road with an excess weight. To begin with, the lorries generally in use on the road weigh not less than three tons and a half, so that to comply with tlie regulations, the loading may not exceed a ton and n half. If that embargo is to be enforced, the lorries must carry only about a third of the tonnage, mid to equalise revenue, would have to treble the freights. That would lie ruination to the settlers, as the regulations are ruination to the lorry owners as they stand. To enforce the regulations is to penalise lustli the carriers and the settlers, to say nothing of the industries that are involved also. It is not. surprising that one of the councillors on Tuesday should speak out on the matter. Another councillor spoke of the obsolete methods being adopted in road maintenance in the south, where the repairs are done by the primative ways of old. As tlio road is under Government control, nml there is a Minister in charge who has spoken glowingly in the Public Works Statements of the value of road-mak-ing machinery, il would lie expected something .more mortem tha,n the wheelbarrow system in vogue would lie engaging attention. Hut the complaint made on Tuesday is unfortunately too true, the maintenance work is done verv primitively indeed. Also, there is no effort to bring the road up to tho standard required to meet rho evolving methods of road traffic. A great portion of the main south road was originally a pack track, gradually widened into a dray road, ft was not built as a macadamised road for heavy vehicle traffic rvhicfi is an essential of competition in these faster moving (lavs. To limit loading oil the south road is to hold the district down to the state of traffic a decade ago. But in both methods and style of construction. the maintenance scheme is more than a decade old. In these circiimstnncs it will not lie possible for the district- to make headway, it il is to In' penalised indefinitely by restricted traffic, and forced to resort to drays, when everywhere else motor traffic is the medium for transport. Perhaps it is necessary again to state that the south district wa.s most unfairly penalised in 1911 by the Reform Government where the Boss railway extension was stopped. Now a dozen years litter the same Government while still refusing to go on with the railway authorised by Parliament, seeks to further hold the district back by so restricting vehicle traffic that the people will carry a burden of high freights which will make the high cost of living in the back blocks, a stern reality for years to come. This lack of policy and enterprise will dishearten the people for it- unfairly penalises the community and is a shocking example of how not to do filings.