GOOD ROADS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4599, 10 September 1923, Page 3

GOOD ROADS.

PBIME FACTOR IN PROGRESS. “ In the course of my i-ecent travels in the United States,” said Mr C. B. Norwood, when interviewed by a Wellington Dominion representative, “I came in contact with many engineers interested in the reading problem, and found that there were still wide differences pf opinion as to which class of road wds the best for the -ever increasing traffic. I should say,| however, that on the whole the best formation for arterial roads is the concrete road, with a bituminous covering or surface. There are all kinds of roads in the United States, and most of them are good. The authorities are still experimenting, but the latest big arterial road out of New York has a concrete base with bituminous surface, and is a very fine speedway indeed. You must understand when I mention the good standard of the arterial roads that they ca-ry 40 to 100-fold more traffic than any of the New Zealand roads. “There are now a million ears registered in the State of California, and the pppulation is under three millions. As the average family in that State numbers four, it means that there is, in the aggregate, more than one car per family. “Whait struck me particularly was the narrowness of the roads. I travelled long distances in rural districts on surfaced roads 12ft. in width. Actually the roadway was three or four times that width, but the running surface was as narrow as I have stated. Fourteen-foot roads are quite common, and 16ft. roads connect important cities. An 18ft. road is regarded as ample for all general purposes. Of course, as the roads near a town or a city the area surfaced widens out until in the suburbs the surfacing extends the full width of the road” Referring to travel signs and directions, Mr Norwood said that; the system of finger-posts instituted by the automobile' associations in New Zealand was quite equal to anything no had seen in the United States. “Good roads mean national progress. That is the opinion held by everyone in the Stalt£s. It is as deeply rooted in the mind of the man who has no car at all, as in that of the keenest motorist. That prosperity follows good roads to all districts is their firm belief, and such is their faith in that gospel that cne district will help another to get good roads, though not directly benefiting, and even one state will help another in the matter of an arterial road, so that all may benefit. lam fully converted to this policy, being firmly convinced that a system of good roads through New Zealand would add to our national prosperity.”