WORK IN THE BOROUGH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4800, 21 January 1925, Page 3

WORK IN THE BOROUGH.

* TOUB OF INSPECTION. PROGRESS OF UNDERTAKINGS. With the object of ascertaining whether the ratepayers were getting full value for the loan money being expended on street improvements within the borough, His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. Marshall), accompanied by Crs. T. P. Vuglar and W. Bain, of the Works Committee, and a “Gazette” representative, made a tour of : the area yesterday afternoon. The finst stop was made at King Street, w.here the road formation work has been completed and ,a start made yesterday with the spreading of metal on the road in the proportion of two yards to every ten feet. This meta! will be rolled, after which it will be bitumen sprayed, covered with metal chips,, and rolled again, and later a final light spraying of bitumen is to be made and the surface top-dressed with fines. When this work is completed it is confidently anticipated that the street will be impervious to traffic for all time. Leaving King Street, the next locality'to be visited was Willoughby and Russell streets, the work on which is described elsewhere in these columns. The party evidenced keen interest in the. bitumen-spraying machine, and expressed satisfaction with the work being carried out. A run was then made to tippet Hi. ■ Street where a transformation scene has been enacted. Some 2000 cubic '' yards of spoil have been taken off the street and carted into Taylors Avenue, and considerable formation work is still in progress. "When completed access to Kennedy Street will be given. A 16ft footpath is to be formed on either side, and a reasonable grade roadway terminating in a semi-circular turn into Kennedy Street. While the plant is in this locality the opportunity will probably be taken to fill up some of the lowlying ground on the sides of Hill Street below the intersection of Cui- ’ len street. It is doubtful if there will be sufficient money available to metal

jthe new portion of Hill Street at present, but in the meantime the resi- ' ■ dents will be given a very fair summer road. -

.The proposed work iu Moore Street was discussed, and it was learned that work in that area would not be undertaken until the Railway Department was ready to proceed with its portion of the work. A great'-change has been made inCoronation Street. The old entrance from Hill Street.has been eiscontinued, and in its place an entrance has been made at a point off Hill Street near the railway line and tluough a

portion of Mr W. property, jwhich land was taken over by the Borough Council from the Railway Department for the purpose. This al-teration-obviated a double turn in the old road ovei- swampy ground. Coronation Street now runs in practically a straight line through to the other

end. As this street will be the main

thoroughfare in the future to the new railway goods-sheds, the road formation work is receiving special atten- ' tion. Yesterday afternoon a four-horse grader ;was to be seen at work levelling the centre of the roadway and filling up the sides. When completed the formation .will be 30ft in width, 18ft of which will be counter.-sunk.

Some little difficulty has beer, encountered in the swampy portion near Mr K Somervell’s residence, but it is anticipated that by the construction of a : large pipe drain across the road to the Ic-w-lying land on the opposite

side tiic difficulty will be overcome. A large sum of money will be requir-

cd for this road, but it is hoped that - once the work is completed the maintenance will be very little. Evrey effort is being made to complete as much work as possible while the present summer lasts, and with that end in view the borough staff and contractors are working enthusiastically ard often long hours to complete the various jobs in hand. Now the h.orough is,in possession of an adequate plant/ steady and much-needed improvements. to the streets will be

vigorously pursued throughout the

year, and the cost of maintenance will be considerably reduced by means of the machinery, horses, and tools purchased during .the past few months. Every penny saved on maintenance work, and in other ways, will be spent on street improvements, but at the present time the amount of money available, combined With the fact that much of the formation work and bituminising can only be done in fine weather, necessairly means that much of the work cannot be undertaken in every portion of the borougn at once.

The policy of constructing roads of only such a nature as will outlive the period of the loan at least—about thirty years—is being rigidly adhered to. First-class material's are being used in construction, and with an up-to-date plant the work is being carried out by the council’s regular staff as economically as possible, having due regard to the permanency of the work. In King Street, as in other streets in the borough, it is hoped to grade the uneven sides of the roadway to something like a level surface, and ■ where practicable many of the existing unsightly hollows and dips are to be filled up by means of the plough and scoop. In sevei’ial parts of the borough the whole contour of a street is being altered, and in every instance the work being done will be of inestimable benefit to the residents in that vicinity. Wherever possible the work fe of a more or less permanent nature, and in every instance temporary relief is being given.