MAIN ROADS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5155, 22 July 1927, Page 3

MAIN ROADS.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. -OUTLINE BY MAYOR OF PAEROA. In addressing the ratepayers on the proposal to raise £4500 for the purpose of improving .the highways! within the borough of Paeroa, on Tuesday night at the Centenary Hall the Mayor (Mr W. Marshall) made some interesting observations. Commencing this address, the Mayor observed that the origin of roads was back in the early ages, for -traces still remained of tracks along which primitive man drove his cattle or conveyed his crops. In the South of England, on the South Downs, had been found a particularly fine ex-

ample of the early road, which followed ridges for considerable distances. As was commonly known, however, Rome, in the height of her development, initiated a great progressive system in the construction of roads. Mostly all later systems were based on the Roman plan, which was to construct straight, trunk lines joining at chosen points instead of winding over the ridges. Such a system of main routes joined from four directions at Paeroa to-day. The growth of wheeled traffic in the seventeenth century led to the beginning of the modern road, which movement continued through the eighteenth century and made possible the progressive development of English coaching before and during the Napoleonic wars. Early in the nineteenth century the work of a man named John McAdam revolutionised the road-making in England. This, pioneer instituted a system of constructing a - road bed with hard broken stones of a nearly uniform size which, by the weight of traffic alone, soon assumed firmness. At that time traffic was being confined to roads and canals. Tremendous road construction was foreshadowed, but at thisi stage in history George Stephenson produced the first steam locomotive. This ihad the effect of lessening the value of the canals of England, and it also stopped the idea of improving the roads, with th® result that everywhere they were neglected. It was the advent of motor traffic during the last twenty years which had brought the need for new methods and we were witnessing another great period of intense development in the use of the road for transportation purposes. The history of roads over the last three centuries in England appeared to have been repeated in Paeroa in less than half a century. First there were the tracks; then, with the opening of the goldfields, the macadam roads, radiatipg from this centre and bearing the strings of teams and heavy waggons which transported the machinery from the Paeroa wharf and station to the mines. Later came the railway line to Waihi and Thames, and following later still was the slump in mining, with a more dr less< neglect of the roads. In a remarkably short time came a deluge of motor vehicles, for which roads, as well as local bodies, were quite unprepared. The problem was at once a challenge to councillors’ courage and resourcefulness, as the position was an entirely new one and required to be met with new methods and new ideas. So far as Paeroa was concerned, it was particularly fortunate that reliable information on proven lines was available. The question was, had the council and ratepayers the courage and resources necessary to face the issue and apply new methods ? The presence of the ratepayers at the meeting that night was an indication that ratepayer were not afraid to face facts, and the Mayor expressed the hope that he would be able to show that the necessary resources were available if they were rightly used.