King Country Chronicle Saturday, April 19th, 1913. MAIN ROAD MAINTENANCE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 560, 19 April 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, April 19th, 1913. MAIN ROAD MAINTENANCE.

The Gazette notification to the effect that the Government has handed over a further stretch of the Te KuitiMokau road to the County Council raises a question of immense importance, which merits the earnest consideration of the local authorities. A3 is well known, the road ib a main arterial thoroughfare, traversing two separate counties, between Te Kuiti and Mokau, and linking up the provinces of Auckland and Taranaki. It also serves several large districts which have Te Kuiti as their railroad centre, and the traffic on the road throughout the vear is enormous. The importance, of the road was early recognised by the Government, as is indicated by the fact that the metalling work hss been carried out by the Public Works Department. This work is of considerable assistance to the settlers, but as the metalling is accomplished the road is handed over to the county, and the settlers become liable for all maintenance work. It is naturally of the highest importance that the road should be kept in the best possible condition, otherwsie the outback districts would be cut off from the outside world for at least half the year. Some idea of the cost of maintenance is obtained from the fact that an expenditure of three hundred pounds is necessary to repair a four-mile section of the road at present. When it is considered that three times that length of road will require to be maintained, between Te Kuiti and Pio Pio, it will be realised that a large annual outlay will be necessary in order to keep the road in serviceable condition. As far as the Waitomo County Council is concerned the burden of maintenance must fall on the Paemako and Aria ridings. The present amount derived in rates from the Paemako riding totals £3?.0, and that portion of Aria riding which is served by the main road returns about £l2O in rates. When allowance is made for administration expenses, hospital rate, and maintenance of bye roads, it will be seen that the present rate is totally inadequate for the maintenance of the main thoroughfare. The matter is worthy of the careful consideration of our local authority, and it is to be hoped action will be taken to make proper provision for meeting the case. A feature which is worthy of note is the fact that a portion of the Awakino County is directly served by the road, and the di strict mentioned is just as much interested in keeping the road in the best possible condition as are the ridings of Aria and Paemako.