LONGBURN BRIDGE.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 18 December 1917, Page 3

LONGBURN BRIDGE.

At last night's meeting of the Borough Council Mr 13. If. Gardener reported having attended the local body conference at Palmerston in connection with the proposed traffic bridge at Longburn. It was a very'representative conference, and, with the exception of Eeilding, all the delegates favoured the proposal, holding- that the bridge was almost a national matter. The straightening of roads and shortening of distances between centres was a necessity in these days of motor traffic. A comprehensive report was submitted which had been drawn up some years ago by the engineers of the Palmerston Borough and the Horowhenua and Kairanga Counties. It"placed the cost then at £29,000—£18,000 for the bridge and £11,000 for the road ami land acquisition. That could hardly be quoted at the present time, but* the idea wa«s not to hasten the matter now. It Avas un-

derstood that when the Govern-

ment went on with its hydro-elec--1 trie sell fan e immediately after the war a contain amount of money would have to be spent to take the lines across tlie Manawatu. If this was given to the local bodies as a subsidy, it would go far towards' enabling the bridge to be built. It was not desirable to take the lines over the railway bridge, and if the traffic bridge was not gone on with some kind of trestle structure would be necessary. The conference agreed that 1 unless some assistance was given by .the Government tlie scheme wouid not be pushed and the Mayor of Palmcrston assured the delegates that the resolution which wtt's passed did not bind the local bodies to any rating. The resolution was as follows:-- that m the opinion of this conference the time has arrived when a tratiu bridge should be erected across the Manawatu at Longburn also a road constructed between- Lmgburn and l*e.we Eewe road (lokomaru), and that tlie local bodies interested be requested to jom in a deputation to the Prune ' ter * (Mr Massey), tho for Finance, and Minister tm Public Works with a.view to obtaining a subsidy tli Goviect. and a request that the b eminent will agree to a comn sx sxriaid proposal if only because of lu■ fact that the bridge would cut oft four or five miles of the route the Palmcrston Hospital and would avoid the lulls on t ie pie - ent road- He advocated the eo- ! ruction of the three miles ot Buckley's road between Ivoput-uo-i aiul Shannon wlucb would S«srwt lint umlimbipil advaum*"',I,,'Ais .lUtriot

n °The'Mayor thanked Mr Gavdpnpr for his report.