MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3676, 11 August 1927, Page 2

MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL

MAIN HIGHWAYS.

The Manawatu 'County Council, in its circular letter to ratepayers, makes, reference to main highways within the county as follows: — The total amount expended on the maintenance of Mai nHigliways for the past year was £7,930 8s 3d. The Main Highways Board’s subsidy on this amounted to £4,293 18s 4d, all of which was paid by the 31st March, with the exception of £585 17s 2d (since paid). It will thus be seen that the operations in connection with the Main Highways for maintenance alone involves a very large amount of work and money. Recently, a comparison of costs of maintenance of Main Highways along this coast was published through the newspapers, and it was seen that our costs compared favourably with other counties. In May, 1925, the Council submitted, to the ratepayers a proposal to raise a loan of £60,000 for Main Highways construction and machinery, and. the poll was carried. At that time the Highways Board’s subsidy was 33 1-3 pgr cent, for maintenance and 50 per cent, for construction. To-day, the subsidy received for maintenance has increased to 60 per cent., the construction subsidy remaining the same as before. Since the increasing of the maintenance subsidy, the Council has been very reluctant to raise and expend loan money on a 50 per cent, basis, as it becomes a question as to whether it would not be more economical to forego the loan, or portion of it, and utilise the extra money which would have to be raised for interest and sinking fund for thy loan in extended maintenance. In other words, by increasing the quantities of metal put on the roads and improving the system of maintenance, the Council hopes it will be possible to build the roads up to a standard good enough for bitumen surfacing. (The Main Highways Board will now allow surfacing to be done as maintenance). It will be necessary to utilise loan moneys for some of the works of a permanent nature, such as replacement of wooden bridges in concrete, and others which are purely of a constructional nature, and could not be classed'as maintenance. On'e of the essential points the Council must always keep in'view in spending loan money, is to see thaS the life of the work or the benefit derived therefrom lasts as long as the life of the loan. Seeing that the life of a bitumensealed road at the present time is an unknown quantity, the Council is of the opinion that the right policy to adopt is to endeavour to do this work as much as possible out of revenue and maintenance subsidy, and not out of loan. The road is then done with and there is no interest to pay. A portion of No. 1 Main Highway (the Bulls-'Sanson Road) is being constructed out of loan moneys at the present time, having been commenced before the Main Highways Board’s maintenance subsidy was increased. A great deal has been said about this road by ratepayers and others, but very careful tallies and costs are being kept, and the Council asks ratepayers to reserve their criticism until such time as the road is completed and the whole of the details published. The problems that county councils are being faced with to-day regarding main highways are very complex and exacting, and require a great deal of consideration. Ratepayers, however, can rest assured that the Council is doing everything possible to keep down costs to a minimum, and at the same time get effiicient results.