COUNTY COUNCIL'S HIGHWAY SCHEME,

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3996, 12 September 1929, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL'S HIGHWAY SCHEME,

THREATENED HOLD-UP,

DISCUSSION AT COUNCIL MEETING.

The matter of the gradual cessation of highways constructional work in the Manawatu County before the completion of the programme Avhic-li the County Council Avas undertaking, Avas referred to at Tuesday’s meeting of that body bv the chairman.

As part of the council’s comprehensive scheme of road improvements, a start Avas made with .reconstruction Avork on the Foxton Himatangi section of the Wclling-ton-Auckland main higliAvay,' and / also on the straightening and rejoining of the Rangiotu-Himatangi road. For this pui-po.se, metal Avas obtained from the* Terrace End -metal pit and it Avas proposed, on the completion of the formation Avork on the tAvo sections above referred to, to continue drawing metal for dumping on the Himatangi-Sanson section in readiness for the proposed construction work. HoAvover, the Main Higlnvays Board had called a halt and the' Terrace End pit had been closed, ns sufficient metal for the completion of the Rangiotu-Himatangi road work had been delivered. The men engaged on the metal work had been dismissed and when the spreading of the metal on the road had been completed, all the others Avould be dismissed. The FoxtonIlimatangi section had been completed and the special road staff Avas vapidly approaching the Completion of the Rangiotu-Himatangi section. In placing the position before the council, the chairman said that when it organised the getting of metal he thought that- the council A' ould be permitted to folloAV up its scheme, even if it meant only getting metal out of the pit. HoAvever, that had been stopped and in another three Aveeks, the other work also. /

Cr. W. E. Pearce: According to the press, the Minister of Public Works states that there is going to be as much, if not more, money available for road AVorks as Avas spent last year. Councillors: Its not coming our "• ny. ,

The chairman said that he had made strenuous endeavours to keep the ball rolling but without success. He had placed the matter -before the Public Works Department some three months ago, AAdien he stressed the importance of the council’s commitments in the matter of roadmaking plant and he had gathered that the council A\ r ould be able to pal try on Avith its programme and bring it to a satisfactory completion.

In a further discussion it Avas-* made clear that the council Avas compelled to stop all road work im- < der the higlrways scheme, on account of the fact t-hat the Main Highways Board had intimated that there would not be any further money available this year. Work on the Rangiotu-Himatangi road would have been stopped before this, had it not been for the fact that it Avould have left this thoroughfare in a state unfit for traffic. There was another section of road “in the air” and that was the Awahuri-Mt. SteAvart strip, the formation of which had been all but completed in readiness for sealing.

The effec-t of it all is that the council has the organisation and an expensive plant available for the completion of the Avork and in addition, there is the bitumen plant which is likely to be taken away by the contractors, should the Main Highways Board refuse to alter its decision. ' *

“It seems absurd,” remarked the chairman, “that they should allow us to proceed with the completion of the reconstruction work on the Mt. Stewart-Awahuri road and have it in readiness for the. application of bitumen, and then stop the work. It was only a matter of two miles or so to finish the job.”

If the board 1 fails to alter its decision, it will mean that all highways work in the country will stop till next year and while the plant will be idle [over 100 men will be thrown out of employment. In dealing with the construction work in his report, the county engineer (Mr. H. V. Bond) stated: “As the whole of the formation metal (required for the Rangiotu-Hi-tpatangi road has been delivered and no subsidy is forthcoming from the Main Highways Board for the Himatangi-Sauson highway, it has been necessary to close down the Terrace End pit and discharge 30 men.”

In view of the cost of maintaining the base course on the uncompleted section of the Mt. Stewart,A wahuiu highway, the council decided to place the whole of the facts before the next meeting of the Main Highways Boajrd.