THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1914 THE ROADING PROBLEM.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 215, 24 July 1914, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1914

THE ROADING PROBLEM.

"We nothing extenuate, nor set down auoht in malice."

B;ith the Franklin County Council and tha Pukrkohe Borough Council are faced with roading problems of a most serieus charuct:r. With the ever-increasing cost of road metal our whol; conception of the accepted principles of road construction must necessarily b™ revised. Kfrg street, Pukekohe, is a striking examph of hos costly the upkeep of a road can ba which is not surfacesealed. It does' not pay from any point of view to have bad roads in any district where settlement is cbse enough and the traffic is heavy and frequent enough to warrant good roads. But we must get away from the ok! system of read construction. Not only in this district but all over New Zealand local bodies are now considering the fceet methods of making lasting roads. Just what the present authorities of the Dominion's highways are doing towards improving their principal arteries is worth reading about. The Wellington "Dominion" did sime very good spade-work by sending out to county council? a series ot questions bearing upon tha question, and the answers, which we condense mightily, are instructive. Eltham is making free use of tar and sand and other materials, Waimate West is satisfied that tar is worth while and will prove th 3 solution of the upkeep probhm, Hawera has experimented with sokar and finds it exp.nsive whilst tar for binding is proving just the thing, Patea is testing s lta* to its ratisfaction on its bridges. Wanganui County co - .- fesees to havirg no road-making po'i'cy. Kiwitea's policy is quaintly phrased by Mr Verry as being "to raise rates and put on more metal." Horowhetiua has been "gokg on in the same old way," and Hawke's Bay believes in heavy rolling anl sealing the surface with a tar preparation. Patangata, a big county along the East Coast, is breakirg fresh ground, as it is experimenting with reinforced concrete wheel tracks, 3ft wide, with an intermediate space 2ft wide between tracks filled with arphaltand tarred shingle, three inches thick, well rolled. These tracks are for use of motor cars only, and are placed on one side of the road. The cost varies from £2500 to £3500 per mile, according to distance from available stone. Thii enterprising Council contemplates, after due trial of the concrete wheel tracks, to obtain power to tax motor cars up to £2O p:r annum, or induce the Government to institute a petrol tax and allocate the revenue amongst local bodies, in proportion to the amount of traffic they have to deal with and the relative cost of constructing the tracks. South Wairarapa provides a practical argument for those who have the impression that the motor car is the mis-chief-maker ot the highways. The engineer estimates that cars have increased the cost ot the upkeep of roads by 30 per cent , and then adds: "A road just out of the county boundary was laid down not eighteen months ago wiih crushed metal, and thoroughly made and rolled with eteam roller. It is a series of pot-holes now, which seems to prove that however well waterbound macadam is laid it will not stand motor traffic." In future articles we shall have something more to say about this district's road-making problems and will endeavour to prove the contention that good roads are cheaper than bad ones.