HELENSVILLE TO HAMILTON

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 593, 17 December 1920, Page 3

HELENSVILLE TO HAMILTON

MAIN ROAD.

REPORT OF COMMISSION

To His Excellency the Governordeneral of New Zealand in Council, ivlay it please Your Excellency:— . We have the honour to submit, for lour Excellency's information, the .ollowing • report in respect to the questions submitted to us under the jrder of reference embodied i.-i the Jemmission issued to us by Your Ex-jtllency-in-Council, dated May 14th, 1920. The following is the order of erence submitted to us:— 1. The best route for a main road from Helensville to Hamilton. 2. The class of road construction

inost suitable to meet tlfe requirements of modern traffic on such road.

a. The estimated cost of construcion or reconstruction of such road.

A. The ability of the local bodies interested and concerned to provide che cpst of such construction, reconstruction, and future maintenance. 5. What- legislation, if any, is ne:essary or expedient in relation there- ,?

t°. liefore proceeding to hear eVjdence and otherwise deal with the matter we issued notices to all the local oodies likely to be interested in the 11; utter of a main road from Helenswile to Hamilton, and also caused an advertisement to be inserted in the ocal newspapers inviting local bodies and other persons interested to attend and give evidence before us. Thefformal inquiry was commenced lit the Chamber of Commerce in Auck-

land on June 29, 1920, and was continued on subsequent dates. We also visited Helensville on July 1 and 2, and Hamilton on the sth and 6th idem., and heard all the evidence that any of the parties interested chose to bring before us at these places. We also inspected the routes between Auckland and Helensville.. ;.nd also between Auckland and Hamilton, in company With Mr. G. T. Murray, the District Engineer of the Pubic Works Department at Auckland, in order to judge as to the suitability or the various routes suggested by the witnesses. Notes of the evidence il' these witnesses are attached to

this report. Altogether some 87 persons, including 45 representatives of local bodies, gave evidence before us. Coming now to the various questions in respect to which Your Excelency desires our opinions:— Question No. 1: What is the best route for a main road from Helensville to Hamilton? Before attempting to answer thiS question it is necessary to consider what the question really means. The 'vidence adduced before us shows that there are several roads that can fairly claim to be classed as main roads between these two places.

Fhe evidence and statements of the local bodies and others concerned

jlearly show that what is wanted is a principal road between these places, which should be constructed in such a special mannef as to be suitable for motor-car and heavy through traffic, and in respect to which road these parties expect the Government either to entirely construct the same or to contribute very largely t» the cost of such construction. Under these circumstances, therefore, it appears to your Commissioners that what is intended is that we shall make a recommendation as to which of these main roads should be considered to be the most important one giving through communication by the most direct route between Hamilton and Helensville, and which (other things being equal) will best serve the interests not only cf the persons residing in these centres and the City of Auckland, but which will be of the greatest good to the greatest number. In other it is assumed that what Your Excellency requires is a report as to which main read should be considered to be the "main arterial road" between these two places. Adopting this attitude, your Commissioners have to state that any main road between Helensville and Hamilton may be naturally divided into two well-defined portions, either one of which has little community of interest with the other. These two portions are:—(a) A road from Helensville to Auckland, and (b) a road from Auckland to Hamilton.

AUCKLAND-HAMILTON SECTION. Among the routes suggested : n respect to the Auckland-Hamilton por-

tion of the road, the only ones which your Commissioners consider to be practicable ark the following:— 1. Auckland to Hamilton: Present road without deviations (85 miles). This is not advocated by any of the witnesses as being a satisfactory route without deviations. It has very bad grades—in some cases they are prohibitive; and the road is especially unsatisfactory where it passtes through the Rangiriri hills and Bombay hills This road is more or less metalled for its whole length, with the exception of 19 miles between Mercer and Kimihia, near Huntly. Between Auckland and Bombay the road might be described as a fairly good road for ordinary wheel traffic, but not sufficiently good for the presentday motor traffic. The grades over the Bombay hills are very steep, in some places amounting to 1 in 8. From the foot of the Bombay hill§, t'.i the summit the road rises pbout sCoft., and falls about 570 ft. on the

southern side of the saddle. On the southern side of the Bombay hills there is another hill south of Pokeno, which is also a very objectionable feature on this road. From Mercer to the foot of Rangiriri hills the road is metalled to some extent, but is in very bad condition. The road over the Rangirili hills is unmetalled throughout, and the grades are excessive. For about nine months of the year this portion of the road pre-

sents an almost insurmountable bar-

rier to traffic. From Rangiriri to near Huntly the road is surfaced with sand throughout and is in a very bad state of repair. From Huntly to Ngaruawahia the road is more or less met-

alled and is also in bad repair. From

•Ngaruawahia to Hamilton the road is well surfaced with coarse sand, grit, and at present is in good order, but breaks up in dry weather. (T« be continued.)