A MAIN HIGHWAY?

Shannon News, 19 January 1926, Page 3

A MAIN HIGHWAY?

BU'CKUEY-SHAiN'NOOiI ROUTE. , > PROS AND 'cQNIS WEIGHED. v The question as tef whether the, proposed main highway north from Levin should fallow the present line ' or he diverted Via the Koputaroa-Buckley-Shannon rqute,;received very l'Ull treatment at the hands of about 40 people who met at Koputaroa on Thursday evening, in addition to the conveners, "Messrs C. H. Hood, and ,E.'D. Bell, there were also pres-, 'ent Crs. Monk, Gatley, Jensen, Broadbelt and Hai'kness, together with Messrs Anderson* and Hudson (representing the * Horowhenua County Council);; Messrs A. E. Hyde ■ (president of the Shannon Chamber, of •Commerce), T. C. Thwaites (Sliannon Chamber of Gouunerce and Borough CounciJ), and R. Bownes, also oi the Shannon Borougli Council!, and Mr P. \V. Goldsmifti, president Levin Chamber ol Gommerce. Apologias lor absence were received from Messrs K. Alitken, Sitotf (secretary of the Wellington Automobile Association), and K. McDonald. Mr E. D. Bell, wlio presided, gave a survey oi the circumstances surrounding the situation. _ In 1923 a deputation had waited upon the Horowhenua County Council as a rqsult of wlueh the County Engineer was instructed to prepare an estimate- of what it would cost to put a road through from Koputaroa to. Shannon, , a distance of miles. As a result of his survey, tne engineer had estimated the cost at' £15,000. He, the speaker, was then directed to write to the County Council, urging that the route 'be made a national and not a local, question. A reply, was received stating that the chairman would place tne matter before , the District Gounc.il of the Highways Board with a view to this roiiite becoming a mai'n highway. Tihrs was done, but what the speaker wanted to know wias: Did, the chairman of the County Council place before the District Council the relative merits of this proposal comparatively with other two proposals, i.e., the Ihakara and Foxton routes? From Levin ' Post Office to sliannon. ■ Post Office (by the Koputaroa-Ruokley route) was' a distance of. ten miles.. The road the- : Highwlays Board had authorised wias 10h miles. Then the portion ol between - Heatherlea and the northern bo-rough boundary of Le vain was alsdj to be bitumenised. .The new route, then would mean a saving of 24 miles oi bitumen, or £7500. Actually" there were 32 chains only of swamp in the new route, and;- at ■the present moment there wias only one foot depth of water in the swamp itself. In the centre of that patch, and on the souithern side of the Ko- . putaroa ktreatm, a bank has been ' thrown up and was so hard that horses and cattle were being driven over it. 'The late engineer had, . some years ago, given an estimate of £6OOO for the work. Mr Ward, of Ward and Salmon, surveyors, had stated he was quite confident the job could be put through niore .reasonably If'the curves and grades on the authorised road were improved . and the road made into a 24 feet two- • way road it meant there would be increased traffic and a general speed-ing-up. That • meant it would be; dangerous to the farmer and more unsafe for his horses. The proposed road was a straight one of even grades, practically all the way and the only bone of contention was the swainp which, the engineer' stated, was bottomless. As a matter ol fact (the road would run parallel w&th the railway, which had only stopped running for two days in 30 years.. If the swanijp ..were bottomless how could the railway Show such a record'/ The Main Highways Board had made no bqnes about allowing the matin 'road to go Foxton Way but the clisMct around Wurokino bridge was always being subjected to floods. He saw, in the press that this was to be remedied by purchasing land" that will permit of the road running on a hlngher level A question: he would like to ' ask the representatives of the County Council was, "What is the esti- < mated cost of widening and straightening the hill round from Ihakara to Shannon. ■ . ' ■■ y . .'. v Mr C H Hood spoke in a similar strain and said he thought' it had been an error ,of judgment to construct'the road over the Ihakara | ' "ivlr W. E. KiAsby welcomed the chairman and counoilloils of the Horowhenua County Council. The * contention that the swamp was bottomless was outrageous because the Manawiatu Railway Co.'s engineers would never have butt the railway there had. that been the case. lne proposed road was very badly needed by the district even if it wast t a 'n7aiirrifghway,...Thft road had to <-ome and it- would come. As ic- . :-S uS hill, eoiue o t u^ impulsed lor horse traffic, rue vyt^ ' «iited it would render every, possible road If a rating area were struic*. tSSre would be no. difficulty in ■ «uedrawback to the proposed road was The question of money-where it cling from? ™!M*£jg* the settlers around the Koputaroa SLS wU allow themseayes to -come under another rating area to make the road, but * they-would all like to see the road put though No doubt but mat it fcest route m palmerston North. Mr Bell remarked that the land had already been given and would thus considerably reduce W cost.

Mr A- E- Hyde (Shannon) said he would like to know the difference in construction costs between the Ihakara and Buckley routes. One of the arguments in favour of the former road had been that a large number of settlers would be handy to the highway . There would be more settlers along the Koputaroa-Buckley route, but as it was, Koputaroa, being cut off from the northern end of the Gounty, had to make Levin its centre, (whereas Shannon was the natural outlet., The Buckley road would be flatter and the maintenance would, in all proibabiiiity, be less. As there would be no track tor horses on the "side; of the Ihakara hill it would be impossible to take horses there, even with a grade of 1 in 10. A lot ol horses in South island towns, were being shod with spikes. At times it was not always possible to adhere to an original plan and the Horowhenua County Council should seriously consider tire koputaroa scheme. Cr. Broadbeit said that on several occasions tins Buckley road had come up -for consideration, but the; ratepayers, bar one or two, had turned it down every time. The land was promised by the natives, not for the ueneflt of a road so much as to secure a double frontage to tiheir properties, flie road did not go 'absolutely straight. Before the question of the main highways was settled the matter was placed before the Main-High-ways' District Council, who, after full investigation decided it would be impracticable to have'the main highway'through Koputaroa. There was a terrible lot of fuss made over the ihakara hill, but there were thousands of worse places in New Zealand, and even when one reached the top .here was better scenery there than what could be seen in a swamp. In my case he did not think the Main , lighways would sanction a new road being formed where there was a chance 61 its being flooded. Then there was the question of horses on bitumenised roads, but he had •>een horses driven on Taranaki hills a good deal worse than Ihakara. The amall difference of cost would not oe worth considering when the cost of formation between Koputaroa and Shannon was taken in consideration. Cr. Monk said that, although it inight surprise them to hear him say ft, the County Council were ; not opoosed to the building of a new Shannon road. They never had been opposed to it. Mr Bell had questioned whether the speaker had put the matter of highways fairly before the District Council. He had not' eulogised any particular road when subantting the alternate routes. In the early stages it was felt that possibly, there might be some lack of finance and it would be preferable to deal with roads partly forihed, than to take on new roads. He had yet to learn wjho made the statement that the route ran through "a bottomless swamp," but it wontld certainly be a costly matter to put through a road., Mr Anderson's, figures had been severely criticised, and one man had said it wouldn't cost moire than £6ooo,'.but (Could the County Council go behind its engineer, the man who had advised them, and say his figures were all wrong? The road from Heatherlea to shannon would cost about £48,000, but yia lhakiara the estimated cost would Jae only £31,000. Then there was the question 'of grades, but the grade on the Manakau hill would be as steep as any on the Ihakara. Mr Rilsby; Then it shouldn't be jitumenised. •

Continuing, the. chairman said that it had yet to be proved. Two of the engineers on the Main Hiighwfayis Board had recently travelled tjhe world and enquired very fully into the matter of horse traffic on grades. The railway metals on the permanent way across the- Buckley swamp were continually being raised, and were virtually floating on the swamp. Mr Bell had suggested there would be' a saving of £7OOO if the Ihakara route were abandoned. Every bitumenised road in the County was subsidised by the Main Highways Board, which nie-ant reducing the cost to the ■ ratepayers. Surely *iey were not going to advocate throwing away that money? . Cr. Catley said that to support tins new route meant breaking faith: with those who trusted them and they could not compromise w/ith.the people who were for it. Cr, Harkness I'em'arked that feepresent Council did'not looik at the matter from a parochial standpoint. Like Cr. Catley he felt that it possible the shrortest line should be taken. He was inclined to think the engineer's figures were on the Mg side, and the difference was from £15,000 to £17,000. This was not a. great deal when taken over a period and considering future upkeep, and efficiency. He was strongly opposed to btitumeniising hi-Hy country, it they could prove to those who raised the loan that a better and more economical road was . goiing to be constructed they would be only 100 pleased to see the money invested ! in such a project.

Mr Anderson, Engineer to the Horowhenua county council, said it had been alleged that he put in a big estimate in order to Mil the scheme. That was an absurd attitude to take up That estimate had been made some three years ago and the land hlad been m * ver Y bad mler - ti 1 fact they could not get to the railway, for water. ' He reminded them that to arrive at a fairly accurate SSmate U V*s necessary to go into prices and quantities.■ H* hlad been given for a 15-feet road but a 24-feet road was now required

by the Main Highways Hoard before they would subsidise. It would also be necessary to use fascines, with banking dn places up to 9 feet deep. Mr Malcolm, the late County Engineer, had estimated the cost at £6ooo—but for what width of road? In Auckland there were asphalt grades of .1 in 12 and of concrete there were grades of 1 in, 16, but the horses had very little trouble; they did not need special shoes and the horses became quite used to i-t, Mr Howell wanted to. know how the money could be raised for the Koputaroa-Shannori road. The County-. Chairman said "he certainly had not, got enough money up /his sleeve to improve the road and it was the policy of the County Council never to do any constructive work out of revenue. If the road was going through it would he done by way of a sP-<4ial ratling area, -fhe County Council had no special funds it could give them for roadbuilding purposes. Of course it would be very nice for the Koputaroa people if the roacl could be diverted. The - Council was perfectly unbiased on the subject and would be very happy indeed to put the road Through—if % (bould. The settlers might be able to get the ear of the Minister of Public, Works in regard to a grant. Mr H s yde said that when the Main Highways scheme was completed it would be reasonable to assume there woidd be a. reduction ih rates, and that the £15,000 estimate for the estimated cost of the Koputaroa-Buck-ley road would mean £4OO a year in interest; and sinking fund.. Would, it notv be possible for the County Council to meet this put of revenue' when tlie Mam' Highway was completed. * Mr Monk sajkl that v)bi>lst tliey could promise there would not be an increase in rates., he did not suggest there would be a reduction. If the Council could carry on its scheme without too much outside interference, that was the best chance' they had of getting a reduction. He asked for a' chance to carry the scheme through, as. perhaps people in other parts of the County might find a few mythical highways. In reply Mr Bell said the chairman of the' County Council had carried the war. into Koput,area’s camp and accused them) of making the question a parochi/al one-7-they advocated the road because it was in their own interests to do so. The fact was that they .believed it t-6 be the 1 natural highway. With eyer-increasing traffic there was a growing ; demand for straighter rojads of even grades. Koputaroa had no, grudge against Ihakara, but the former had a better proposition than tlie latter. There would be Hess casualties pro ahta. He did not think, it at ah practicable to form a special rating area for the road lie, supported, as if the restdents of this particular' locality were rated it would mean ‘a pretty stiff rate, and he didn’t think they would “face the music.” It was a bigger question than that—a national question.

Mr' W. E. Kilsby mov,ed, and it was seconded by Mr R. Gilmour, "That a deputation of ratepayers in the Koputcidfoa-Sluannon ■district wteut upon the County Go.un.cil, and get them to go further into the matter of cost, and suggest ways and means for the raising of" money to build this road, and to put the matter helore the ratepayers in-the two northern ridings. Mr A.. E. Hyde sadd he felt quite sure the Horowihenua County Council was quite ' familial' with the position, and a deputation should have a definite suggestion to put -to the Council. To do- that the meeting would have to come to game feasible solution as, say, asking the Council to interview the District Highways Board and see what could he done in regard to alternative routes. Mr Bell, however, said that had already been settled as an' unlikely factor. Mr Hyde said the 'only thing to do, then,- was. to have an ordinary 15 feet road constructed when the Ihalcara road was complete. Mr Kilsby ' considered' the suggestion was a good one instead of try- j ing to have the road classified as a main highway.,' ~ Mr Monk said that outsjide the area interested he had not seen any signs that a special loan poll could he carried from the two northern ridings. The people of Oha,u and Shannon w.ould probably say, "No, we have rates enough." The only way was to S'o to the Minister for Public Works and prove to him that the toad was a very necessary one. It should he done by Government grant, but this wlas a ddnoult matter. Mr Howell felt convinced that once the road was formed the Main Highways Board would adopt it as a highway. Mr Downes asked Mr Monk how long the present programme would last and was informed four years from the first of January, 1926. Mr Kilsby's motion wias lost on a show of hands. Mr G. F. Kilsby found a seconder in Mr Howell, when he moved "that the meeting take Mr Monk's advicie and wait upon the Minister," the deputation to consist of a representative from all parties interested, including the County Council, an estimate to be procured from the County engineer, and the whole project to be placed before the Minister."—Carried. Cr. Broadbelt regretted that as much energy had not been 'put into the thing three years ago. As it was it would be almost impdssible to have this connecting link declared a.

Main Highway. The Public Works Department would probably deruiaiid 50—50 before anything -could " be done, and that meant money would have tq N be specially raised. Passably, the gift of land might be taken as a contribution. The worst the Minister could say to the deputation, would be that' the matter will be given "serious consideration." (Daughter). He further suggested that the Public Wqrlvs. Department be asked to subsidise the work during the present financial year and that the deputation go down early in the"session. At the conclusion a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman and Engineer of the. Horowhenua County Council was proposed and seconded by Messrs B. Downes and W. E. Kilsby the motion passing with acclamation.