MAIN HIGHWAYS.

Shannon News, 15 June 1928, Page 3

MAIN HIGHWAYS.

HOROWHENUA’S NEED OF HELP DEPUTATION TO SEE BOARD CHAIRMAN. COUNTY ENGINEER INSTRUCTED TO MAKE COMPREHENSIVE REPORT. Muck of the business of the Horowhenua County Council meeting on Saturday was concerned with, main highways matters. The most important outcome was a decision to send a deputation to Wellington to ■ endeavour to obtain an increased subsidy on the construction already done, owing to the heavy loss in the southern end of the district.

Provision of Sign-Posts. j The chairman of the Main Highways ; Board (Mr. F. W. Furkert) wrote draw- | ing attention to Regulation 16 of the ( Motor Vehicle Regulations, requiring that certain signposts, etc., sh aJ i be erected by road-controlling authorities. He asked that, in cases where the - Board controlled Main. Highways in this » district, the Council would go into the , question of signposting-m accordance) with the Regulations; also that if would j ascertain what steps were being .taken ■ by the various local authorities to j whom the Board had delegated its j powers in regard to this matter. The ? Board would subsidise the cost of erec- j tion of any signposts required under the Regulations out of the Mainten- j ance Fund. . , ~ ! The chairman, after referring to tne ] usefulness of the signs, which had been j designed to cope with a number of roaa j features, said that he was not going to i suggest that the whole work of eiac “" ing be carried, out immediately; but gradually these signs should be put up throughout the County in connection with the main highways. He moved that the communication be received and the matter referred to the County engineer and that he be instructed to report as to the places where it is necessary to erect signs. The motion was carried. The Year’s Requirements. The District Engineer (Mr. R. H. P. Ronayne) forwarded the annual estimate schedules for maintenance and construction, and asked that they be filled in and returned not latef than June 14th. Only those • construction works for which the Council could make financial provision during the year ending March £lst, 1929, and which could be classified as urgent, should be included, and, the relative urgency of works must be shown in each case. “In connection with Secondary Highways approved by tbe Main Highways Board,” the District Engineer wrote, “the Board has decided that it will make a limited amount available fof construction purposes on these roads. Work on these new highways will be limited to--the class of work for which the Public Works Department would have provided money if these roads were not declared highways. Please make provision ■ for maintenance, bit these estimates for all Secondary Highways which you have been' notified have; been approved by the. Board, whether-; already gazetted or not. Any highways not yet Gazetted shbuld i appear in the. Gazette within a 'few weeks, and main- • tenahee ,will be subsidised from the; date of Gazetting. The rate of maintenance; subsidy for primary as well as secondary highways is to be on the basis of 30s for £l. Construction, of course, will be on £1 for £1 basis.” The letter added that, in connection with the construction of high-class pavements in counties, on highways adjacent to centres of population with -more than 6000 inhabitants, a preferential subsidy was available. Delay of Estimates. The chairman stated that figures which had just been prepared showed that in the Wirokino Riding the average cost of maintenance on the unpaved highway; last year was, £2OO a mile. The County estimates were delayed this year, for unavoidable reasons, and negotiations with the Board were set back to some extent. Owing to the very heavy over-expenditure on construction, particularly in the Te Horo Riding, and possibly fairly heavy exepnditure in the Otaki Riding, an application had been made to the Board for an increase of subsidy, but an answer had not yet been received. He would suggest, although they had not come to any definite understanding on this matter with the Board, that the County engineer be requested to bring down a report as to the work that should be gone on with, and an estimate of the cost of that work. The Council then should’have a reply from, the Board as to what it was likely to do with regard to the subsidy, and the estimate could then go in. It was very | necessary that the work should go on. He would suggest that the report as 1 to work to be done should concern the road work of two Ridings —Wirokino and Tokomaru—and probably the road between Levin and Shannon; there was apparently more work there than w'ould be accomplished in the nine months remaining. With regard to bridges, the Council had tlie Kara bridge under way. There were three other bridges which should be included in this year’s estimates for repair or renewal, at Kuku, Waikawa and Manakau. The Council should let the District Engineer know the position in regard to these; and if a District Council meeting was called at an early date, the estimates would have to be ready for it. The Council had the estimates for maintenance; and the County engineer and the assistant engineer should be released from other duties until they could have the report prepared, s,o ’that an estimate could bo sent to the Department. The chairman moved that the County engineer be authorised to make the necessary report. Cr. McLeavey seconded the motion. , Should Northern Work Go On. Or, Catley said that the Council

J should decide what it was going to coni centrate on. There was a good deal of roading in the T.okomaru Riding to be ! completed, but, before deciding whether to go any further there, they should come to some determination in regard to other works. As far as money was ; available for the purpose, he "would like to see the most level stretches of road dealt with, because it was on such lengths that water collected and r damage to the surface. Tokomaru had a lot of level pieces of road. Foxton Road’s Claim. Cr. Catley added that they coub | leave out the Foxton via Wirokino i Road. ;*! | The chairman: If wc can get a subsidy, it will induce us to go on with j that work, which is as necessary as any. ! Cr. Catley: It is more necessary. ! The chairman: We have to come to I a decision as to the work. /The subsidy is a matter for negotiation with the

Board. Cr. Catley: There is five miles, of Tokomaru ready for scaling. The chairman: We cannot do anything with that till the summer. What are you going to do the year after i we don’t go on with some formation? Cr. Kilsby: What amount of loan moneys have we in hand? . The chairman: I think we have sufficient in hand to carry us through this year without raising any fresh money. Nearly £20,000 Available. In answer to further questions, the chairman indicated that the Council -could carry on highways work .to the extent.of nearly £20,000 without raising more loan money. There would be the subsidy in addition. > Cr. Kilsby said that in that case he would like to' see some work started immediately, or as soon as the County engineer was in a position t,o get the work in hand. There was a vast amount of unemployment in the district, and if- some estimate could be made of what work was to be gone on with, it would, be w.ork in the right direction. Wirokino should be one of the first sections to be done. It would be the most costly piece of road to do. .The engineer should be asked to -go into the matter with the surveyor and select a piece of road for treatment. Levin-Shannon Section. The chairman said' that the reason why he had mentioned the Levin-Shan-non section was because the survey had been done and the plans had been sent to the Department and, he supposed, approved. With regard to the Wirokino section, they start as soon as they could at the bridge arid/work back. The C.ounty engineer was anxious to view any piece of road that might be recommended, and bririg down a report. The report that .yms asked for .on the Waikawa length had been completed and had been sent to the Department. Cr. Kilsby: The x Council passed a resolution that the surveyor carry out certain work when he is available. Will it be included in works for this season? The chairman: The survey of No. 60 Highway is complete, I understand except where there are suggested devia-’ tions- —on the other side of Makerua and on this side of .Shannon. Cr. Kilsby: I ask that the surveyor be instructed to carry on with the Wirokino section. The chairman: Should we.do so until we know what the Highways Board is doing? I propose to submit the whole matter to Mr. Furkert (chairman of the Board), so that he will have first-hand knowledge of ; the position. Compacting Southern Section Advocated. . Cr. Catley said that he would like to see one completed road from the Waikawa bridge to Pott’s Road before the plant, was taken away. This would not delay Tokomaru much. He did not want to see the machinery trudging about to different parts .of the road like a Gipsy caravan. The chairman stated that the decision was to seal the Ohau section and there was no reason why it should not be gone on with. All it wanted, he thought, was a scarifier and roller. He believed that the bridges should take preference. The Ohau railway crossing and Queen Street could be done, the penetration being left out. However, he was not the engineer; he wished only to see the scheme expedited, and they wanted to find out from the Board what the subsidy was going to be. It was now £1 for £1 for construction; but the Council could not go ,on doing the work unless the Board gave it a higher subsidy. Circumstances had arisen which suggested that the user should pay more. The ratepayer should not be asked t.o .contribute a fathing more than he had authorised. Cr. Catley: Will he, on the present scheme? The chairman: Yes; we are overspent on the section, and the bridges will cost extra money on top of that. It\is much better to get your bridges up, and complete your filling after- ! wards. ,*Cr. Barber: Is it really wise to cut out Shannon—to do bits of sealing hero and there? 1 The chairman: Wc are asked to do those pieces. Thq Department asked us to do sealing in the cases of bridges and deviations at Ohau and Manakau. Report on Requirements Called For. The motion was amplified by the chairman and was carried. It instructed the County engineer to submit a report on the work which he considers should be undertaken this year in connection with the Main Highways, including the repairing or renewal of the bridges at Waikawa, Manakau and Ivuku; and it authorised the chairman, engineer and clerk, as a result of the report, to submit the construction estimates to the District Highways Council.

A resolution was also passed instructing the engineer to submit to the Council, as early as possible, a report and estimate for completing the construction of the Main Highways, together with his opinion as to the order in which the work on the various lengths should be undertaken, and a review of the \pl(ant possessed or required for future work. The chairman) Gr, Catley and -the

County clerk were empowered to wait on the chairman of the Highways Board in support of the application for an increased subsidy on the past expenditure for road construction. Crossing at Manakau.

| A letter was received from the Dis- ! trict Engineer stating that he could I not approve the proposal to alter the i Manaltau north railway crossing as submitted by the District Engineer of Railways, and in his opinion the crossing was a fairly safe one at present. It was never advisable to permit traffic to cross a railway line •at an acute angle; it was better for motorists to be compelled to slow down and cross at right angles. • The letter was formerly received. Otaki Borough.

Writing with ref eronce to Main Highway construction in the Otaki Bor•ough, the District Engineer stated that, at a recent interview between the C.ounty chairman, the County clerk and himself, it was stated that, in order to keep tlie crusher at Te Horo working, it should crush all the metal required to complete the road through the borough. The Board was agreeable that the Council should crush and deliver the metal necessary and charge it in the meantime to the Board. Arrangements would have to be made with the borough for the delivery and stacking of the metal. The chairman stated that the road in question was the one inside the borough which the Council repaired, and they wanted to see it. paved. They would probably be required to pave it next summer.' .. .

The action of the chairman in authorising. the crushing was confirmed. ,

A letter was also received from the District Engineer intimating that .the Board desired that the County would maintain the portion, of . highway through the Otaki Borough; the Council’s grant would be further considered when the findings of the Commission came to hand.

The following recommendations were drawn up by the Works Committee; they were subsequently . amended so that, instead of the works being authorised, the engineer was instructed to report as to the advisability of carrying them out:—

Completing with the penetration course the following portions of No. 1 •Highway:.—(a) Deviation near Mr. G. Bevan’s, Pukehou; (b) deviation at overhead railway bridge south of Manakau; (c) remaining portion of highway in the vicinity of the Manakau stream. Constructing a new bridge over the Waikawa. stream.

Preparing the railway crossings at North Manakau and near the Ohau River for sealing. A recommendation that the portion of No. 60 Highway from the Levin Borough boundary to the intersection with the Arapa&pae Road be prepared for sealing, was adopted. In accordance with a request by the Works Committee, the engineer presented a . report as to the advisability of working number four crusher at night. He stated that he had investigated the comparative costs of night and day working of the crusher, but with the figures at present available it was .only possible to, give an approximate estimate. Night crushing was estimated to cost 'Bs per cubic yard, while day crushing cost 6s 6d per cubic yard. The Power Board’s engineer had desired the Council to go in for crushing at night this month. The chairman stated that the Board had asked the Council to obviate a loss to the Boafd. It had now been stated by the Board’s engineer that he would complete arrangements, so that the County could return t,o the day loac next month, as the Board would then have the flaxmill load coming on' at night. The chairman added that he did not think the Council would have start* ed the crusher this quarter except for men being out ,of work. , Cr. Kilsby: Should we* consider the Power Board?

The chairman: That is for you to say.

Cr. Bryant: The ratepayers of the ■Power Board are the same as those, of the County, and in helping them we are helping ourselves.

In answer to a question by Cr. Catley/ the chairman stated that five men were working at night, and a gang was on in the day-time gathering boulders. Cr. Kilsby: If it continues till the end of the month, I take it that from then on it will be done in the daytime? The chairman: Yes. Cr. Kilsby: I move that it go on in the meantime. " This was agreed to.