MAIN HIGHWAYS.

Shannon News, 29 January 1929, Page 3

MAIN HIGHWAYS.

COUNTY COUNCIL REVIEWS DETAILS.

HOT WEATHER BRINGS NEED TOR FURTHER DRESSING.

Many phases of the Highways scheme wore dealt with at the meeting of -the Horowhenua County Council on '.Saturday,'when much information concerning various sections was forthcoming. Improvement of Corners. The district engineer (Mr. R. H. P. Ronayhe) wrote asking when he might Teceive a reply to his letter of November ,29th, concerning which the High.ways Board was making inquiries. The chairman explained that this referred to the time when the Council replied to the Board accepting the £3 for £ subsidy and stating that more money Should be set aside for improving dan-gerous-corners on No. 60. Highway, in 'regard to the portion for which' the 'Council were asking for a free grant, ffhe Board had asked for plans and particulars, and this letter inquired when the information would be forwarded. It was very pleasing to know that the Board was particularly anxious that something should be done on these \ pieces of road, 'which, in a measure, had been left out of the main scheme. He considered that, before anything definite was done in regard to this, an inspection should be made by the District Engineer and the County Engineer as to ."what -were .the worst places and which of. them should be tackled j first. He..would suggest that a reply , be sent to Mr. Roynane asking whether i 'he could make it possible to inspect I these portions in company with the County Engineer, so that the worst portion could be surveyed and attention given to it before the coming win.Aer, providing work foT men in need of it and relieving the Council. He was particularly referring to the MakeruaTokomaru section.

Cr. Barber: I would like the deviation to be taken into consideration. . The chairman: That would be a •good time to discuss it. It was decided to write to the District Engineer as suggested by the vh airman. < New Manawatu Bridge.

Notification was received from the District Engineer (Mr. Ronayne) that the new Manawatu bridge and deviation on the Shanhpn-Foxton route was open for continuous traffic on December 24th. From that date all maintenance subsidy would cease on the old highway from the Shannon Borough boundary to the Manawatu River in the Horowhenua County., The question of the maintenance of the new highway situated .within this County was a matter'for'the Horowhenua County engineer to arrange with Mr. Acheson, engineer to the Manawatu County Council. .. •

; ; ..'JQr. Gimblett said he had asked, at a previous meeting, that a report be procured as to the safety or otherwise of the old small "bridge near the punt. There were two or three ratepayers interested in it, and if that bridge was worn out they would not have very good grounds to come to the Counc.l and ask for a,new bridge. As long*as the woodwork underneath was safe he was quite satisfied. The County Engineer (Mr. Brewster) replied that the bridge was rough, but it was strong. The timber would last for several years. Oh the motion of the chairman, the letter from the District Engineer was handed-to the County. Engineer for his ■instruction. Deviation South of Manakau.

The following recommendation by the Works ■Committee, relative to the deviation near the concrete overhead bridge south of Manakau, on ,No. 1 Highway, was adopted:—That in return for the land taken for this deviation, Mr. J. H. Staples be paid the sum of £2O in addition to the transfer to him of the portion of closed road, and in full settlement of any claim herein.

The chairman reported that he and dr. Eyder had interviewed Mr. Staples and made the above arrangement.

Engineer's Report.

The County "Engineer's report on the Highways was as follows: — No. 1 Main maintenance \has been carried out on this road on the unpaved portions. The plans for the Waikawa Stream bridge are completed, and, if satisfactory to you, can be forwarded to the Highways Board for approval. The plans Of three miles of the Levin-WirO' kino road are also completed, and as soon as the estimate is compiled, may be forwarded on for approval. The fencing at D'Ath's deviation has been completed. ' No. 60 Main Highway.—General maintenance has been carried out on ithis road. The bitumen paving of Upper Queen Street has been,completed. Owing to the Levin Borough Council not being in a position to supply metal as arranged, it was" necessary to draw on the dump at Manakau bridge. This metal will,have to be replaced and charged to Queen Street. Paving work has commenced on the Shannon to Makerua length of highway. ' No. 50 Main Highway.—-This road is now open 'foF traffic, and the Main Highways Board have intimated that the Council must assume its share of the cost of maintenance from the 24th Decem'ber last.

General maintenance work lias been carried out on the subsidiary-highways, with the exception of Hokio Beach Eoad, where the allocation has been expended. This Toad requires much more than has been allowed" on it in the past. Questions of Maintenance. Cr. Barber remarked that the general maintenance on the Main Highway was not quit* what it ought to be. Attention was needed at Ihakara, and he also suggested that a different type of .metal be put on near Levin. He asked

if this would mean obtaining another «rusher, to secure more chips. The engineer: As soon as this paving season is finished, I can deal with it. Cr. Barber: The class of metal put on wants crushing finer. The engineer: Till I can have that crusher converted I cannot have the metal crushed finer. Cr. Barber: Some that was put on at the north end of Tokomaru has made a wonderful improvement, and that should be followed up. Cr. Kilsby stated that roads in the VVirokino Riding needed a, lot of maintenance metal, 'scarifying, and re-grad-ing- ' , The chairman: Have you a goo'l big cheque in your pocket? Cr. Kilsby: Is there no crusher in the Tararua pit? The engineer: There will be no metal for a couple of months for that. Cr. Kilsby: Is it not possible to get screened metal from the Ohau riverbed.

The engineer: It is possible. Cr. Kilsby: What is the cost compared with crushing metal? The engineer: The actual cost on the road is considerably tanore. You will have round stones and you will have to keep them on the road. Cr. Kilsby suggested that screened metal be given a trial somewhere and the cost of maintenance ascertained. Many of the district roads, he contended, were badly in need of something like that. There was the Beach Road —one of the worst in the riding. If they were to. endeavour to go in for something like what he had suggested, it might greatly assist the cost of maintaining a road and give a better surface. The' engineer might be able to go into the matter of getting some such metal for many of their roads, and the speaker would like to see him bring down a report as to what he could do in the matter. The chairman: It will cost more, that is the point. Cr. Kilsby: I want to know what the cost will be as against crushing. The engineer: It is a matter of the shingle in the river-bed, and that varies from flood to flood. Cr. Kilsby: I don't think we should lose sight of this. The engineer: The screening is not any smaller than the stuff going on the road. It is through a liin screen. ,Cr. Kilsby/ mentioned the Otaki Borough. / The chairman:' They have to keep a traffic "Cop" on the road to keep the speeds down, and he is there all the time.

possible Subsidiary Highway. Cr. Gimblett drew the attention of the Council to the volume of traffic on Queen Street East. He mentioned that the Highways Board was contributing to the maintenance of the Hokio Beach Eoad; and claimed that there was almost as much traffic by holiday-makers on Queen Street East and its continuation, Gladstone Road, whilst those sections of road were also serving settlers, who were asked to maintain them. The settlers did not mind maintaining those roads for theinselves; they were willing to pay their share, and let other users do the same. They thought, and rightly, that they were entitled to a little more, assistance than they were getting. There were several chains of Queen Street that were not in an average state of repair by a long way. He hoped that in the next estimates the Council would not lose sight of the roads referred to. The chairman: You recommend that, when the time arrives, those portions of road should'be recommended as a subsidiary highway? Cr. Gimblett: Exactly. chairman: Is that the wish of the Council? Crs. Gave their assent, and the chairman stated that he would take steps to ascertain the time for recommending the lengths of road in question. Cr. Barber stated that the questiou had cropped up in the Works Committee whether a subsidiary highway was a riding road or a county road. The County .Clerk: It is a riding road while it is .declared a main road. The chairman" said that, in asking for subsidiary highways, they must not lose sight of the fact that, though they would get a subsidy for maintenance and probably for improvement, they could not get a Government grant. Cr. Kilsby said he did not know why the Koputaroa-Heatherlea and Kopu-taron-Foxton roads should not become subsidiary highways. The chairman: Where a road is used wholly by settlers I don't think you have a leg to stand on. Cr. Kilsby: There is quite a lot of foreign traffic over those roads. Loosening of Bitumen on Southern Highway. Cr. Ryder said that Cr. Jensen had asked him, that morning if he knew anything about some big holes on the main highway. Cr. Ryder added that he did not know anything about them. The chairman stated that he came oyer the road about 6.30 p.m. the previous day and reported to the engineer that considerable damage had been done south of Te Horo, the sealed coat having been lifted Tight up. This showed that there, was too much bitumen present. Replying to a question by Cr. Jensen, the chairman stated that the work affected was that which was done the year before last. He thought that the road surface had become too hot and slow-moving vehicles had lifted it up. Putting on too much bitumen there was worse than not using enough. The engineer stated that the tendency was to be slightly under with the bitumen, so far. Cr. Jensen said that the trouble ex- J isted not only to the south of Te Horo, but also north of Otaki, where gaps a few -feet-long had been torn up, leaving the metal bare. I The chairman: The metal is quite bare in the south end. Cr. Gimblett: Two lorry-loads of wool went through here a few weeks

back that I would abnost defy any road to stand—but they were travelling. The engineer said he thought that the damage was due to the vacuum caused by slow motion. Apparently the places affected required more chips on ahem. He would look into the master

Further Requirements. Cr. Jensen asked for attention to be given to the road near the Otaki railway, mentioning the locality of the factory and the hospital corner. He stated that otherwise the road had kept up very well indeed. ' "It will not be let go," replied the engineer. Cr. Jensen also said that a part oi the road which was very bad was where it left the .bitumen at Taylor's, for about half a chain. He stated that, ■there were various other places, that required looking into. The engineer stated that the roughness of the piece of road particularly referred to by Cr. Jensen was no doubt caused by the traffic coming at a fastrate oil" the bitumen and then slowing down. The gaps down that way were very hard to keep maintained. Similarly there was always trouble at the end of bridges. He had always suggested keeping a little metal at such places. . Waifcawa Stream Bridge.

The Council .adopted the recommendation of the Works Committee that the plans of the new Waikawn stream bridge be forwarded to the Main Highways Board for approval. Traffic to be Diverted During Makerua Paving. Cr. Catley moved that the Main North Road from Shannon be closed to through traffic while sealing operations are being carried out, and that the Automobile Associations be asked to use its influence to divert such traffic. The motion was seconded by Or. The chairman said he thought that the mover was asking too much. Cr. Catley: I thought it would expedite the work. I don't know whether it, will affect the stability of the work. If that traffic could be diverted on only a portion of the road, it would help to expedite the work very considerably. Cr. Barber: Could they do,half the width at a time, as with hot-mix.

The chairman: No. The engineer: The hot mix is a Pa Cr." Gimblett: They closed the Day's Bay Road during working hours. The chairman: The men would not .be doing much work because oi clashes with motorists. The chairman: If a man was at Tokomaru, would it be fair to ask him to go to PaLmerston North? I am afraid {hat the trouble you would have would be more than enough. Cr Ryder as-ked the engineer his opinion, and Mr. Brewster replied that, if it was.possible, it would bo just the ideal thing. Cr. Ryder: It is a godsend to the men, and gives a better road. The chairman: There is the section between Kara and Makerua. We might make a general request while that work is proceeding, and ask the Automobile Associations to use their influence to divert the traffic as much as possible. Cr. Kilsby: At the September meeting of the .Works 'Committee it was suggested that notices be put up at each end of the district asking traffic to proceed the other way.. On the chairman's suggestion, Cr. Catley withdrew his motion and substituted one that the engineer be given authority to divert as much of the main road traffic as possible during the paving of the Shannon-Makerua section. The chairman stated that there was a detour road for three-parts of the distance. The motion was seconded by Or. Jensen and was carried.