USERS TO PAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 291, 29 February 1928, Page 1

USERS TO PAY

FINANCING HARBOUR BRIDGE COST WOULD BE HALF MILLION MEETING AT MILFORD “Hinkler’s dream of flying to Australia came true, and so will our dream of bridging the Waitemata. It is our job to show that ; the project is one for immediate * fulfilment.” These utterances were made by Mr. i ”*■ J. E. Close at a meeting of MilJ ford residents, who gathered at the i Green Mill to add their weight to I j propaganda now being circulated in ! support of the harbour bridge proposi- i tion. Mr. J. W. Williamson, Mayor of Takapuna, presided, and Mr. Close was ' the first speaker. “The bridge,” he said, “will play ai vital part in the defence of Auckland.” j Mr. R. F. Moore, C.E., furnished de- ; tails of the tentative plan for the bridge, which would rise gently from the Western Reclamation. Freeman's Bay, to a height of 85ft above the harbour, dropping again, very gradually, j from there, to its terminal point in the middle of Shoal Bay. The length of i the structure would be three-quarters l of a mile, and its cost £ 500,000. plus another £ 150,000 for the approaches and causeways, which would bring all parts of the North Shore within four and a-half road-miles of Queen Street. Its effect on the labour market would be tremendous. In the second year there would be 2,000 men on the job. FINANCE PROPOSALS j An average of 750 vehicles per day j crossed by the traffic ferries last week, ! said Mr. M. Blampied, stating that the i total number for the seven days was j 5,300. This traffic would easily double j itself within five years, and a bridge ; would induce three times as much. Assuming a traffic over the bridge of only 3,000 vehicles a day, in five years* time, whereas 4,000 could reasonably be expected, a small toll would cover all costs on a total expenditure of £600,000. The bridge could be built without cost to anyone except the users, who would pay gladly for the improved system. In Vancouver, where the situation corresponded to that in Auckland, the only trouble had been tha.t the bridge was too small. “We are determined,” said Mr. Blampied, “that that mistake ! shall not be perpetrated in Auckland.” To help the movement the Milford ■ people decided to form a Milford j branch of the Harbour Bridge Associaj tion. the following officers being | elected:—Chairman. Mr. H. L. Bell Booth; secretary, Mr. C. H. M. Wills; ! treasurer, Mr. P. S. Gee: committee, Messrs. A. Currie, R. O. Phillips, A. P. ; Hopkins, F. Brown, H. C. Prentice, G. , H. 4 Mair. C. Patterson, K. Ogilvie, R. )Lu Speedy, W. McGuinness-