ACROSS THE HARBOUR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 413, 23 July 1928, Page 8

ACROSS THE HARBOUR

IS AIR TRAFFIC POSSIBU; A TUNNEL ADACATE

A fortnight ago The Sun duku-v letter from a e t himself X. Sh. Ore." who that the harbour bridge sehet^ 4 "- be far too expensive, and »i that a tunnel would be tory and much cheaper h» , gested that within a few , *“ transport might make both * tunnel unnecessary. u * e is-

In reply a letter'from -(iranri ~ was published. This laughed at “X. Sh. Ore’," SEE?** air traffic and proposed that cost of the bridge was estim.!L ti ' only about £700.000. the should allow a bond scheme to S° e:: moted to collect funds for the ht?"’ -X. Sh. Ore- now answers H* Slam’s” letter:—

“Grand Slam” was so anxi throw down his cards on thTwJ 1 bridge foolishness that he low suit. I pointed out that % ,72 ’ sn was going to develop so rapitoT' the supposition that traffic for wT ngarei and the Far North necessity insist on crossing the W temata ua a bridge was just sunL tion. Within a few years all S*? trance traffic passenger and list weight merchandise — will be ai. v If the Government were leS £ t ±T bolstering up political railwa.rV Zealand would now have air from North Cape to Bluff. L 1 he Sun would do the Dominion a r> service by campaigning for romatal air service development andpublic opinion in this direction. W‘'Grand Slant" facetiously criticises - assertion by drawing pen picture," thousands of citizens, each own in. airplane, getting tangled up. he imtr that it is not necessary for each chato own an airplane any more that* omnibus, or tram or railway carriaL ferry boat. -Grand Slam” in youtWi innocence has obviously been misled the Bridge Committee’s propaganda the circumstances, he is let off witt caution.

As to Mr. Hopkins’s weird belief u». Auekland is “an earthquake country * is sheer invention. No part of N> Zealand is so free from earthquakes Auckland. Ha must have some weiideas of tube construction also, he reads The Sun regularly he she have noticed (June 23) that a tui three-quarters of a mile long, has beconstructed from Oakland to Alarnet (San Francisco) under the San Attonio estuary of the harbour. It wji carry 12,000 motor-cars daily plus estrian traffic, and cost £900,000. tube replaced the Webster Bridgi (Note. —San Francisco is pulling dorr not erecting bridges.) And the lenrl of the tube is just the distance that w2 be covered by the t new vehicular fenroute.

I was not wrong in saying that Sydney Harbour Bridge will cost a1a0£9,000,000. £9,000,000. The cost of approaches, part of the cost of the bridge schet and Sydney Bridge is much short? than any proposed bridge over theH’*. temata. The agitation for a Waiumata bridge has the enthusiastic support of those landowners whose property is adjacent to the pictured t«. mini of the bridge—and of no one els*. A bridge rate in addition to the preser rates is unthinkable. N. SH. ORE.