Linking Two Centres

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 971, 14 May 1930, Page 8

Linking Two Centres

WORK ON MAIN ROAD SOUTH THE completion of the concrete road from Auckland to Papakura some 1 years ago gave motorists cause to look forward to some time in the near future when a permanent surface would be provided from the City to Hamilton. With the letting of a contract for the tar-sealing of a further stretch at Ohinewai, the realisation of this ideal is brought nearer, hut there is still much to be done before the promise of the Main Highways Board some years ago of a first-class motor road between Auckland and Hamilton within five years is accomplished.

The Huntly Town Board was the first local body to more after the announcement of the Main Highways Board, and the early completion of a stretch of tar sealing within its boundaries further raised the hopes of motoriste. The Public Works Department, under the direction of the Highways Board, also carried out work from the Whangamarino Bridge near Mercer to Ohinewai and it is a contract for the linking up of this section with the southern end of the stretch near Hangiriri that has just been let. Improved maintenance by the Waikato County Council from Ohinewai to Huntly and on the route from Huntly to Ngaruawahia also afforded relief. The Hamilton-Ngaruawahia stretch was then the source of complaint and the Main Highways Board decided, as a step in the right direction, to overcome the ever-present menace of dust and loose sand along this route by insisting that a metal chip surface be maintained. This was done to within a few miles of Hamilton and a great improvement made. The Waikato County Council, however, soon realised that a properly Beaded permanent surface would be by far the most economical proposition and accordingly instructed the engineer to prepare plans and estimates for the work which would satisfy the Main Highways Board. It is therefore reasonable to expect that in the near future some tangible scheme will be put forward to offer relief to motorists from the dangerous conditions which rule between Hamilton and Ngaruawahia. A few days ago the contract was let for the construction of the short gap between the tar-sealed surfaces north of Huntly and south of Rangiriri. In the meantime two new bridges are under construction, one at Rangiriri and the other near Mercer. Both will mean a very marked improvement in the alignment of the road and will obviate dangerous turns. The former is now nearing completion and it should not be long before the Public Works Department will be able to seal permanently the approaches and throw it open for traffic. Work on the bridge near Mercer is progressing slowly hut steadily. Repeated delays to traffic on the one-car bridge near Ngaruawahia have been common in the past, but it is reported that the Highways Board has arranged to lease the existing railway bridge from the Railway Department as soon as the new bridge under construction for the line is completed. This will enable two one-way bridges to be provided, one for traffic south and the other for north-bound vehicles The work of decking will be undertaken out of the board’s funds, but a sufficiently long lease has been secured to make this worth while. The bridge cylinders will probably be made use of a few years hence should the Railway Department decide to widen the new structure. In that event,

the board will have to consider the building of a new bridge for road traffic. It w r ill thus be seen that there is every reason to expect a permanently surfaced road from Mercer To Huntly by next summer, a distance of 27 miles. With the 20 miles of concrete near Auckland and sundry shorter stretches of good road surface, there will have been provided about 60 miles of the 82 between the two main centres. The gaps will include the six-mile main highway from Hamilton to Ngaruawahia, and a short distance under the control of the Ngaruawahia Town Board. The remaining length of road from Papakura to Mercer comes under the jurisdiction of the Franklin County Council, and consists in all of abont 16 miles. Very liberal terms have been offered the Franklin council by the Main Highways Board for this work, which not only provides a first-class highway between Pokeno and Bombay, but will also enable the Bombay deviation to be metalled. The county council, up to the present, has not seen fit to submit loan proposals to its ratepayers, and this failure is causing road users a great deal of expense in wear and tear, as well as delaying the fulfilment of the Highway Board’s promise, which amounts almost to an issue of national importance. In this connection it has been contended that the deviation will not be of practical use to the county, but motorists in Franklin were not slow to raise a protest when it was suggested that the deviation would not be available during the past holiday months. Road users are unanimous in the opinion that the highly-crowned , road with a liberal dressing of large, loose metal over *the “Razorback” is one of the most dangerous pieces of road in the North Island. Motorists point out that at one time the Franklin county was recognised as an example of how roads should be kept in order, but agree that the more progressive attitude of other local bodies has overshadowed Franklin’s once proud position. This question was discussed recently in a conference of the Franklin district chambers of commerce with the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. E. A. Ransom. The Minister agreed that the principle of maintaining roads by land rating should be reviewed, but pointed out that the Main Highways Board last year spent a total of £2,000,000. all paid in by road users through the benzine tax, on highway construction and maintenance. The conference, on the other hand, passed a remit urging that main arterial roads should be nationalised and that, to raise funds for this purpose, the petrol-tax should be increased. Motorists are not likely to view this with favour, since, to provide additional revenue equal to the general rates levied by county councils alone throughout the Dominion, the tax would have to be increased by a further 3d a gallon.