STREET EXTENSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 302, 17 December 1908, Page 2

STREET EXTENSION.

With the steady expansion of the town, ,tho need for relieving tile nuiiii street of the heavy truilie is becoming more apparent and as the town progresses and its progress must, with the completion of the harbor iniprovements, he considerably accelerated in the near future the need will become more apparent. It is plain that either Molosworth street or Ciill street will have to be extended to the main street to take the truffle. The ratepayers did a bad stroke of business iu LSII2 when they could have bought the, necessary hind for the purpose, that belonging to -Messrs. 1). Kerry and Mcintosh, for about £2OOO, the whole cost of the extension being estimated at the time at CiOOO. Iu VMo ilr Richard Cock urged a similar scheme, which wis estimated to run into JCSOOO, but the ratepayers rejected the proposal at the poll. ' Nothing was done in the matter till ln»t year, when the Council, in conjunction with the Harbor Hoard, endeavored to obtain the. necessary land from the Railway Department to extend Molesworlh street to the main road. It was thought, and ilr. McXab (thci acting Minister for Railways) promised, that the railway would give a strip by the goods shed, hut, as our readers know. Cabinet failed to give ell'cct to Mr. McXab's promise and asked the prohibitive sum of £u.)7o for the lau I. clearlv showing that the Department did not want to part with the strip. Thi» scheme, of course, had to be dropped. Other proposals have been sug cesled. One. is to extend (!ill street by bridging the llnatoki, purchase Hie abandoned railway line to the corner of Nolan and Co.'s building and a litifl strip thence to lirougham street, narrow the Iluatoki between concrete walls (as is done in the railway yard), coveriii" il. forming the street over Ihe river, and nci.uiring from (lie Harbor Board a narrow strip on the east sick of the stream to allow of the road being made the full width. The estimated cost is—purchase of old railway line, £2-100; purchase of the railway property nextXolan and Co.'s £1000; erectionof culvert, metalling, etc., £2-100;

I a total of £SBOO. This scheme Mr. Kendall, the borough engineer, favois. He explains that the narrowing and culverting of the stream could be left until some future time. The old railway line would give a street 25ft " width, . allowing ample room for two carts to pass. Again, it is proposed 1./ extend liill street, bridge the Hualoki at an angle downstream to Nolan and Co.'s, purchase of Nolan and Co.'s property a"'l put the road through there. Another scheme is to extend tiill street through -Mr. Berry's and junction with Ariki street. This would mean the purchase of .Mr. Berry's property and seven feet of the Taranaki Hotel property. The cost of the property would be fairly considerable, though a portion of it might be recouped by selling the unu-ed portion of Mr. Berry's land, which, with two frontage*, should be >.f no little value Were this scheme einoruccd, it is understood the Council could make it- own terms with Mr Berry in reirard to payment. Still another suggestion is to'acquire the Tara.ntki Hotel property, or the major portion ,f the Mime, and take ille -arect through to a point near King street. The matter is one that should not be 10-t sinhl of. The borough's indebtedness is fairly con-iderable as it i-, we know, and for that reason one does not care to advocate the contracting of further liabilifie-. but the point is that the work will have to be done sooner or later, and I the longer it is delayed the greater I will be the cost to the borough. ■