BOROUGH STREETS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 April 1918, Page 7

BOROUGH STREETS.

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. lu llie course of a statement made by the Mayor of New Plymouth at, its meeting ou Monday, Mr. Bui Was usual, upon tin; expiration of the financial year, for the Mayor to review (flic work of the council during the yearHe proposed, however, to confine himself to an endeavor to outline sonietliing in the nature of a streets' policy, in the hope that it might assist the council to carry out its street works upon a definite system and enable the various streets requiring attention to be reconstructed in a permanent manner. He referred to the accumulation of work ivhen the present engineeer took charge and to the way he had endeavored to overtake that work. Since Mr. Cook took charge the crusher hud 'been thoroughly overhauled, in order to have efficient and economical working. The roller and traction engine also required the same attenion, and things generally, owing to the change in engineers, had to be practically remodelled. Referring to the tar plant, the Mayor 6aid: In the past we have had no provision for storing tar. Wc now have a lank capable of holding some 15,000 gallons, and the handling of the tar is now done much more expeditiously and conveniently. The old concrete mixer has been converted into a tar mixer, with the result that we are now able to proceed with the footpaths at a much more reasonable price and with much more expedition than, was possible previously. The old method of tarring by hand is quite out of dato now, and the council consequently had to puichase a tar sprayer, which has just arrived. It has been urged for some time that we should adopt some permP.nent policy, and the time, in my opinion, has arrived when there should be no further delay in this direction. Concrete has been spoken of fieely for road construction, but the cost is so gfeat compared with other classes ■that it is practically out of the question for Uiis borough for many years to dome, and we must look for a cheaper and yet efficient method. Tar penetration (that is pouring or spraying tar upon the metal as laid and spread) has been tried liero in the Fitz-roy-BreaKwater and other roads, and is effective, and good results can be obtniJied, bat the drawback in a climate such as ours with so much wet and dust is that the work must be carried out an far as possible in fine, dry weather, and really fine at that. The partial failure of some parts of the tram route can be traced in a great measure to this drawback. Owing to continuous wet weather, the metal lay barv and exposed to traffic, with thr, accompanying dirt and dust, and could not be, or was not. sufficiently cleaned to allow the tar to penetrate satisfactorily, Aftw consultation with Mr- Cook, the method of construction I would propose to be adopted is that of tar sealing. If this be done, the road would he completed as a metalled road, and within, say, 12 or 18 months at the outside, tarred t,o whatever width is decided upon. Our tar machine will do 12ft in two trips up and down, and this would appear to be most economical and suitable where the streets are not metalled tlic lull width. The advantage if this method is that Ihe work of reforming and metalling and re-making our streets-can be complete and the tarring done at any time within, say, 12 months, or when weather conditions are suitable. If the tar penetration system were generally adopted, I am afraid that, apart from the extra cost, very little would he done each year. To be a complete success, it must not be hurried, and must bo done Ir,- summer weather only.

Comparing the length df finished road surfaces, the position will be, approximately, as shown:—Concrete 1, tar macadam 1 4-sths, tar penetration 2%, tar sealing (including road repairs ar/ metalling) 4, or, in other words, for just under £3OO, 10 chains of concrete road can be laid, IS chains of tar macadam, 25 chains tar penetration, and 40 chains tar sealing. Concrete can, with care, be laid in showery weather. The portion of road being dealt with must, however, bo closed against traffic and for some time after laying down. 'Tar surfacing and tar penetration especially can only be cariied out in a successful manner during warm weather. In both cases traffic should be diverted at least until the final rolling hiu heeji done. Tn the case of tar sealing the road can be, and is, usually repaired at any convenient time, the sealing being done the following summer, Little interference with the traffic, is necessary, and it hardly ever occurs that the road need be closed. to ordinary traffic.

I understand that tar scaling has been adopted in tie southern part of the province, where it has proved satisfactory, and our engineer in of opinion that it would prove equally so in Ibis borough for the majority of tlie streets. The cost, as has been pointed out, of maintenance is increasing vearlv. and the council must grapple with the quoM seriously, and this tarring method appears to be one that is most suitable t-> our requirements'and incsns at the prseut time. When -■o~: t.uai our borough covers some -P"'PO .teres, tlwt the distance from points (" points coir; milc-s, that our metal itt the whole ' ough has to be caned from one extreme end of the borough, that Ibis necessitates heavy wear and tear on the loads over which this traffic passftf., and that the cost of haulage exceeds, that, of the cost of metal in a great number of cases, you can realise what ire are faced with when the outlying streets and roads, which cannot 1»q left much longer, come under consideration. To undertake a definite system, however, even under the most economical conditions, means heavy expenditure, and I am certain that our ordinary revenue is not nearly sufficient to bear the cost of the works which are actually in sight at the present moment. The council must, if works are to be pushed ahead within reasonable time, consider one of two courses: (a) To do the work out of overdraft; (b) to do the work by loan. As regards the former, I am very distinctly against such a i-ourse being adopted. I do not think that when borrowing powers were given it was ever intended that an overdraft should be used as a permanent loan. The authority is given as a convenience to be used upon real emergencies to allow of services being carried out in anticipation of the current year's revenue. However tliat may be, om account this year will scarcely warrant any further trenching on, and it appears to me that there is nothing for it but to endeavor to obtam authority for the raising of a special loan. Continuing, the Mayor said: We have an electric lorry, at a cost of -£2OOO, on order, the

purchase of which could not lie delayed auy longer, nor could that of the tar sprayer. We are also requiring other plant, including a small roller,-and if we adopt lairing vigorously, will probablyrequire another tar .storage tank-. Whilst mainfeimnce cost is lower with tarred streets, the cost of keeping them in a clean condition is higher, and we cannot continue Ihe present costly system of hand labor. Therefore an up-to-date, automatic street sweeper is absolutely necessary. In. fact, if we are to carry Oil the work efficiently and economically it is essential that we should have, all the labor-saving machinery it ia possible for the council to afford. In order to give the council and the ratepayers some idea of what works are in sight and the" probable cost, the Mayor submitted estimates for works authorised, and estimates that have been prepared but works not authorised, most of which, he thought, would be necessary as soon us they could be attended to. The iigurea given were:' Works authorised '£9B6; additional for tarring £1501; total, £2550. Estimates given but works not dealt with, £4381; extra for tarring, £2300: total. £7275. Grand total, £9825. The return does not allow for footpaths. .Much comment was made as to the state of Devon Street footpaths, but no one suggested where the money waa to come from. When I .took office the large sunrof £l5O was allotted out of loan for Devon Street, which, as we all know, extends for the whole length of the borough, from east to west. So that something should be done, £2OO was taken from the £42,000 loan to reconstruct these paths from Liardet Street to the post office, but Devon Street requires attention practically from one end to the other. We also allocated another, £SOO out of the same loan for other streets in. the centre of the. town, but much more remains t6 be done lierc also. As regards the system of making paths, there are several classes to choose from—flagging, asphalt'and tar and sand. The former, however, in my opinion, isj out of the question on account of the cost, when we consider the very large area of footpaths that requires immediate attention, the position being that we can for the same amount of money construct approximately two chains of asphalt as against one chain of concrete flagging. At any rate, we have practically agreed that asphalting is to be adopted, councillors having voted absolutely against tar and sanding, but I am afraid some cheaper method must be found if the outlying parts are to get attention within a reasonable period, unless we are prepared to borrow sufficient to complete, say, a considerable area in the more closely settled part of the town, after which we might gradually complete the outlying parts from revenue. The ratepayers who are continuously calling for a "vigorous" policy and permanent and systematic work, if they are really in earnest, must authorise us to borrow the necessary money to carry out such a policy. I want to say, however, that once we have put all or any of our streets in order out of loan there should be no borrowing to repair streets as we are doing now, and I am advocating a loan so that our revenue may be used for proper maintenance. If we make new roads and put in order the streets wanting attention at the present time out of revenue, we have no means to keep up our maintenance, and must continue muddling along. My object is to have some definite policy outlined so that my successor and yours, when they take office, will not need to occupy their first year- in grasping the situation. If we have a definite programme of works, and the money provided,, the work of the borough should go on continuously towards completion. It is also unfair to an engineer that he should not be able to continue his work whatever mayor or councillors may be in office, nor it is fair in the case of a change of engineer that the new man should have to grope about for a year or so to get his bearings. Referring to loans, I should like to add that I consider a more liberal sinking fund should be provided in the ease of street loans—sufficient, in fact, if practicable, to pay off the full amount at maturity. For the £42,000 loan a i per cent, sinking fund is provided, and this at the end of the period of twenty years for which it was raised, and allowing compound interest at o per cent., will amount to under £7OOO, showing what a heavy liability we are handing down to our successors.