TO OBTAIN GOOD ROADS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1918, Page 7

TO OBTAIN GOOD ROADS.

VICTORIAN SYSTEM ADVOCATED.

, T»® diffieultt matter of determining what are the main roads of a country, which is used in New Zealand 1 as an argument against the Government taking control of the construction and maintenance of main roads, has been overcome m Victoria by the appointment of a board, consisting of three well-qualified engineers, for the purpose of deciding which thoroughfares are tobe declared main roads, and also for allocating the proportion of the cost of construction and maintenance to be borne by the various local authorities whose districts' are traversed by .the main roads. Explaining the operation of the Victorian Country Road Boards Act. at. ai meeting of the- Onehunga-Man-ukaui Chamber of Commerce on Thursday evening, Mr M. H. Wynyard, president of the Good Eoads Association, said the funds: for construction work was provided by a Government authorisation, of. a year for five years. Half the construction cost were, as- expended;, charged to- the local bodies according- to benefits received; as distinguished from the- length of road' traversing- the district, as loans for extended periods. The- other half of the cost was borne by iflie (State. Any declaration by the Board as- to the classing of any thorough-rare- a main road', or the alltooation- of liability could be objected, to. by the local body interested, and the appear carried* to the Minister. Jh practice, said Mi- Wynyard', the engineers ami: iplant of the various local bodies had, under ilhe- Board's? supervision, carried out most of the ctmßtruction and maintenance- work.. The advantages- of the Victorian- method! over thepresent New Zealand system of smair ; disconnected grants- and' subsidies- was 'the- setting out of a comprehensive scheme of highways, the laying out of the- necessary work for yeara aliead', so that all operations would finally co-or-dlina-te into a complete whole, the economies effected by one control as compared with administration by numerous local bodies, and the extensive employment of labor-saving devices and machinery. .Mr Wynyard said tflio association Wad already drawn a form of petition to- Par- ' liament urging the adoption of a roadta - policy similar to the- Victorian system, ! and intended bringing the proposals, before the public throughout the Domnnibn.