NATIONAL HIGHWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 February 1921, Page 5

NATIONAL HIGHWAYS.

GOVERNMENT’S POLICY. An outline of the Government’s scheme for the construction and maintenance of main roads was given by the Hon. J. G. Coates in Christchurch. He said a Bill was now being drafted embodying the Government’s policy The underlying principle was to make it Somebody’s job to look after the national highways, this having become necessary owing to the advent and increasing use of the motor. The Government had no desire to interfere with local control of main roads, but was seeking means to provide for greater uniformity in the matter of maintenance than was possible under present conditions. It was therefore proposed that the local bodies in certain areas to be defined should elect a commission, or board, the principal duty of which would be to control the portion of main road within its areA whether the distance was 50 or 100 miles.

It was proposed to set up a fund to augment the amounts already voted by Parliament for the upkeep of the Dominion’s main roads; the augmentation would come from a tax on motors or on tyres. The Government anticipated opposition to these proposals, but he did not think it would come from motorists. He thought that if motorists were assured that good roads would be provided, and roads that would bo properly maintained, they would be quite willing to pay the tax. The crux of the matter was, of course, the maintenance of the roads once they had been properly constructed. Difficulties arising, perhaps, through lack of community of interest, would be overcome, he hoped, by the assistance of the larger local bodies.