RENEWAL OF BRIDGES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 46, 24 February 1939, Page 6

RENEWAL OF BRIDGES

WANGANUI COUNTY LOAN PROPOSAL RATEPAYERS SANCTION IT The ratepayers of the county ot Rangitikei, at a poll taken on Wednesday, sanctioned the raising of a loan of £ll,OOO for the purpose of reconstructing in concrete and steel many of the old wooden bridges throughout the county. The voting was: For the proposal 278 Against it 179 All of the bridges to be renewed are old and are very unsuitable for traffic conditions to-day. As the work to be undertaken will be of a very permanent nature, the intention is that the cost of building the bridges should be spread over a period of years and not be a direct charge on the ratepayers of to-day. The Local Government Loans Board gave its sanction to the loan being raised for a term of 30 years, and so endorsed the council’s policy of spreading the repayment of the money. The £ll,OOO to be raised does not represent the lull cost ot the bridges to be rebuilt. Those on main highways will carry the present highway subsidy of £3 for £l, while it can be anticipated that the bridges on county roads will receive a Government subsidy of not less than £1 for £l. The total approximate cost of the bridges to be rebuilt, and of which the £ll,OOO proposed to be borrow-'''’ is the councils’ share, will be about £25,000.