PUBLIC WORKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 96, 24 April 1928, Page 10

PUBLIC WORKS.

NORTH OF AUCKLAND.

LINKING SMALL SETTLEMENTS,

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

DARGAVILLE, Monday

To the north of Matakohe are the districts of I'araki and Ararua. Settlers have long had to contend with lack of access and it is only this year that the settler of Ararua will be able to reach Matakohe, seven miles distant, by an

"all-weather" road. During this summer the Public Works Department completed about four and a-half miles of metalling, linking up with a further three miles constructed by the Otamatea County Council. The Ararua settlers themselves completed over £300 worth of formation. A contract has been let to Mr. J. Segedin to limestone a further mile and a-half. which will be completed this season, giving settlers access to the railway at Paparoa, via Matakohe.

On the Parahi-Rehia Road the Public \\ orks Department is metalling the worst gaps, so that this settlement should be accessible this winter for the first time.

A survey lias just been completed by tho Public Works Department ol the Dargaville-Whangarei main highway over the Mangaru hills. This section of the highway, which also gives access to the Kirikopuni railway station from Dargaville, although of an excellent grade, is known by motorists for its sharp corners and lack of visibility. Within the next two or three weeks a gang of relief workers will be put on this section of the highway, which will relieve unemployment in the district and transform the road, which at present is considered dangerous.