NORTHCOTE'S PROGRESS

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 124, 28 May 1928, Page 9

NORTHCOTE'S PROGRESS

AN ENTIRE TRANSFORMATION

£30,000 LOAN EXPENDED.

MILE OF CONCRETE ROADWAY.

Witli tlic completion of the loan works and various other improvements taking shape, the appearance of the Xortheote !>orougli lias undergone ;_i entire transformation. The main street, from the vharf to the war memorial in Onewa Road, has been completely reconstructedj >»nd concrete paving laid for the full length, for a width of eighteen feet in the centre of the carriageway, and the shoulders 011 either side are to be surfaced with bitumenous material. The footpaths in Queen Street, also reconstructed to permanent level, are simi•arly to 1m? tar-sealed. This was not included in the contract let to J. J. Craig. Ltd. In neither case, however, will sealing operations 1 e undertaken until after the expiration of the contractors' maintenance period, at the end of August. During the ensuing three months tlie winter rains should thoroughly consolidate both shoulders and footpath formation. The construction of this mile of concrete roadway has vastly changed Xortlicote's " Queen Street,*' along many of the frontages of which improvements, in keeping with the altered surroundings, also have been 'fleeted by individual property owners.

From Back to Front. The transfiguration of Belle Vue Avenue has also removed a reproach from the district. The natural contour of this thoroughfare—if that term could be correctly applied to a street impassable in winter to vehicular traffic— earned for it the opprobious epithet of "the switchback." Now, however, with the elimination of the steep grades and disappearance of the gaping ruts in the clay roadway; with the substitution of well-formed paths (the layout of which is designed to beautify the property frontages) on either side of a good, smooth-surfaced macadamised roadway, it ranks with the best of the borough's aveuues, both in respect to pedestrian walks and motor carriageway. This contract was carried out by H. Bray and Co., Ltd., of Oneliunga. Stormwater Drainage. Interwoven with both the Queen Street and Belle Vue Avenue work was the question of tlie efficient discharge of the stormwater from the surrounding area, which ponded in Den by Gully, creating a marshy swamp, which in season became a veritable mosquito-breeding ground. 411 these troubles were overcome by the construction of a concrete conduit, three feet in diameter, from the Denby Gully

[dip iu Queen Si reel, straight u> the •■astern beach. The 12-inch stormwater drain from Belle Vne Avenue is led into this new conduit, which passes under the toe of the ltank of the children's playing area and the football and cricket grounds in the new municipal recreation ground. All this locality is now well drained, and the hollows will lx> filled in. as funds I become availabe. with the earth to be excavated from the bank on the northern side of the recreation reserve, which eventually will l»e terraced. Five returned soldiers are at present thus engaged in the children's playground, under the unemployment relief scheme. "The whole face of this gully ha? thus been enhanced from an unsightly and u~el<*si swamp, to a potential lvauty spot and additional playing area. The <-oi.tr.u--tors for the construction of the stor m - water conduit through Denby <;ally wenMessrs. H. Valentine and Son. of Grey Lynn. Loan Money Insufficient. The original loan authorised for the-e works was £27,400. and it was subsequently decided to raise the full ten per cent addition allowed without a poll, or ' £2740. This made a total of £.'50.140 ' available. The works in Queen St reel 1 have absorbed the >tormwater drain £1785, and Belle Yue Avenue fXMMi. making a total expenditure of £21M»44. The balance, £496. is insufficient for th" . sealing of the Queen Street footpathand shoulders. Therefore, the loan J balance will lie employed to seal the surface of tlie footpaths. The sealing of J the shoulders between the concrete pn\ing and channelling is to be done out of 1 this vear's revenue, at ail estimated cost 1 of £i3OO.

Maintenance work in 'lie various streets lias re-ulted in considerable improvement. The grader ha- been busy on the roads throughout the borough, and everywhere these surfaces are in a condition to promptly disperse lh" m inter rains that may now I>e expected. I Almost every -trect in every part of the [borough has received attention of Ihi- ! nature. Still furtlrer work of rounding off -boulders is contemplated. .-hould weather conditions permit, particularly in Gladstone Road. The general maintenance work will be slackened during the winter months, except fur surface coatings of roads and necessary attention to footbaths, Great improvementare being made in Alfred Street. Milton Hoad. and the Sulphur Bcach ana.