HARBOUR BRIDGE V. TUNNEL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 286, 2 December 1936, Page 22

HARBOUR BRIDGE V. TUNNEL.

Most people prefer to live above ground. The first tiling to consider is: Is a better means of transit than we now have required? Personally, 1 think yes. It' is not just a local question or problem of linking up Queen Street with Devonport or Nortlicote. It is a matter of linking up the whole of the North with the biggest city in New Zealand. Unquestionably the district which has shown the greatest growth in New Zealand is the North, with its milder climate and cheaper land. This being so, it boils down to what is the best way to connect up—bridge or tunnel. The tunnel advocates declare that bridges are out of date. However, across tho Golden Gate they have just thrown two bridges costing millions of pounds—not dollars. The main bridge connected up about the middle with an island, s<> here, surely, was a great opportunity to use the tunnel .scheme, | as the problem of ventilation could have been easier solved. However, the gods or powers that were in control decided that a bridge was the best proposition. Some people say that the bridge would spoil our harbour, that' is, from a utility point; however, as there is not enough deep water to float the hulks where the projected site of the bridge is proposed to be erected, that point can be ruled out. To prove my contention, I would point out that most of our old ships that were find there last anchorage roughly between North Head and Point Resolution. Truly they have mostly disappeared, having been sold to Japan to return to us as trade commodities. To those who regard a bridge as an tin-1 sightly blot upon the landscape, or

rather seascape, that is just a matter of design and cost, and we could 110 doubt have the bridge built just as beautiful as we are prepared to pay for. As to the safety in the event of war, it is not worth considering—a bridge can be blown up or down, so can a tunnel be flooded. However, 1 do not think that this point enters into the question at all. In the event of world war, New Zealand would not be able to defend herself if the combatants desired to harm us. However. I think that the wan ing sections would be .so busy where population and wealth are so much greater, that we nee<l not worry. After all our total population is only, all told, about the size of a decent city. New Zealand would be just one of the minor prizes distributed to the victors, just as in the last war. If you are sure or think that you are sure of acquiring your neighbour's property, why knock it about. Filially, I would ask the tunnel advocates and poets, how could they warble that lovely ballad "I Stood On the Bridire at Midnight" in a tunnel. " ARTHUR H. CRANWELL. !