MOTOR ROADS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18919, 7 February 1927, Page 11

MOTOR ROADS.

REPLY TO MR WRIIiHT. a HIS FIGURES QUESTIONED. The followin S reply to the article on motor roads by Mr A. F. Wright, recent!v published in The Pr.rsi. i-'™ l - 1 Mr W. H. Wynyard, motorists' representative on the Main Highways Board: The South Island Motor Union iorwarded me a copy of your issue of January 2tth containing an article under ihc above heading by Ml A. r. Wri s !it, with a suggestion that I, as motorists' representative on the Main Highways Board, should reply to it. 1 notild like to say in the first place thai it is generally conceded as a basis for all main road control and finance that there are three parties interested, the local body, the Go\ eminent, aud tiic motorist or road user. liio local bodv' a interest represents the local user, the land-owner whose properties ure impiovcd by imprcned access, and the general body o' ' otal body ratepayers wlio use the mam roud as their common trunk communication with the outside. Tho Government, represents the general bodv politic who Ixmeiit by thu general progress of the country ami communications. . The motor vehicle owner is the road user of to-duy. . The Main Ilighwayß Act provided lor contributions irom the threo .parties, the Government providing annually £200.000 to construction, and £35.U00 to revenue, the road user providing the lyre tax and motor licenses and registration fees, and the local authorities 50 per cent, of construction costs and two-thirds of maintenance. . , It mnv be incidentally mentioned that the first Government proposals were that the Board take over both construction and maintenance costs on 2000 miles of main highways, which included the roads from Pieton to the Bluff, and from Nelson to Greymoutb in the South Island (Mr Wright's proposal is largely on the same lines hut relating to a considerably increased area of roads), but the Counties' Association practically turned this down. At a later conference between the Minister, the local bodies, and motorists, the counticj suggested the inclusion, in addition to the arterial roads, ot '.'main district" roadn, us representative of the roads of special interest to local ratepayers, and the proportions of contributions as set out by the Act were agreed on at such conference if such main district roads were included.

Consequently there were included in the main highways as (subsequently declared, many roads which are not arterial in their nature, and in which the interest of the local ratepayers predominates.

Tliia circumstance emphasises the position that local authorities do have considerable interest and responsibility towards the main highway road system as declared under the Act. " At I understand it, Mr Wright'* financial suggestions are to practically relieve the local bodies from this responsibility and to saddle the whole responsibility for construction, and the major liability for maintenance of main highways on the motorist. i If this is to. the motorist in the | South Island must anticipate an ini crease in his annual charges to meet this obligation. .Mr Wright takes the cost per mile of sealed road at £I6OO. This, including preliminary work aud leaving out any improvements in wideiung, grade, or alignment, may be considered approximately correct, but only where condition nre most favourable and the preparation work only light. Moreover, there arc many miles of road outside the level hinds of Canterbury, where, before expensive surfacing should lie carried out. the roads require widening with heavy cuttings and Idlings, and the grade and alignment need much improvement. As an example of the heavy expense involved in making such improvements, take the Wnitati roa.l leading into Dunedin, a distance of 7) miles, the cost of winch when the sealing is completed will amount to £30,000, nn average of £4OOO per mile. In addition are the numerous long and costly bridges which are being. o r will shortly need to be, erected or renewed on the different highways. Take for instance the Selwyn Bridge £IO.OOO, the Hurunui Bridge (estimated £12,000), the Inangahua Bridge, and tho Parcora Bridges. In addition are tho costs of repairing flood and extraordinary damages, which, in some years, arc particularly formidable. Consequently, I unhesitatingly sav tho construction costs required are greatly in ndvanec of the figures mentioned in the article. Referring to maintenance, in putting down £7O per mile as the cost of maintenance of a sealed road, Mr Wright is a long way out. Tho cost of maintenance on tho established lar-sealod roads of Taranaki, practicallv all of which are less than 18 feet wide, averages nearly twice that amount. New tar-sealed roads require more frequent dressings than old ones. For tar-seal-ing a 16-foot road and maintenance for five years a tender was recently received from a reliable source bv a large North Island local authority (not including preliminary preparation of the road, or maintenance of shoulders, water tables, culverts, or bridges) of over £2IOO a mile. A quota for sealing with two coats was also received from tho same source, and on the five yenrs' offer the difference ran into about £3OO per mile per year. The Board considered this nigh, but it is certain tho cost should he £250 a mile for a fairly heavy traffio road and £l5O a mile for a medium traffic road. Even assuming Mr Wright's figures were correct, his proposal to borrow the capital at 5 per cent, with 1 per cent, sinking fund is not sound finance. One |>cr cent, sinking fund assumes a loan for 36 vcars. It has been laid down the sinking fund on road loans should repay the amount during the life of the road. According to older countries' standards, for a loan for reconstruction and tar-sealing, the sinking fund should be 12 per cent. In the Wellington and Suburban Highways scheme, with a very much higher class of pavement, the loans are repayable in 12 years. In the United States provision for repayment of road loan bonds by redemption before the end of the estimated life of the road must be made. This is sound finance. Therefore the 1 per cent, suggested by Mr Wright is quite inadequate. If adopted, ind the responsibility assumed for total construction costs, the motorists would find additional loan moneys required for reconstructing their roads long before the original loans were repaid. In his figures. Mr Wricht includes the share of heavy traffic fees received bv local bodies. " These do not form part of the Main Highways Boards funds, they go to tho local body direct, and are divided on a different formula, and are applicable to maintenance on ell roads, not merclv main highways. Figures also surest that the amount anticipated from this source is not being realised, largely, it is believed, because the provisions of the regulation-; are not being rizidly enforced. The above remark* indicate that Hie figures <\ n which Mr Wright proposals are not reliable, and that tn do whr.t he suggests will cost so very mu«h more that, even from a general viewpoint, tho proposals are not practical without very largely '""« the taxsliori rf tl;e motorist beyond his present contributions. . With reference to Mr W ne.it s statement that the Mam Highways. Act was ''tie product of r*ertn Island

minds and formulated esscntiallv to meet North Island conditions," this is not tin? i.-ase. Tho Minister, before drawing tho Art, conferred with representatives of local authorities and motor associations froia both the South and North Island. Granted that there are some districts in the North Island where there were not all the Tear round main roads, there wore manv others in which the conditions were "practically the same as ni the South Island. Take Manawatu. Wairarapa. .-.mi Hawkc's Bar ns instances—the difference is that these North Island districts have welcomed the advent of the Main Highways Board and its contrihutions as valuable assistance to the local ratepayers, and have set themselves out to work wholeheartedly with the Board in the improvement of their roads. In sonic cases certainly they have gone in for permanent surfacing, hut the general effort, and the one the Board has consistently fostered, has been in the direction of improved maintenance of their gravelled roads. Two years ago the roads in the Wairarapa district were'.-is had as those in the South Island referred to bv Mr Wright To-day the position has ciitirelv changed, and the gravel roads between Wellington and Napier are a pleasure to ride over. This is entirely due to the adoption by local l.odies of the method of maintenance advised by the Board, the use of up-to-date machinery, particularly screening plants and light graders kept in constant use, and to hearty co-operation with the Board's representatives. The financial assistance of the Board has enabled this to be done, and there is a healthy rivalry between contiguous Counties in the'good maintenance of their respective main highways, while the increased contribution to maintenance from the Board has given them the ability to do this without unduly taxing their ratepayers. There is no earthly reason why the same thing should not occur in the South Island in those many cases where similar conditions obtain.

The Board is not Reeking to press the South Island Couuties to go in for expensive new highways. Generally there i 3 no need for this, but there is need for better maintenance, and there is the certainty that the adoption of the Board's recommendations in this respect, and the assistance of tlie Board's increased subsidy would have the same results as in the North Island districts mentioned. It is with the sure knowledge of this that the Board has twice increased its statutory contribution to maintenance from the original 33 per cent., firstly, to 50 percent., and this year to 00 per cent., and in order to encourage in the more settled districts tho uso of tar and bitumen scaling of highways, lias recently included such scaling as maintenance, it being in fact an advanced method of maintaining the road.

There is little doubt thai n diflicutty around Chris tchureh is tho largo number of small counties, many with only a few miles of the main radiating highways traversing them. They have not the length of highways or organisation to carry out maintenance on modern lines. Tho same difficulty exists elsewhere, for instance, between Auckland and Papakura (some 10" miles) where numerous local bodies have from under :t mile.to three miles of the south road leading through their respective districts. Beyond was the Franklin County with about 18 miles. The road was a* macadam road and in County largely a steep hilly road with grades as stiff as 1 in S. Yet the County kept and still keeps its main road in good running condition with modern methods, while tho other local Lodios, with better resources, easy gradients r.»d. beyond Otahuhti, with but little more traffic,"were unable to mako any headway and their roads became Buch a by-word for roughness that in de?pa:i they went in for costly construction, of a concrete surface, finding «.h4 larger proportion of the tost themselves.

'J here is. however, no need for such costly constructed roads in Canterhuiy. i-ersouullv, 1 should like to bcc ;i sufficiently "long stretch on, one of the roads radiating from Christchurch taken over by tho Board, and maintained by it with fixed contributions on the basis of -10 per cent, from the local bodies. To economically maintain 'a gravel road a considerable length under one authority is necessary-in order to ensure that tho light power graders and drags may be constantly employed. Ihe failuro in, maintenance around Christchurch has, 1 think, resulted from want of euch a condition. In default of any amalgamation proposals, the suggestion mado above appears the best method of ensuring its success. I would also like to sco an Arrangement whereby, In those moro populous districts around Christchurch, in which dust is a nuisance, a. trial stretch of tar-scaling bo put down aud maintained by the Board with local contributions on above basis as towards maintenance. Tho Board recognises tho reluctance of the South Island local authorities to raise heavy loans for construction. V. ah> knows that with up-to-dato maintenance, satisfactory results on grave roads can be obtained. Tho increased subsidy of 60 per cent, of tho cost, plus the local bodies' share of heavy traffic licenses under the Public Works Act, must be admitted as a substantial assi ince by the road user to this cost. With impro'ved maintenance and wc eased subsidy, the contribution from revenue account to the South Island should increase considerably, and the Board believes that the increased contribution towards maintenance in the South Island will largely balance up to the interest on construction, plus maintenance, in the North Island. To encourage maintenance, the Loard purchases road machinery for local bodies on extended terms, and many local bodies in the South Island have* during last year bought crushers, screens, and liidifc tractor graders, with a view to improring maintenance, and if tho result is not generally apparent in liieso localities, it certainly should soon be.

In addition, the Bonrd has in the press, and will shortly issue, a booklet on "Maintenance," by Mr Tyndull. its engineer, which is believed will lw of great assistance in assisting tho bcller upkeep of the highways. I have '.-.ken Mr Wright's statement as to the general bad condition of the main roads in the Sonth Island ns erred, though I doubt very much if such a wholesale statement as he mal- in this respect can he accepted as applicable to the whole of the South Ist ' for I know that many of the counties arc hcartilv co-operating with the Board's representatives and tho rnads in these counties are in good condition. If he were correct, then I certainly say that, judginc by results, when counties havo loyally co-operated with the Board, the local bodies, and not the Board, are to blame.

An article such as printed certainly docs not assist towards such a cooperation as is necessary, as it raises false hopes of possibilities which mav induce local bodies to anticipate a mUloi.' in at the cost of the motorist if t'liev nnl-r hold off impntTement to their highways sufficientlv lonj. V to recently, the Board has. as is recessarv in inculcating new_ reforms. <L»a'' with the question of maintenance 1 ~.elv in an educative or advising manner, but with the recent increased subsidy, its interest becomes the' creator, altd it is tishtening up its rcquirsni*nts in maintenance, and has so advised its representative'. With reference to Mr Wright's suggestion that snme of the South Island moi« , vs ire hpini anpli<vl by the B:ianl to the North Tsland. this "taternerf: \3 contrary to fact. The portion of the revenue representing tho contribution of the South Island which baa not bean

expended there is intact, and undoubtedly will remain so. 'lhe heavy construction work being carried out in the North Island, so far as is not. covered by its share of tho Government contribution to tho construction fund, !<• financed from loan account, tho intert-i on which is debited to the, amount ct the revenue fund which stands t 0 the it". , of the North Island. The Board's resolutions and financial position ftillv safeguard the arrangement made by the Act as to division of moneys received from motor vehicles between the North mid South Island. It is natural with new legislation that amendments are from time to time necessary to suit- as they arise. Some amendments have been made, and conditions have enabled the Board *° s-Vstanttallv assist local bodies by hvrgelv increasing maintenance contributions. Future amendments will be necessary. I do not say the Act i« perfor 1 but my main object is to indicate tho difficulties in the way of Mr Wright's proposals, and the dnnzcr in them to tho motorists whose interest* I represent on the Board.