HIGHWAY IN NEED OF REPAIR.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20919, 28 July 1933, Page 18

HIGHWAY IN NEED OF REPAIR.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE to KAIKOURA. SUGGESTED UNDERTAKING. The need for immediate atfca&* being given by the Main mZ? Board to a nine miles sbS? 1 main highway between Waiaa** Kaikoura, across what is know* the Whale's Back, was T*Tijm by Mr R. Le Clerc Latter. trfrS* Range, yesterday. Apart importance to the settlers in ft|i trict, he said, the road was vAa as an alternative to the Chub route to Kaikoura, but at p2! its surface—mainly the Conway and the Mason *b»h was such that a little bad ««£. made it practically iropassafafct motor traffic. It was intended taw the Minister for Public Works ft. Hon. J. Bitchener) visited the fe trict in about ten days' time to fc that something should be improve it. This was a work, Mr Latter te. K tended, that could readily be tafe. ■ taken by unemployed labour, ill that was wanted was that •m B metal surface should be Omrffe B and that the clay banks tfrnjjg I cut down at the corners. Qm* B the things that made it sjenjb m suitable was that no rock eSS ■ or blasting was needed. ThcnrS I good camp sites, and after what was being done on fee if insula roads, he considered figg, camp of 100 could advantaoMfe be established at the WhalefjjJ Value of the Bead. It was necessary that this •!■* tive route to Kaikoura shofiijg in good condition, as it fj2 be urgently needed atanytaßqSg the Whale's Back was the m&m tion not in good order, lie GUfe route might readily be h)a(feif% j slips in the high cuttings. VatflS j the service buses to Netooa lift |be held up, as they mM be unable to negotiate the Wkm | Back in its present rorafitine, !► cently a bus taking KaOßonM bailers to Waxau bM^lil the route, but had only gottaS by man-power, and on ttetfltt journey the driver had QMJSP it not worth trying, PK4NjriHk go the longer way round IfX "To attend to this ! not be the affair of the * JH| County Council alone," I tinued. "In this norUiemj»|§j{p of us (myself and one dMIK i the only ratepayers, and fhfeifi > county has treated us qrffa3||| ! patching the road wheaciVgS have asked for it. But MjjH i thing is really a main aHB matter. In addition, the Wgffi- \ the main outlet to the nM||gjjfl| head (Wajau) for bettret|fHß| 60 people from the settlement in the The Kaikoura County OMBfIH not deal with the road »JK§| > in its area, and these mH: : not approach the Amur! tgM| I Council because they are Mi|lM ■ ratepayers." Wm[ Troubles of Local *■» J : From the point of viWf|||§ people in the immediate iMfßf was high time somethinf to this section of the spite of its condition it MH|i increasingly used, said lkfl|' Six years ago only 300 tvM| had been carried over season, but last year Hm» *HHp had increased to 4700. tMSW work, however, was constwßjft ing held up, not by the sbrtNjfß rivers, but by the slippf"<|B tion of the road. This MR of the settlers had had tojffiHß lambs about 60 miles way at Parnassus iniitewl' jiff miles, simply because y. jBHH ! Back could not be netoWWHHI The whole trouble wiai : ;HHg over the Whale's Bade wtfaWl had never had a solid WtKßm. It had only been TBttamm&m and the clay was coming WSjk Any bad weather or saWtfMg made it hopeless. Bec«aw*B« bad places in it peopte §«■■ way had to put the!Cfc«H|H cars for the whole result that the soft surn«H» through was damaged. It was not suggested were agitating for this bridges should be built delay was caused when ™*lffl| rose, but this was neve *3HH| a few hours, as the w«IJW| them well up to the {Jgffllll and they went down qmwgp,)