55-YEAR-OLD BRIDGE

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23445, 27 September 1941, Page 8

55-YEAR-OLD BRIDGE

Strong Request For Renewal '‘MENACE TO TRAFFIC AT KAIAPOI ” Since April, 1929, the Kaiapoi Borough Council has been trying to persuade the Government to replace the Kaiapoi bridge on the Main North road. In a letter sent this week to the Minister for Public Works (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong) the council makes an urgent appeal for action. It says the bridge is now 55 years old and “still stands as a damning example of gross neglect, unjustified procrastination, and unfulfilled pledges.” “We venture to say,” the council’s letter reads, “that there is not a worse structure of its kind on the main highway of the South Island, carrying a relative capacity of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It has become an eyesore to the community and a menace to all who use it. “Only recently a pedestrian was killed by a passing motorist, and numerous persons have suffered minor and major injuries through the narrowness of this bridge, which has only an 18-foot carriageway. On account of the menace from motor traffic the headmaster of the primary school has been compelled to forbid the children using the bridge on their way to and from school. “On May 19, 1931, the council was advised by your department that an immediate survey would be made and plans for a new bridge prepared. “Much correspondence passed between the council and your department during the next seven years, but nothing of a practical nature accomplished. “However, it is not for us to hold you responsible for the delinquencies of your predecessors, but we do feel justified in asking why the promises and assurances that have since been made have not been carried into effect.”