ROAD TUNNEL PLANS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29192, 30 April 1960, Page 15

ROAD TUNNEL PLANS

Council Seeks Information

The Heathcote County Council last evening decided to ask the Ministry of Works to speed up plans for the road tunnel. The chairman (Mr R. A. Young) said the council could not go ahead with its plans for access roads until the plans were produced. Even if the council knew the site of the proposed clover leaf, it could go ahead, he said. Cr. M. J. W. Davis agreed to approach the Ministry of Works with a view to obtaining the plans. The council also decided to defer decisions on recommendations by its consulting engineers (Messrs H. G. Royds and Sutherland), in the meantime. At the request of the council at a previous meeting, the engineers had prepared new estimates for the cost of widening the Port Hills road through the Heathcote township. The cost was £24,500, compared with £29,400 in the previous estimate.

The estimates showed there were large sums involved, said the engineers* report. They advised the council to study the ultimate over-all roading lay-out from Heathcote to the road tunnel and westward before going further into details. The New Zealand Railways Department advised that its land officer would come to Christchurch within the next few weeks to discuss sharing the cost of work along the railway housing subdivisions! frontage.

At a previous meeting, the council decided to ask the department to share the cost.