Highway Control By Counties

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31017, 24 March 1966, Page 1

Highway Control By Counties

“Breaking into control of red routes would be going into new ground,” said the chairman (Mr C. N. Mackenzie) when the annual meeting of Ward 11 of the Counties’ Association yesterday discussed the maintenance of national and subsidiary State highwavs.

He was commenting on a suggestion by Mr W. E. Cassidy (Waimairi) that counties should be given control of both red routes (national ones) and the blue routes, or subsidiary highways. On his motion, the meeting approved of a remit for the counties’ conference to the effect that counties capable of doing the work accept responsibility for highways maintenance.

Mr Mackenzie said that through roads through counties should be graded in various classes, but counties should retain control. Some did maintain highways now. Counties claimed that they

could do the work cheaper than other systems, and this helped the National Roads Board. While a lot of the subsidiary highways were controlled by counties, some counties had delegated their powers back to the Ministry of Works, said Mr W. Baird, a member of the roads board. Waimairi’s Clerk (Mr K. McLachlan) said his council had for three years been trying to get the maintenance of the Main North road, a red route, it believed that this would result in economies. Waimairi’s neighbour, the City Council, had control of highways without any approach at all to the board.