Otira Gorge Route—By Bus

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31190, 14 October 1966, Page 1

Otira Gorge Route—By Bus

A 36ft rear-engined passenger bus with a turning circle of 70ft and a wheelbase of 19ft 4in yesterday travelled without incident over the Otira Gorge Road with 36 passengers. The bus is the longest bus of the Day’s Motors, Ltd., fleet and is as long as any in New Zealand.

The passengers were the guests of Group Travel (N.Z.) Ltd., and Day’s Motors, Ltd., which offered the trip to a number of Canterbury and

Westland organisations, local bodies, Government departments and interested persons. The trip was organised by the Canterbury Progress League. A request had been made by the Transport Board to the National Roads Board to ban buses on the Otira Gorge road. The Roads Board will discuss the issue at its meeting later this month. The assistant manager of Group Travel (Mr R. Bamford) told a reporter of “The Press” who made the 210-mile return trip from Christchurch, that particularly significant were the organisations which either declined or did not send representatives on the trip.

The Transport Department, the Ministry of Works and the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation declined, he said. The National Roads Board did not send a representative. No road engineers nor road specialists made the trip. The traffic manager of Day’s Motors (Mr R. Forward) who drove the bus over the Otira Gorge road, said: “The Roads Board must take notice of any recommendations by the Transport Department or the Ministry of Works. “We feel that the Transport Department and the Ministry of Works could have made some effort to come along today on a vehicle that is using the road and not decide from a test with a vehicle that is not using the road. “Both the Transport Department and the Ministry of Works earlier attended the inspection of the road with a bus which has a larger turning circle of 82ft 6in,” said Mr Forward.

The party loudly applauded the bus driver for his backing of the bus.

. At the Otira side of Arthur’s Pass, the Canterbury members of the party held an informal meeting with Westland members in the bus.

The president of the Canterbury Progress League (Mr G. R. Burrowes) said: “The league would be prepared to make representations that there be no ban at present; and that improvements be made to make it even safer than it is.” Mr W. A. Harris, of the Westland Progress League, said that his league felt that for a ban to be imposed was little short of dictatorial. The margin of safety on the cor-

ners on the bus trip over the Otira Gorge Road was at no time less than 4ft.. Mr Harris said it had been suggested that the ban was being brought down partly by the bus drivers’ union because it was claimed that the road was dangerous. Mr Haris said he knew of drivers on the West Coast who were willing and able to operate buses on the route as it was. These drivers had not been consulted.

The Mayor of Runanga (Mr R. Wylde), who is a bus operator, said that the bus used on yesterday’s trip met the requirements of the gorge road perfectly.

If a restriction had to be made on buses using the gorge road it should be a wheel base limit such as 19ft 4in. The National Park Board senior ranger (Mr P. Croft) said that buses were the ideal way to get groups and parties to the area. Bus tours were also ideal for bringing large numbers of school children for nature study outings.