GREATER WEST COAST TRAFFIC

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31304, 25 February 1967, Page 5

GREATER WEST COAST TRAFFIC

Stimulation From Road Improvements

(From the MINISTRY OF WORKS)

THERE could be an all-seal highway from Christchurch to Franz (Waiho) via the Lewis Pass route within three years.

Apart from five miles to be reconstructed and sealed on the Lewis route —two miles are now being done—the major works are between Harihari and Franz.

Investigations for all these works have been completed, and the construction of several is under way.

Greymouth to Franz is 114 miles (Greymouth to Fox 130), of which only 12f miles are unsealed. A mile and a half of this will be sealed within the next few months and, of the rest, contracts have been let for reconstruction, preliminary to sealing, of 4} miles. Two major bridge contracts have also been started.

Three miles south of Harihari are the 5} miles of the winding, slow-travelling Mount Hercules section which rises to 600 feet above sea level. Ministry of Works forces have already widened 75 per cent of this distance to two lanes, and to a standard ready for sealing as funds permit (see illustration). The rest should be widened within a few months.

The work already done has involved cuts on faces up to 80 feet high. The first of the two big bridge contracts is over the Whataroa river, five miles past the southern side of Mount Hercules. A one-lane Australian hardwood bridge built in 1905 is to be replaced by a 628 ft steel-girder bridge. Steel piles are to be used for this bridge because test bores have shown that concrete piles cannot be driven deep enough to avoid scouring. The bridge will have eight spans, seven of which will be 80ft long. The site of this bridge and the location of its approaches will shorten the road distance by a mile. Second Bridge The second new bridge, four miles south of Whataroa, will be over the Waitangitoana. It will replace a bridge built in New Zealand timber early this century. The new 485 ft steel-girder bridge of six spans will have concrete piles. The new approach to this bridge from the south involves heavy earthworks and substantial cuts into high terraces across the river, including a 30ft fill in which the culvert has already been placed. This approach to link with the existing highway on the south side is required to conform with National Roads Board standards for a 55-mile-an-hour speed value on curves. The cost of both bridges and associated works, to be completed in about two years, will exceed £250,000. Edge Cleared In reconstruction and widening alongside Lake Wahapo, three miles further south, Ministry of Works forces under Mr Federick Millar, the Civil Engineer Officer, Hokitika, who has been associated with South Westland roading for 20 years, cleared the highway edge of the lake of rambling, unsightly vegetation.

A mile-and-a-half section here will be sealed by the end of March this year. A stretch immediately south has been widened to meet traffic demands but a decision of sealing deferred pending investigations into the advantages of a deviation on either side of Okarito Forks. In the next section of State Highway No. 6, alongside Lake. Mapourika, an £BO,OOO contract has been let for the reconstruction of 3j miles to full highway standards as a preliminary to sealing. Slow Section Ministry of Works forces have, in this Mapourika section, widened three one-way bridges to two-lane width at a cost of about £20,000. Eleven of the 16 miles between Fox and Franz constitute probably the slowest section of State Highway No. 6 between Hokitika and Paringa, 50 miles south of Fox. It has 365 curves, many of which have been eased to give reasonable two-lane width. Safe over-taking sight ahead is, for the most part, negligible and the nature of the road imposes its own discipline on drivers. Fewer than three years ago much of this mountainous route with its steep grades and minimum speed curves was little more than one-way roading, only passing bays facilitating the flow of traffic. But since then Ministry of Works forces have made improvements, and over the recent holidays up to 1000 vehicles a day used it without accident. Heavy Rainfall The great problem here is the heavy rainfall which washes glacial moraine on to the highway and makes maintenance difficult

It is impossible in this type of country, except at great

expense, to bring the road up to the standards reached by the Ministry of Works for the National Roads Board in less rugged conditions. Because of this the department’s forces have concentrated on widening to improve passing ease and to increase safety.

The major problem on State Highway No. 6 from Fox to Paringa is dust which in hot, dry periods creates serious traffic hazards. With much more work still to be done between Franz and Fox an appreciable lessening of this problem is, on present estimates, a long time off. Plans have been drawn and preliminary approval given for an extension to the road leading from State Highway No. 6 to the approach to the terminal face of the Franz Josef glacier. This road is now of three miles and Hie nearest parking spot is a mile from the terminal face. To improve the present road, which is in fair condition, and construct another mile would cost about £42,000. Dairy Change The spending of National Roads Board funds on highways through rural areas in South Westland, plus local body expenditure of their share of the national roads fund, is also making a valuable contribution to the diversification and development of primary and secondary industry in South Westland. State Highway No. 6 between Hokitika and Harihari is fully sealed and the first steps have been taken toward the consolidation of dairy production in the Harihari district.

The dairy factory is to be closed and milk taken by stainless steel tanker to a factory being established in Hokitika to produce dried milk powder for export and casein for the plastics industry. Farmers will no longer have to keep pigs to get rid of the skimmed milk.

Better roading is contributing to the cheaper and faster

The result has been to give the motoring public a clear view of a mile-square minor scenic gem among the South Westland lakes.

transport of stock and timber to freezing works and ports. The improvements to State Highway No. 6 between Harihari and Fox (Weheka) have given a great stimulus to tourist and holiday traffic. The upsurge was evident over the recent holidays when, on the busiest days, more than 1000 vehicles, many with caravans or trailers, were travelling on the access roads to the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier terminal areas. This was additional to through traffic to the Haast Pass on State Highway No. 6. Organised bus tour parties were more numerous than in any previous holiday period, and faith in the present and future commercial possibilities is demonstrated by the increasing hotel and motel accommodation.

At Harihari, for example, the hotel has already been enlarged to cater for nearly 100 guests and is being still further extended. The new Franz Josef Hotel was opened in November, 1965, two days before the official opening of the Haast Pass road; and about the same time motels associated with the Fox Hotel were ready for occupation. Motorists from Greymouth and other West Coast towns are now making day return trips to Franz and Fox. Up till a year or so ago such excursions were largely week-end ventures.