Action Urged On Roads Plan

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31672, 7 May 1968, Page 1

Action Urged On Roads Plan

Christchurch spends only $l5 a head on road works, compared with the national average of $3B, according to a report sent by the Christchurch Regional Planning Authority for consideration at a meeting later this month of the District Roads Council.

The report asks the council to take early action to recommend the authority’s master traffic plan to the National Roads Board, and points out that all the councils concerned had agreed to the plan. “Because of the loss of benefits and the rising costs inherent in further delay of these works, could I request early consideration,” says the authority’s chairman (Mr G. D. Griffiths), in a covering letter. The authority’s submissions point out that the proposed programme would raise the level of road spending in the metropolitan area to $2O a head byz 1978-80, and that this figure would still be less than that of any other road district.

“Road grants in Christchurch are practically nonexistent, with only 7c a head in grant money in 1966-67 compared with 10 times this rate in Wellington, and 17 times this rate in Auckland, where grant money amounted to $1.20 per head,” the submissions continue. “So that the master transportation plan can be effected within a reasonable time, and based on a rational programme, a tiered system of finance according to the importance of the roads is recommended. “To achieve this, grant re-

venue will need to be progressively increased from the present $15,000 to $300,000 in the later pediods of the plan.” The submissions ask that the National Roads Board’s agreement to the reports based on the plan be a matter of urgency. “In the absence of a concerted policy, each year that passes adds an additional year of congestion and further delays the start of major improvements. “In the absence of an agreement on construction and property purchase, councils will continue to spend money and effort on minor road improvements only, achieve no major traffic benefit, and thereby fail to achieve the community’s planned objectives.”