Control Of Road May Be Revoked

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31973, 28 April 1969, Page 8

Control Of Road May Be Revoked

The National Roads Board is considering revoking State Highway 70, the inland route from Kaikoura to Culverden, the District Commissioner of Works (Mr D. A. Lane) told the No. 13 District Roads Council at Kaikoura. This move would remove the control of the highway from the Ministry of Works to the Kaikoura and Amuri County Councils.

Mr Lane said the two counties affected would be invited to make representations as to why the road should not be revoked as a State highway. He said the roads board would want a strong case, and that opinion not backed up substantially would not be acceptable. The roads board proposal comes after its statutory review, when it also considers declaration of new State Highways. Quoting from a letter from the roads board, Mr Lane said the principles which have been accepted by the board for a state highway are:The State highway system must be limited to the minimum necessary to fulfil the requirements for which the system was designed . A State highway must be based on a route of primary importance. State highways must be equitably distributed in relation to the pattern of national development. A State highway must be confined to those which have characteristics in keeping with the functions of the system being designed. Thr Board's reasons for proDosing to revoke State Highway 70 are; —• The route does not connect main traffic generators; the route is local and not Interregional: the route is a parallel and duplicate of S.H. 1. and provides a lower service: there

lis very little through traffic—the main link to Cheviot is Waiau to Parnassus on the county network; traffic volumes are low. particularly between Waiau and Kaikoura: the route is essentially a rural feeder to Waiau: no current local patterns of national development which justify its remaining a S.H.; the route is not a critical link in the total network; community interest is local, justifying local jurisdiction. Scheme Deferred The council has deferred a major reconstruction of the Hanmer Junction on State Highway 7. the scene of a double fatality last year, after being, told that a scheme to recon- i struct the intersection, at a cost of 133,000. had been submitted to the Roading division of the. Ministry of Works for approval? Considering its three-year State Highway programme, the council rejected a proposal to recommend for flrm approval for the work in its supplementary items this vear. or alternatively, 520.000 for approval in j principle for 1970-71 and 115.000: in 1971-72.

“Quite unnecessary,'* com-; mented Mr A. A. MacFarlane, chairman of Amuri County Council. “The intersection is not very good but it s not that bad—not $33,000 bad The improvements done already are fair enough,' he said. Mr J. G. Sullivan, the district engineer, said that when re-j construction was started, problems of speed values and sight distances would be faced. Several schemes, ranging from $2O 000 to $OO,OOO had been drawn up. he said. If an intersection was going to be improved, then the head office demanded that a good job be made, said the resident engineer of the Minister of Works iMr W. A. Scott). The council decided to cancel the application for $33,000 ini its supplementary section this I year, and to postpone the approval in principle of $20,000 until 1971-72.