Traffic loadings a worry to board

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 23

Traffic loadings a worry to board

PA New Plymouth The effects of heavyvehicle loadings on roads and bridges were causing the National Roads Board extreme concern, said the Minister of Works and Development, Mr Friedlander, in New Plymouth. Mr Friedlander said that the board had approved special increased weight limits for urban passenger buses after a request some years ago to its axle weights and loadings committee. Recently it was learned that bus firms in some areas were failing to comply with the conditions applying to the increased weight limits. “They are operating without the “overweight” permits, which must be obtained from the local authorities controlling the roads,” Mr Friedlander said. The permits were not merely a bureacratic ploy for adding yet another piece of paper to the system. They were aimed at safety to ensure that the routes were suitable to carry the heavier loadings, Mr Friedlander said. “Given an accurate assessment of the road loadings, the routes can then be checked from both safety and pavement damage angles,” he said. While overloading a passenger vehicle may increase the profit from a transport firm’s point of view, the

roadowner was likely to be faced with significant additional expense for the increased pavement wear. Mr Friedlander made a plea for co-operation from bus firms. The urban traffic problem was an increasingly complex issue, not only in New Zealand but world-wide, and finding the solution was not easy. The Government or taxpayers could not be expected to meet all the losses on urban transport and a user-pays system must be the ideal. “It is my strong hope that all are working towards that end,” Mr Friedlander said. While reading was essential to the national and local economies in most areas of New Zealand, and it was not difficult to justify the considerable expense of install-

ing and maintaining a highway system, said Mr Friedlander. He believed that in general terms the era of big motorway development was over. New Zealand had a State highway system which more than adequately reached all main urban areas. Most provincial centres were also well served. “The basis of our reading infrastructure is in place, with the main task now before us relating to isolated major capital works and the tuning of the present system to maximise its efficiency,” he said. The New Zealand tourist industry was thriving, and much of this was because the country’s most appealing scenic spots and attractions were accessible by good, safe roads, Mr Friedlander said.