GOOD ROADS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 123, 17 February 1921, Page 6

GOOD ROADS

A LESSON FROM TARANAKI

MR. STUART WILSON ON TOLL GATES

“Taranaki has got good roads, and is the only part of New Zealand that can make this claim,” said Mr. M. Stuart Wilson to a Dominion reporter yesterday. ""The good roads have been made possible by the toll-gates, which have provided the local bodies with the necessary finance, and I believe that the people of this country, who are all vitally interested in the problem that Taranaki has solved, ought to take the toll system into' very serious consideration. If good roads means toll gates, then lev us have them both.” Mr. Wilson mentioned that he lihd just returned from a brief visit to Taranaki. He had travelled by motor from Hawern to Mount Egmont and had seen something of the wonderful scenery and tlhe magnificent resources of the dairy province. What he wished to mention particularly was the roads. He had travelled over many miles of level roads, smooth almost as billiard tables, and entirely free from the dust nuisance. Tfiesc well-graded, tar-sealed roads had been financed by half a dozen tollgates, and all iffie inquiries he had made had convinced him that the system was regarded as a complete success by the people most intimately concerned —the people who used the roads and paid the tolls day by day. Farmers, business men, professional men, motor-car owners and lorry owners had all assured him tihat the slight inconvenience caused by the gates was outweighed by tho solid comfort of the smooth, dustless roads, which reduced wear and tear simplified communication and cut down running costs, while at the same time adding enormously to the pleasure of "I am convinced that this method of raising the money required for the construction and maintenance of good road s has not received the consideration that ir deserves,” said Mr. Wilson. lhe New Zealand Automobile Union, the South Island Union, and the Wellington, Otago, and other motor associations have condemned toll-gates. But have they faced the fact fihat Taranaki, with its toll-gates, is the only part of New Zeialtand that does possess good roads? The other provinces have roads of various degrees of badness, some of them mere apologies for roads. . The Minister of Public Wo,ks was criticised adversely some rime ago for having said that the system of raising money by means of toll-gates for the improvement of tho roads ought tb be carefully considered. But I think that people who are acquainted with tho Taranaki roads will agree with him. Any system must be tested by its results. If there is some other method of getting good roads, let us have it by all means. .But if ilhe choice is between toll-gates and good roads on the one 'hand and no toll-gates and bad roads on the other hand, then, as sensible people, we ought -fiot to hesitate. The tollgates are showing in Taranaki that, r'egardod as makers of fine roads, they can deliver the goods.” Mr. Wilson referred to his proposal for the construction of a “Victory Highway” right through New Zealand, and emphasised the strategical as well as the commercial and social' importrance of good roads. He recognised, 'ho said, that the number of toll-gates could not be increased indefinitely.. But that was merely to say than the. problem must be attacked from a national standpoint. A national policy of road construction was required, with the main highways receiving first attention. A scheme big enough to 'be worth while would necessarily involve the expenditure of a very large sum of money, and it did not appear that the Government, or any of the advocates of good roads outside Taranaki, had produced a scheme that was as sure and effective as the tollgates had proved themselves to be. Ho suggested in illustration that a. toll-gate on the road between • Petone and Day’s Bay would' be. a very great benefit to everybody concerned. The motorists and others who used this road would be glad to pay toll charges if in return they were provided with a smooth, dustless highway, free from the discomforts and dangers of the present roadway. Holiday traffic would be stimulated and the people who used the road-regularly would be benefited. The alternative to the tollgate, under present conditions, seemed to be the continued use of a comparatively poor road. “Good roads ought, to he vigorously demanded by the people of this country,” added Mr. Wilson. “The demand certainly would be loud if the majoiity of the people had realised just what good roads mean to the. prosperity and wellbeing of any country. The progress of New Zealand in the years ahead of its years that ought to be marked by tremendous expansion and development m bound up with this question of better roads. Taranaki has got the sore ot roads that we all want, and has got them by means of the toll-gate. That is the point that T want to emphasise. Eveiy district of New Zealand ought to show its determination to have roads just as .rood as the Taranaki roads, and if toll-g-dcs are the key of the problem, then there is not the least reason why we should hesitate.”