TRAFFIC RESTRICTED

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 68, 13 December 1939, Page 11

TRAFFIC RESTRICTED

Wellington-Wairarapa Highway

A.A. ROAD REPORT

The main road route from Wellington to the Wairarapa has beeu closed for heavy vehicles and for motor-cars at night because of the collapse of the Te Marua bridge over the Mangaroa River on Monday. The Taita Gorge also remains closed, but other main routes are open. The condition of the side roads is much the same as was announced by the Automobile Association (Wellington) in its report published yesterday morning. The association stated yesterday that a great improvement in the roads had occurred by early in the afternoon, the floodwaters having receded everywhere. During Monday night the water receded from the approaches to the concrete bridge over the Hutt River at Silverstream, and traffic was able to get through to Upper Hutt early in the morning. Later the Taitai Gorge road also was opened, but a deep washout occurred near the place where the road passes under the railway bridge, and the road was barricaded so that no traffic could use that section. The concrete Te Marua bridge having collapsed it was quiet impassable, but between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. cars were being allowed across the Black Bridge, the wooden structure which carried the highway across the Mangaroa River before the concrete bridge was erected about eight years ago. The association had been advised by the Public Works Department that the department would rigidly enforce the rule that the bridge was not to be used between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. The reason for the rule was tlie condition of the old bridge, which drivers used at their own risk. Heavy vehicles making use of the bridge when traffic could not b'e supervised might cause damage that would close the route entirely.

The slips on the Rimutaka hill had been cleared sufficiently to allow cars to pass, but care was needed.

The Akatarawa Road, connecting •Upper Hutt with Waikanae, would be closed until further notice, and the Moonshine Road connecting Trentham with Bahautanui was blocked.