TO BORE A BARRIER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 138, 12 June 1913, Page 3

TO BORE A BARRIER

TRAFFIC TUNNEL THROUGH j MOUNT VICTORIA | ARTERIAL ROAD NEEDED TWO SCHEMES COMPARED. During the recent municipal campaign a majority of candidates expressed themselves in favour of a traffic tunnel to cheapen and quicken transportation between the inner area of the city and the districts beyond the Mount Victoria range. The opinion has steadily spread in Wellington that such a connection, on an easy grade, would save time as well as money in the haulage of goods, and would therefore pay for itself within a measurable term of years. Men may differ, however, about routes. TWO PRINCIPAL PROPOSALS. The original demand was for either & widening or duplication of the present tramway tunnel, but suggestions which involved steep gradients and sharp curves found no favour with the general public of Wellington. The task has been to plan a route with the maximum elimination of twists and turns and steep pinches, and also 'one which would be the most useful to the city and outlying districts as a while. When the City Engineer, Mr. Morton, worked out estimates in December, 1910, his main purpose was to avoid hillclimbing and also to have a trunk road. He designed a start from a point in Sussex-square (nearly opposite the fountain of the Basin Reserve) through private property (to be bought, of course) to Brougham-street, turning off to the Wellington College grounds. This new road would be 26 chains in length, on a grade of 1 in 25, and the tunnel would be a level stretch of 20.7 chains. At the exit from the hill Mr. Morton sketched a new road of 20.6 chains (grade 1 in 27) to open out at the intersection of Goa-street and Moxhamavehue, and another road to fork northeastward to Nelson-street. The plan of Mr. Leslie Reynolds is the same in principle as Mr. Morton's but there are some important differences in the schemes, on each side of the hill. The similar principle is in the shunning of grades and in presenting a genuine trunk route. The Reynolds * scheme has the same beginning as the Morton one. There is no difference till the college gates are reached, and here the plans part company. Mr. Morton takes a road southeastward for a considerable distance through the college reserve, and thus shortens his tunnel. Mr. Reynolds cuts east, and is soon into the hill with a tunnel of thirty-four chains. On the Kilbirnie side the plan provides for one tx>ad north-eastward to the intersection of Moxham-avenue and Waitoa-road, and another road southward along the edge of the Town Belt, parallel with Moxhamavenue. The distance between the proposed tunnel mouths on the Kilbirnie side is about 24 chains. Briefly the" Morton scheme sets out a diagonal cut; The Reynolds plan is for a straight drive east and then a road south. ABOUT COSTS. Mr. Morton's estimate was about £70,000 (exclusive of compensation for land resumed) for his roado and tunnel (to have two footpaths). Mr. Reynolds's calculation is £61,920 for roads and a tunnel with one footpath, but he adds £2940 in case a new street is made parallel with Moxhamavenue to relieve the traffic on that much-used 50ft street— a total of £64,860 (without compensation). Mr. Leigh Hunt (president of the Hataitai Municipal Electors' Association, which engaged Mr. Reynolds) remarked the other day that compensation for the Morton route might total £20,000, by reason of the length of road through the college ground, but onfy £2500 for the Reynolds' scheme. It is possible, however, that the estimate of £20,000 could be reduced by the fact that the College reserve was taken " from land vested in the public of Wellington during the timo of tho first Governor, Captain Hobson. It is also mentioned by\ Mr. Hunt that the Reynolds' tunnel would yield metal worth £10,000, and incidentally £2000 worth of work would be done in the formation of a recreation ground by tipping the balance of the spoil into the hollows between gently-sloping spurs. However, it is obvious that the Morton tunnel would also produce a good quantity of metal and spoil for road-making and filling purposes ; but Mr. Hunt submits that Mr. Morton's plan of roads would undesirably divide the area suitable for conversion into fields for play. Another argument of the association is that "the two Morton roads would converge on the existing streets at points inconveniently remote from the Hataitai settlement. It is contended, in brief, that the Remolds* plan offers a happy mean, at moderate cost, fair alike to the city and to all the districts to be served by the trunk road. NO ANTAGONISM TO MR. MORTON. It was not in any spirit of antagonism to the City Engineer, explained Mr. Htmt, that the association sought the advice of an outside engineer. The members did not at all dispute Mr. Morton's ability, but in such a case, when their opinions about a route were at variance with Mr* Morton's, they believed that it was desirable to have a _ report by an independent engineer, without any intention whatever of passing any vote of no-confidence in the competence of such a proved expert as the City Engineer. They hoped that points of difference conld be settled in all friendliness for the general benefit of Greater Wellington. Also the association xt6h not pressing for any large expenditure straightaway, but it did desire to have a scheme definitely adopted for execution when the time would be favourable for raising a, loan.