HUTT ROAD EXTENSION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 122, 27 May 1925, Page 9

HUTT ROAD EXTENSION

FIRST MEETING OF NEW BOARD

SCHEDULE FOR THE YEAR

CITY AND SUBURBAN SHARES.

Tho first meeting of tho year of the Local Highways Board was hold yesterday afternoon. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. C. B. Norwood)' presided, and there were present:—Councillors H. D. Bennett, W. 11. Bennett, B. G. H. Burn, A. L. Monteith, and R. .A. Wright, Messrs. W. T. Strand- (Mayor of Lower Hutt), J. W. M'Ewan (Mayor of I'etone), H. L. Jones (Mayor of Eastbourne), A. Moore (Jobnsonvillj;), A. J. M'Curdy (Upper Hutt), E. Windley (Makara), A. I. Mackay (Hutt County), and S. G. Nathan (motorists' representative).

A schedule was submitted by the Inspecting Engiueer (Mr. K. E. Luke) showing the proposed streets and roads to be paved during the next paving season:—

City.—Clyde quay, Dewsbury terrace, Oriental Parade, Evans Bay road and Onepu road, 3 miles, annual contribution per annum from 31st March, £600. Petono Borough.—Jackson street to approach of Pipe Bridge, three-quarters of a mile, £150.

Lower Hutt Borough.—Bridge to north boundary and Pipe Bridge to Waiwetu, two miles and three-quarters of a mile, £550.

Hutt County.—North boundary of Lower Hutt towards Silverstream, three miles, and western approach to Pipe Bridge,. £612. ' Total 9.56 miles, and total 'contributions £1912. •

Questions were raised by Mr. M'Curdy as to the prior paving of certain lengths which did not carry traffic so heavy as other lengths not mentioned, and by Mr. M'Ewan as to the inclusion of additional .lengths in the Petone borough. The engineer explained that certain lengths of road admittedly not bearing particularly heavy traffic had been included in the schedule ahead of other roads for the reason that towards the end of the season conditions were not favourable to long haulage. With reference to Mr. M'Ewan's request that Cuba street should be paved during the coming season, Mr. Strand said that ho would bs willing that the paving of three-quarters of a mile from the Pipe Bridge to Waiwetu - should stand over while the Cuba street work was done. ■'.'SHOULD STICK TO IT." The board, said Mr. M'Kay, had drawn up a schedule after considering fully what roads bore the traffic which warranted a. bituminous paving, and the board should now stick to it.' That, part of the Hutt road within the Petone borough, answered Mr. M'Ewan, was in the original schedule as a part of the first year's paving, and he asked that the schedule should be adhered to and that length of road now paved. "Oh, no," replied Mr. Strand, "Mr. M'Ewan has had his cake, and now he wants to have it all over again." He recalled that Mr. M'Ewan had agreed that tho Eutt road should remain as it was for the time being if the Esplanade was paved. That had been, done, and now he wanted the Hutt road paved as well. FIFTY-FIFTY. Councillor Mbnteith maintained that the schedule was not in accordance with the Act, which provided that the annual paving programme should be drawn up on a 50-50 basis as regarded city paving and suburban paving. The schedule now submitted, however, suggested a one-third and a two-thirds basis for city and suburbs; he considered that the schedule should be re-drawn. Councillor Montoith was ' probably correct in what ho said, said Councillor H. D. Bennett, but it was to bo remembered that suburban roads were ! really more important than city roads. Councillor Monteith replied that he felt that tho spirit of tho Act and the understanding should bo carried out; he knew, that representatives of local bodies were out to do their best for their districts. Voices: "Not now; that time is past." The Mayor remarked that consideration bad to be given the fact thai paving -in the city could not progress ahead of tho very necessary work of re-1 conditioning water, drainage, and other j services in the streets to be paved. I THE GORGE BULLOCK TRACK. Mr. Nathan referred to the urgent i need of surfacing "tho bullock track" i in the Ngahauranga Gorge between the Hutt road aud the beginning of the hill road. Mr. Windley agreed that the level length of the gorge road, a length of about 40 chains, was in very bad condition. City traffic, rather than Makara traffic, used that road, and greater consideration should be given the Makara County by the city; If the board was going to shift plants about to deal with roads here and there, said Councillor Wright, it was going to' waste a very great sum of money. There would have to be some give and take. Mr. Nathan: "Tile thing should never have been allowed to get into such a rotten state." Councillor 'Wright recalled that tho board had intended to have that length of road, but had been forced to remove its plant from tho Ngahanranga site.- If the road could be paved from the Petono site no doubt the engineer would arrange for that to be done. Mr. Nathan: "You are very complimentary to call it a road at all," Councillor Wright: "I used it for want of a better term; it is a road within the meaning of the Act." (Laughter.) Messrs. M'Ewan and Wright referred to the apparent -need of strengthening the board's plant if the programme was to be adhered to. "A LOVELY PROPOSITION." The schedule proposed that the suburban areas should receive 33J miles of paving and the city only 7| miles, said Councillor Monteith. There was a lovely proposition when one considered that the city provided by fur the greater amount o! finance. The Mayor replied (hat, ho nqrecd with Councillor Monleitli to a considerable extent, but as he hnd Enid before, paving could not precede other essentia.l street works in tho city Mr Strand again statrd tliat he would be quite willing that the threequarters of a mile of Eanchvick road should be strnck off the schedule and the length laid somewhere else, "rather than that anyone should say we are grabbing everything." Several members: "We are not sucTgestmg anything like that." YEAR'S SCHEDULE ADOPTED.

Councillor W. H. Bennett remarked that the schedule had hcen drawn up iiy Mie Engineer sifter full coii.-idcrijtiou of haulage and weather conditions: Inthought, thai Uio bosud should wlopj,

the schedule as submitted. With that the Mayor agreed; the big thing was to get the job done.

The motion that the schedule be accepted was then put to the meeting, and was declared carried.

Mr. Windley: "It is quite out of order."

There followed then another informal discussion upon the schedule. The payers of fees, said Mr. Nathan, did not wish that Randwick road should be removed from the schedule.

The Mayor added that the 40 chains of Ngahauranga, Gorge road should be paved if it could possibly bo done; it would bo wise to provide a contingency fund for such works. '