FEEDER ROADS
GREATER ASSISTANCE ?
HIGHWAYS BOARD'S VIEW
Recent statements in the House of Representatives and by members of the Dominion Farmers- Union that the Main Highways Board should grant greater assistance to feeder roads were to-day brought under the notice of officials of the board.
It was pointed out in reply that the present system of over ten thousand miles of main highways includes a large percentage of feeder roads. In fact, in 1924, when the first declaration of main highways was made, pne of the instructions issued by the board to district highway councils in selecting roads for declaration as main highways was to consider whether the roads recommended carried an appreciable amount of traffic to and from the sea ports or railway centres within or without the highway districts. A substantial ihileage of the roads originally declared by the board were feeder roads, and a great many more- miles of feeder roads were declared by the board in 1928 in consequence of the introduction of the petrol tax.
The annual report of the board, presented to Parliament recently, shows that 3752 miles of secondary highways were declared during the year 1928-29 and that towards the cost of maintenance of the secondary highways alone the board contributed £147,873. For the estimated schedules for the financial year, which will end at 31st March 1930, over £300,000 has been approved for expenditure on the maintenance of the secondary highways. It is pointed out, therefore, that while the board may not be contributing directly to county roads, it is contributing substantially to f. 5 Per cent- of them, and that there is Uittle doubt that those 25 per cent carry the great bulk of the traffic. The board submits that contributions made by it must assist the local authorities materially in general maintenance of the whole of their roads, as the board's annual report shows that the total maintenance subsidy paid to local authorities on the whole of the highways system during the past year was £756 399
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19291113.2.107
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 117, 13 November 1929, Page 12
Word Count
336FEEDER ROADS Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 117, 13 November 1929, Page 12
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