THE SECOND TUNNEL

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 150, 21 December 1929, Page 10

THE SECOND TUNNEL

MAYOR DRIVES PICK

LAST MAJOR WORK

ACCESS IMPROVEMENT

The Mayoi, Mr. G. A. Troup, yesterday aft^-uoon, peeled off his coat and attacked in great style the cliff face at Patterson street, where the second tunnel through Mount Victoria Trill commence. Councillors followed suit, and the long deferred work was officially under way. There was not a very large gathering considering the interest which has been shown over the rights and wrongs of tunnel and routes, but among those present' with •the Mayor, councillors, and officers were Mr. L. Mills, of the firm of Hansford and Mills, the contractors, Mr. A. F. Downer, contractors' engineer, and a number of eastern suburbs residents, who. have taken a prominent part in the agitation for a commencement ■of the work.

'•Councillor E. A. Wright, as chairman, of the Works Committee, presided. Tlio ceremony to be performed, he remarked, concluded the first part of the long-drawn-out fight on the part of the residents of the eastern suburbs for aiore rapid access. The 1920 loan schedule, -with items totalling one and three-quarter million pounds, w k 3 carried as a whole, rather to the surprise of the then council. When the list of loans was first before that council the tunnel item did not appear upon it, but Councillor Forsyth proposed that it; should be included; that was done, arid in due course the item was carried. The eastern suburbs people expected that the tunnel would be one of the first works to be undertaken, but it was impossible for the council to proceed with them all simultaneously, and the tunnel had waited. In Auckland ' a big loan schedule had been adopted some years ago, and the City Council there proceeded to carry out everything at once, with the result that ali were completed at about the same time, and Auckland had a serious unemployment problem, which it had never been able to cope with since. The policy of proceeding with one big loan work at a time adopted by the Wellington City Council, he was sure, was a wiser policy.

The -tunnel, continued Councillor ■Wright, -would provide for two lines of tram track, a five-foot footpath, and, of course, vehicular traffic, and should serve ■ the eastern, suburbs for manyyears to come, though if traffic continued to increase in volume as it had in the past it might be necessary to duplicate the drive in another 50 years. However, 50 years was long enough to look ahead, lest present-day ratepayers tie too greatly burdened. TIME TO CALL A HALT. "I think," said Councillor Wright, "that when the tunnel is through we will have to" call a halt in big works for some years, and go along steadily a bit arid digest what we have done." There were, he continued, few vehicular, traffic tunnels anywhere in the •world, as long as the Mount Victoria tunnel, and that brought about the problem of ventilation, a somewhat difficult one. Experience in other parts of the world had not given any very definite information, but every provision had been made and he did not think that there was anything to fear in that regard. . . .. Tie contractors were going to work three shifts per day, and so, though there had been 10 years' delay in starting, the work would now _go through at a rapid rate. Councillor Wright concluded by congratulating the people of the eastern suburbs upon the fact that their long deferred hopes were at last reaching fruition, and called upon the Mayor to drive the £rst pick. VERY IMPORTANT WORK. .Mr. Troup first thanked Mr. Mills for the very handsome memento which had been presented to him on behalf of the firm of Messrs. Hansford and Mills,/a beautifully worked greenstone and gold pick in a case of polished New Zealand woods. ■ The. tunnel, he said, was one of the biggest a.nd most important works •which the_ city had ever embarked upon. ,'jriiG eastern suburbs area would eventu-ally;-carry a population of 55,000 — equal to the-combined populations of Wajiganui, Palmerston North, and quite a few of the smaller towns further south —and it was ■ important that so largo an area should have quick and ready access to the centre of the city. The length of the tunnel would be 2045 feet, and the grade of the approaches would, more than compare with those of the present tramway" tunnel; inside ,the tunnel the- grade would be very slight, lin 60. It was hoped that eventually trams would run through the tunnel, though no immediate provision Was being made for them. The conicrete: to-be put into the tunnel would total' 10,177 cubic yards, and the excavation 49,600 cubic yards. The full •width would b& 29 feet and the width ■between curves 20ft 6in. From the floor to the crown the height would bo 20ft, ar.d to the under side of the air duct 16ft 6hi.

In a tunnel nearly half a. mile long, at was necessary to provide ample ventilation, and this would be given by two. ventilating shafts and by a great air tfuct the length of the tunnel.

Personally he doubted, whether it ■would ever be necessary to duplicate the tunnel, for if traffic was kept moving in two streams it should serve the eastern suburbs for practically all time.

The present tramway tunnel was constructed at a cost of £,16,055, of which the1 Hataitai Land Company found '& 10,000, so that it could be said that

that tunnel did not owe the city much. THRICE RECOMMENDED ROUTE,

' Not long after the completion of that tunnel an agitation arose, to have it duplicated. In 1910 the then City Engineer, the late Mr. AY. H. Morton; investigated certain routes, and made s. recommendation in favour of the route now to be followed. That report was endorsed by Mr. Leslie Reynolds later, and about two years ago the council appointel a Commission of experts, who also' recommended the Patterson street route. Tenders were called, and that of Messrs. Hausford and Mills was accepted on 23rd July last. Since then the council had made the approaches.- From the Patterson street approach 11,812 cubic yards has been excavated, and on the Hataitai side 19,450 cubic yards. TIME TO GO SLOWER. "I agree with Councillor Wright , that the time is coming, if it has not come, to call a halt and go a little slower," continued Mr. Troup, "but I have no apologies to make for the council in undertaking works of the greatest importance to the city, works which will supply amenities long asked for,- and which wil make a great deal of difference to our civic life. Equally as important as the tunnel, though not costing so much, are the works now ■being carried on in regard to access to the western suburbs, the widening of Glenmore street, the improvement of Glenbervie cutting, and, further on, of Chaytor. street." MANY BIG WORKS. Included in the works undertaken 'during the past two years and a half, saic! Mr. Troup, were improvements in t!ic-3i:cess lo Eoseneath and Hataitai,

Wadestown, Karori, Kolburn, Brooklyn, Ngaio, Khandallah, and Melrose; that meant that practically all the main access roads had been improved or altogether remade. Tho Marino Drive had been added to and improved, making it one of the finest foreshore drives in the Southern Hemisphere, and thirtytwo miles of city roads had been paved and twenty miles tar-sealed, apart from the twenty-two miles paved by the City and Suburban Highways Board. During the same period the Citizens' War Memorial had been com: meneed upon a magnificent site; the Winter Show Buildings had gone up, and it was- his hope that the founda-tion-stone of tho National Art Gallery and Museum and of the Carillon would bo laid or. Mount Cook at an early date, transforming that part /.' the city altogether. The airport had been constructed, Miramar and Seatoun drainage, had been commenced, the new milk station was well under way, and a start would bo made with the Kelburn viaduct very shortly. In addition a number of new playing areas and reserves had been formed, and, regarding the progress made, one could not say that tho council and its officers had been eating idle bread.

He intended to make a comprehensive statement as to finances, and that would show that the works carried out had been put through at a remarkably low, figure, without placing any ■undue burden upon the city, but he agreed that a halt should now bo called, ar.d remarked that those who demanded improvements must remember that they could be given only if the rates were raised; the council would be wise, he thought, if it refused such demands.

In conclusion, the Mayor heartily congratulated the officers for the part they_ had taken in preparing for the driving of the tunnel, and expressed satisfaction that so reputable and capable a firm as Messrs. Hansford and Mills had obtained the contract; that fact guaranteed smooth and steady working.

Mr. Troup then applied the pick, and other councillors following, doing considerable excavation, especially one senior councillor with a shrewd eye for a soft patch.