"PAEKAK." HILL

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 85, 10 April 1935, Page 12

"PAEKAK." HILL

HIGHWAY DEVIATION

NEW BODY FORMED

EEASONS ADDUCED

Organisations arise from time to time which, while established for the purpose of protecting the interests of the public as a whole, combine the interests of those for the time being most interested. The latest of such organisations is the Plimmerton-Pae-kakariki Main Highways Deviation Association, a self-explanatory title. The proposal to find a way of avoiding the Paekakariki Hill climb is not new to Wellington citizens, indeed its entry into public notice was contemporary with the development of motor traffic, and the realisation that Port Nicholson was bounded by sentinel ranges, the Rimutakas on the east, and Paekakariki on the west. AVOIDABLE OBSTACLE. The Paekakariki obstacle is in a different category from the eastern one, where a tunnel was considered, and it is claimed,.not only by those who are agitating for a deviation at present, but by those who investigated the matter many years ago, that the avoidance of the obstacle is/ a possibility well within bounds. The project may be regarded as a natural sequence to the present developments in connection with the provision of a bridge across the Paremata waterway, and the extension of the highway to Plimmerton from Paremata. Hitherto this Paremata sea water gap has come in the way. It is now to be bridged. AN OLD PROJECT. When the matter was discussed with the chairman of the association (Mr. H. D. Bennett) it was stated that the association laid no claim to initiating such an important project. So long ago as 1919 the Wellington Automobile Association had the matter in hand, for it was on record, and a plan was published showing the same deviation proposals as are now being urged by the vigilance committee of the new association. There is also ample evidence in several efforts made by other organisations to the same end, all, however, to meet with the one obstacle, access at Paremata. "That has now been overcome," said Mr. Bennett, "and with the removal of the obstacle there will be added some 90 chains of roadway connecting Plimmerton with the main highway access to the city. The.new association desired to give the credit for the proposal where it is due, but it was found necessary, in view of the recent Paremata Bridge decision, to form some sort of organisation for the purpose of acting in a co-ordinating capacity. That is what the new .association proposes to do. "Conscious of the necessity of possessing first-hand information, the members of the association's executive decided to explore the route, no light matter, as will be admitted by those who have any idea of the nature of the coast line running round this part of the island. The committee adopted the rather unusual course of calling one of its meetings to be held on the spot. ADVANTAGES OF ROUTE. "It is stated that the distance as between Paremata and Paekakariki by the proposed route is some 10 miles, as against 14 miles by the existing road over the hill. The highest point of the proposed route will be reached near Pukerua Bay, just before the road dips down to the coast, when the motorist will be 272 feet above sea level, as against 840 feet above sea level on the present highway. There is at present a roadway connecting Plimmerton and Pukerua Bay, and for about half that distance that road comes along the same route as is proposed in the new scheme. The section nearest to Plimmerton, for some unaccountable reason, seems to be removed from an obviously accommodating valley connection. It is difficult to understand how or why the original surveyors made this departure. It is very easy country, however, and the highway connection already provided under the bridge scheme up to Plimmerton could at very low cost be extended to join the other part, and at comparatively1 small cost that section also could be widened to comply with present day. requirements. QUITE PRACTICABLE. "There is really 'nothing to it,'" continued Mr. Bennett, "until Pukerua is reached. Thence there are some four miles of rocky coast extending to more open country some half-mile or so before Paekakariki is reached. The burden of the scheme may therefore be regarded as lying within a distance of three miles. Here, the task resolves itself into one of providing for a protecting wall in isolated parts for the purpose of holding back not only the ordinary restlessness of the sea, but the rare storms that beset the exposed territory around Cook Strait. "Thorough examination of this central section of the proposed deviation was made by the members of the executive, and it is satisfied that the scheme is practicable, safe, and economically sound, and calls for its Undertaking. A great deal of support is forthcoming," concluded Mr. Bennett, "and it is evident that if the work is not placed on the Departmental Estimates very soon, it will not be for lack of the expediency or necessity for the work, nor for the lack of public appreciation. The cost of- the deviation is estimated at between £80,000 and £100,000; the work is one that could be urged on both the Highways Board and the Unemployment Board as within the sphere of their activities, and it would provide an alternative route in case of an earthquake, while the present route would still be required fcr access to property."