HIGH LEVEL HIGHWAY NORTH

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 86, 8 October 1935, Page 8

HIGH LEVEL HIGHWAY NORTH

! Nature's architecture has thrown a deep ditch between the city of Wellington and. its north-western hihterlandi , This ditch, the valley of the, Kaiwarra Stream, beginning above the> Karori reservoirs and reaching, the harbour at; Kaiwarra, . did not always exist. According to Professor Cotton, theKarori valley, with its waterflow,: once ran northward to Porirua, and lit was riot till .the creation (by subsidence) of the western part of Welling. I ton Harbour that the Karori valley (called by Professor Cotton the long valley) •was tapped below what is noV WiltonVßush (Otari), and thus diverted, with its drainage, to Wellington Harbour. Thus he accounts for the deep, steep, narrow lower gorge of the Kaiwarra Stream. How to" establish a highway across this gap between and Khandallah was considered last evening by the Wellington Automobile Association, Risks of earthquake and fire along, the harbour-side Hutt Road, itself considered to be along a I fault-scarf, have made necessary a second high level highway in and out of the' city. The association's roads committee reported last night that' the Khandfillah-Johnsonville section of tin's highway is Hearing completion, ' and it was suggested that steps should -be taken to deal with the formidable task of survey and construction on the Wellington side of Khandallah. A second city exit is of fundamental importance. If in the last decade it had had its champion, as the Paremata-Plimmerton route found a champion, no doubt something would have been done to overcome the remaining obstacle. These public movements- —though the whole public benefits—are largely matters of individual enthusiasm and leadership. -