HIGHWAYS BOARD

Evening Post, Issue 60, 11 March 1936, Page 12

HIGHWAYS BOARD

CITY AND SUBURBAN

ESTIMATES FOR YEAR

POOLED RESOUIICES ?

The estimates for 1936-37 were considered by the City and Suburban Highways Board today. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) presided.

Receipts for Hutt Road maintenance were £2110, and estimated expenditure £1510, leaving a balance of £600. Maintenance of streets other than the Hutt Road showed receipts £ 13,545. expenditure £7450,.balance £6095. Receipts in the construction account were £9270 and expenditure nil. The details of estimated expenditure were:— ' . . . Hutt Road.—General maintenance, £800; traffic patrol, £300; resurfacing part (£I4OO required), £400; contingencies, £100; total, £1600. Main Highways.—Ngahauranga-Tawa Flat section, maintenance, removal of slips, etc., £996; cut-back mix, M.C.I haunches, Johnsonville, £600; improvements to highway, Mexted's- corner, £725; Osborne's, and Tawajlat, £503; total, £2824. ' Taita-Silverstream-Upper , Hutt— Maintenance, deepening drains, clearing slips, etc., £1070; improvements to corner half a mile north of August's corner, £420; total. £1490. Eastbourne-Day's Bay .—Maintenance, seawalUng, etc., £691; preparation of haunches and intersections for seal, £300; total, £991. Maintenance of Roads and Streets in Boroughs.—Lower • Hutt-Petone boroughs, general maintenance, £500; M.C.I seal portions haunches, main highway, £1300; total, £1800. General.—City streets, repairs and maintenance, £800; traffic patrol, £60^ traffic lines, £200; contingencies, £200; total, £1260. BODIES' CONTRIBUTIONS. ■■ The estimated contributions' of- the various local bodies were as'follows: — Wellington City, 8.415 miles, £1683; Petone Borough, 3.376 miles, £675 4s; Lower' Hutt Borough, 4.144 miles, £828 16s; Hutt County, Taita section, 3.000 miles, ■ £450, 1.5325 miles, £153 ss;'' pipe bridge, .102 mile, £20 8s; Silverstream, 1.250 miles, £125; Day's Bay Road, 3.598 miles, £179 18s; Seaview -Road, .24 mile, £24; Upper Hutt Borough, 4.039 miles. £403 18s; Makara County, Nghauranga Gorge, .475 mile, £71 ss, 1.780 miles, £178; JohnsonvilleTawa' Flat, 4.800 miles, £480; Johnsonville Town Board, .534 mile, £80 2s; Eastbourne Borough, 1.869 miles, £93 9s. : HUTT ROAD MAINTENANCE. During the discussion Mr. D. R. Hog*ard said that he thought £8&0 was a considerable sum for maintaining a little over five miles of the haunches of the Hutt Road. The City Engineer (Mr. K. E. Luke) said that it all depended on the conditions likely to be met. Sometimes a tremendous amount of spoil came down out of the gullies. Anything left over could be devoted to.the resurfacing. ; Mr. E. Palliser thought that the completion of the cycle track should be the first thing attempted, after which attention could be concentrated on the Hutt Road. The engineer was to be congratulated on the use that had been made of the funds.' Mr. Hoggard, saidithat the contributions of the bodies from Lower Hutt to Upper Hutt for the Hutt Road totalled £4524 with subsidy, yet it was proposed to spend .only £1490 on that length of road, while last time the estimate was only £1280. The money was available, and unless, it were spent these local bodies lost the advantage of the subsidy.. ■ ~ . *Mr. Ei. Palliser said, that what was needed was. some form of pooling of accounts so that there might be .coordination in the ; work.., At present this was not possible. • ■ SILVERSTREAM WASHOUT. Had any steps been taken* to deal with the washout on the main road near the Silverstream Bridge? asked Mr. Hoggard. It should be possible to have. some form of periodical inspection of the riverbanks to safeguard against such happenings.. The willow work could be periodically inspected.

Members queried whether the board had any. jurisdiction, as far as riverworks were concerned. ."...'■

. The City Engineer said that one trouble was that the road was not a legal one. It ran through a farm. The surveyed road was at present in the middle of the river.

Mr. Palliser said that, with the engineer, he had been looking .at this eroded spot when the manager of the farm objected to stones being taken trom the riverbed to protect the road. Replying to Mr. Hoggard, he said that there had been abnormal floods which had undermined the willows, which had fallen in. Four floods in succession had formed abnormal1 conditions. An inspection • might be followed by a flood next day. ; - '■'■'■:■■.'■'.■

If the new road could be laid off, said Mr. Luke, flooding could be,avoided. The cost of the repairs to the Eroded spot would not, he thought, be great. Planting willows would not serve' so well there; what was needed was a laced bastion of stones. ;

Whenever the board desired to do something, said Councillor P. M. Butler, it seemed blocked by some body or another, for which he considered its constitution- largely responsible. Its reconstitution would greatly enlarge its scope. , .-. ■ . ■ .