MOTOR TRAFFIC

Evening Star, Issue 16852, 30 September 1918, Page 7

MOTOR TRAFFIC

£Nl> THE MAINTENANCE OF OUR . ROADS.

ARE BETTER ROADS POSSIBLE!

[By W. Wright, M.A.]

The increasing popularity and usefulness j of the motor have created an insistent | demand for better roads. If New Zealand js to keep pace with other countries she must rely more and more upon motor traffic for the rapid and efficient transport of goods and passengers. Already motor transport has proved itself a serious rival to the railway in America,, in Eng- j land, on the Continent of Europe, and j (according to our railway authorities) even fai the Dominion itself. The advantage the motor has over the railway is largely iue to the less handling of goods. If a Ajnsignxnent of good 3 is delivered from Dmnedin to Milton, for example, by motor, Jwo handlings suffice as against six and |n some cases seven or eight by rail. In the case of the motor lcrry ths goods are put on the lorrv at the warehouse or Jfcore, and taken off at the consignee's §oor. In the case of the railway the goods go to the goods shed per motor or horse feMcle—tiwo handlings; out of the shed Into the truck, and -out of the truck into another goods shed—two more handlings; <mt of the shed into the lorry or express, fcnd out of it at the consignee's door — two more handlings; making in aIL Tiros we note the great saving in labor »nd clerical work and risk of breakages, 4o sav nothing of the time. And as time goes on the tendency of the railway would appear to be to serve as a main connecting ><nTr between the larger and smaller centres, and to haul the heavy and bulky classes of goods, while the motor serves to transport the lighter goods and as a feeder for the railway. Given good leads radiating from railway centres, and more especiaHy from the termini of branch JJnes, vast districts at present almost untapped may be brouebt closer to the market, and untold possibilities opened up for tho development of Otago and every other portion of the Dominion. Partners are not slow to recognise tho immense advantages accruing from good roads. To them it is a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence. Every sheep, every bushel of wheat or oats that has to be expended in carting goods to market lessens the average yield to that extent. In fact, economic rent depends as much upon nearness to ov distance from a market as fertility of the soil. And nearness to or distance from a market depends verv, verv largely upon the condition of the* road." A road impassable at all times for motor traffic and",for horse traffic in bad weather doubles,' nay trebles, the actual distance, while a perfectly-formed road, negotiable at all times, lessens the actual distance almost by half. According to a Northern paper : Good roads and the motor lorry have demonstrated to the farmers of Taranaki that the market for their produce is being brought to their very doors. To these progressive farmers who are now fortunate In having; modern roads -the fact has been shown that they are realising a high rate of interest on their investment, jtfow, the advent of the motor has intensified the need for good roads. In the opinion of one writer. To have ignored the motor's importance 10 years ago was perhaps a sigji of cautious" and legitimate conservatism j to ignore it now is a sign of mental paralysis. The economy in running costs and the efficiency of a car on good roads as compared with bad roads can hardly be realised by the uninitiated. It must also be borne in mind that the great bulk of our motor traffic is for commercial purposes. Further, the heavy maintenance cost is borne finally, not by the car or lorry owner, but by the consumer. Remember, too, when you see rough, ill-kept roads, abounding in pothole 3 and large flint-like unblinded metal, that it is affectJag your pocket—the consumer pays. Remember, too, that the motor has come to stay f It has made good; it has made Itself absolutely indispensable, "Whatever would we do without the telephone?" a business man often asks, let, as I jfiave pointed out on a former occasion, the motor, like the telephone, by saving tete and shortening distance, has become 0n integral part of our industrial organisation and a growing factor in our national efficiency. OTAGCS PRESENT-DAT ROADS There has been no radical alteration in Our methods of road construction to meet the altered conditions. The chief improvejnanta have been the use of finer metal on top, blinding with clay, soil, and stone dust, more rolling, and perhaps more pfctention to the water-tables. About 12 jnonths ago J21.300 was raised through tee efforts of the Otago Motor Club, the Waiiouaiti County Council, and the Government subsidy, and expended on about jive miles of the Main North road over slocmt Cargill, and up to the present about half that sum has been washed icway in mud or blown away in dust j in words, the road is rapidly becoming as bad aa ever. Quite recently a section of the Main £outh read near Look-out Point was reKired. The work was well done. The inding was not spared, and the road pas well rolled and finished; but it is rapidly deteriorating. During rain the frater rushes down the centre or soaks in &nd loosens both the blinding and the metal, while the wind and traffic suck Out the blinding in fine weather. The reason in both cases is not far to seek. Clay and stone dust are no longer suitable materials for roads which have to Btand much traffic. Take many of our City and countryroads, and note their rapid deterioration. As one councillor recently put it t " After a road Is repaired you can't use it very well for a month; in 12 months it has to be done over again." There are, of course, several roads that may be classed as good r—e.g., around Gore, and between WaitaJmna and the Beaumont—but these roads tre the exception, and owe their quality a their proximity to the river gravel of Which they are built, and which makes' lor a smooth, hard road. On the whole, Otago roads are bad from the motorist's standpoint, and rougher by far than they Jlvere Defore the motor burst upon us. THE SOLUTION OF THE ROAD PROBLEM. In the opinion of many road experts the Solution must be found in concrete or tarred macadam. Very little has so far been done in the Dominion with concrete, put tarred macadam has been tried all Over both islands. Speaking at Avignon some time before Ibe outbreak of war. M. Thierry, the prenoh Minister for Public Works, said that tie departments had been spending £10,000,000 a year for the last 10 or 12 years on tarring 6,000 miles of roads, with the object of attracting motor tourists. Lthe same year, at the International d Congress, the British Chancellor Cava Borne interesting figures with regard to British roads. We have, he Said, 251,000 miles of about the best toads In the world. In 1892 the roads of England and Wales cost £8,500,000 io maintain. In 1912 they cost £ls,soo,ooo—nearly double. There are E,OOO motor vehicles in Great Britain. George Gibb says that "dust has a conquered on the roads. It does not exist to any appreciable extent on toads properly treated with tar or bitumen.**

tn the opinion of competent motorists, by far the beat roads in New Zealand are to bo found in Taxanaki. There one may travel for miles and miles on tarred maoftdam, with no dust, no potholes, no sharp, tyre-ponoturing stones, and no puddles. Mr B. T. Duthie, who recently visited taxanaki, speaks in glowing terms of these toads. He motored over the road which encircles Mount Egmont, about 110 miles, through Eltham, Stratford, Ngaere, Tariki, and Inglewood. No less than 60 miles of this road are tarred, while the remaining 50 miles are under way. At different points along the road jio less than six steam road rollers were passed. This report received additional confirmation from another gentleman who accompanied Mr Duthie on his trip. Ho also

informed me that in New Plymouth itself tarred roads me being pub down as rapidly as finances will permit. Incidentally, Mr Duthie remarked that when he was in New Plymouth six years ago he saw bullock teams in the town itself. To-day you have to go right out into the backblocks to see them.

So renowned have Taraiiaki's roads become that people from all over the North Island and from the South as well, go to see them and try them for themselves. The verdict is unanimous. Perhaps the best tribute to these roads is that of the ' Waitemata News,' which said some six months ago: The tarred roads of Taranaki are a splendid and a valuable objeot-lesson as to what can be accomplished in rural road construction. The present roads are the result of some 10 to 15 years of experimenting with persistence and perseverance. The first tarred roads laid down were not a success. Neither were others that followed, but from each failure valuable experience was gained, until to-day a class of road is being laid down that is giving entire satisfaction. The climate of Taranaki is very wet, and consequently maintenance of road 3 is difficult and" expensive. _ The only metal and shingle available is brought down from Mount Egmont by the rivers that flow in every direction from the mountain. There is practically an unlimited supply of metal in the rivers., but the quality is what we should consider poor. It is not nearly so hard as our blue-stone, and pulverises under heavy traffic. la some cases the rivers are far apart, and the metal has to be carted long distances. The shingle has to be got from the river beds by screening, which makes it expensive, especially when carted long distances. The quality of the shingle is not good, being soft. It was the poor quality of the metal, combined with the wot climate, that forced the Taranaki counties to look round for a material to form a wearing surface, a-3 they found that- bv continually renewinjr the macadam they were spending all their money and getting no further ahead. The general opinion is that tar nas solved The problem, and apparently this is so. Largo loans have been raised and expended on tarred roads, but- they have no difficulty in paying interest and sinking fund on the loans, and also keeping in repair their tarred roads. Both the i tar and the road surface require careful 'preparation, and the tar must be .applied very hot. Two methods of applying tar to the roads are in vogue —"tar grouting "and "tar sealing." Tar groutinf is a method of running hot tar into alfthe voids in a newly-met ailed road as soon as the metal has been laid and rolled. Tho most favored method of tar grouting is to use a slightly distilled tar for the initial grouting, and top off with a heavv tar and shnule. Tar sealing, which appears to be the general method in use, consists of putting a coat of heavy distilled tar and shingle over the surface of a metalled road, after sweeping it perfectly clean. When a metalled road is badlv worn or out of shape it is scarified, reinstalled, blinded, and well rolled. Then it is left for three months, if possible, for the traffic, to ■complete the solidification of the surface, after which it is considered in right condition for tar sealing. . . . Alter tar sealing plenty of traffic is necessary to work tie shingle into the tar, otherwise the road would have to be rolled. The tor is sunplied in three grades of density, called British Road Board (8.R.8-) No. 1, No. 2, and Restar. The distilled tar is boiled down to such a density that it will not flow out of the casks when cold. In preparing the tar for road purposes about 25 per cent, of oil and other ingredients are extracted - from the tax, the residue being said to be superior to ordinary tar in firmness, wearing qualities, and as a waterproof surface. _ In a nutshell, in place of tho blinding material w-e use on our roads a special tar is forced into the cavities in the newlylaid metal while the tax is boiling. _ It sets rapidly, and when rolled develops into a smooth, hard road. So impressed is Mr R. T. Duthie with the magnificent roads in Taranaki and their vast asset to that province, that he has offered to donate £SO to the Otago Motor ddb towards .tie cost of laying i down a mile or so of tarred macadam on a country section of the Main road for the | purpose of demonstrating the success of TaranaM's methods for Otago. Other club members are keen to see the work undertaken, and I have reason to believe that on© or two local bodies will cheerfully cooperate in the matter. I understand that there are a number of Dunedin business men prepared to donate substantial sums towards the coat of putting down a City block for the purpose of demonstrating to the city councillors and the ratepayers the solution of the problem of good roads at a low cost of maintenance.

The approximate cost of these Taranaki roads is £4OO a mile for road 14ft wide ; but here tho cost would probably be less, since our metal costs about 8s a load, as against 14s to 15s for the inferior Taranaki metaL The secret of the success of these roads arises from several factors : (1) The treatment renders tho roads waterproof. (2) The tar takes the place of the blinding, which is so soon sucked and blown out. (3) The tar, being free from oil. sets very hard —the road becomes one solid wearresisting mass. Are we content to lot Otago lag behind ? Are we to become a back number—forgotten by more progressive towns—or are we to keep Otago to the fore? Then let us start right now to set about- securing first-class roads. Open up the country and bring it nearer "to the town. With perfect roads one can foresee the City extending indefinitely, the workers living far removed from the noise and smoke ot the City proper, many of them owning motors of their own, purchased and maintained by the profits from the""bee, the pig, and the fowl they rear on the extensive grounds of their country homes. In conclusion, I stress one point: The O.M.C. will undertake the work if the necessary assistance is forthcoming. Duneain has not been wanting when the call for funds for tho Empire has been made ; will she fail when hor own interests can be furthered so effectively? As one writer has put it: The difference between good roads and bad roads is the difference between profit and loss. Good roads mean progress and prosperity; a benefit to the people who live in the cities; an advantage to those who live in the country. Good roads make habitation near them more desirable) they increase the value of fanning land; they facilitate transportation, and add wealth both to consumer and producer.