THE ROUND TOUR

Evening Star, Issue 22414, 11 August 1936, Page 8

THE ROUND TOUR

VITAL SOUTH ISLAND HIGHWAY GOVERNMENT TO SPEND £500,000 WESTLAND-OTAGO LINK [Fi:om Ouk Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, August 11. An expenditure of £500,000 is proposed by the Government on the construction of a highway over the Haast Pass connecting Westland with Otago and opening up what will unquestionably be one of the finest scenic drives in the world. Of this sum £250,000 has been voted for work on the road from Bruce Bay to the Haast River on the Westland side, and a further £250,000 to complete the road in Otago from the Haast River dVer the Haast Pass to Makaroa, where it will link up with the existing highway. The estimates of cost include provision for the erection . of bridges and the construction of the road to highway standard. At present 120 men are working on the road in South Westland, and it is proposed immediately to place an additional 50 men on the job. It is also proposed to place 150 men on the work on the Otago side. When this road is completed it will offer an unrivalled tourist route, and travellers will be able to do the round tour of the South Island, beginning at Picton and travelling via Nelson and Westland to the Franz Josef Glacier, and then over the Haast Pass to the cold lakes of Otago, returning north via the east coast of the South Island. A proposal has also been made to Jink up the Haast Pass road with the Milford Sound road at Hollyford Valley, but this has not yet been decided upon, work in the meantime being concentrated on the first objective of providing a road that will traverse the South _ Island and save tourists the necessity of retracing their steps at anv point. The bridging of the rivers in South Westland, north of Bruce Bay, is at present in hand.