The Grey River Argus THURSDAY. August 1, 1935. THE ROAD TO MILFORD.

Grey River Argus, 1 August 1935, Page 4

The Grey River Argus THURSDAY. August 1, 1935. THE ROAD TO MILFORD.

From certain quarters, whose desire it is to have other localities given a monopoly of the money laid out by the Highways Board, there is coming a hue and cry against the Board being expected to undertake the completion of the road to Milford Sound through the Eglinton Valley Motoring interests in the North [eland and some city interests in the South Island are responsible for the agitation. They claim that other road works should have priority, and even question the wisdom of making any road to the Sounds region at all. Already population tends to conceit trate in the North Island, and one reason is undoubtedly that the South Island has been left behind in the matter of improving its means of access and of transportation. The Sounds region, especially tor scenic and : tourist reasons, ought to be opened up, and the estimated outlay of £150,000 on. the road to Milford must in time prove a good national investment. It certainly would come within the cate gory of a highway, and thus ought to come within the responsibility of the Highways Board The Government may not intend to leave the whole burden to the Board, but whether it does or not, the road should certainly be completed without further delay. The Board is naturally familiar with the demands of closely settled areas for roading expenditure. but. it is a body which ought at the same time to have regard for the future as well as the immediate present, and the Sounds road is unquestionably warranted and desirable from a national standpoint. Th c Board’s objec tion to the undertaking is based no doubt upon a regard for other works, leather than upon any consideration of the advant ages of this one. For over a generation Governments have fostered with an enormous outlay the tourist traffic of the North Island, and have, at the same time, gauged the roading expenditure in proportion to the faster increase of North Island population. It is not those who have foreseen the possibilities of the Milford road who are shortsighted in the matter, but those whose outlook is confined to a narrower scope, and who would even prefer the motor taxation to be earmarked for the use of areas in proportion to the share of it which those areas contribute. There have also been many city critics of the extension of railways, including the South Island overland connection, who would ignore the impetus thereby given to economic development on this side of the Island and the other advantages that have accrued. Were there quo turn ol spending much more than the Milford load with cost upon the improvement of established highways where these already are equal to a great volume of traffic, neither the motorists nor the city interests would complain that such outlay would necessarily lessen the funds available for

other localities. There is a ease for the view that where there is a dense population, the means to augment the Board’s resources are present. At anyrate, it can not be fairly said that the Board has no obligation at all in regard to the Milford Road. It is not elsewhere limited to mere maintenance, and there it has a right to play its part no less than any wher e else. The Milford road is a natural development in a national roading programme. If this has not yet been recognised by the Board, the time has come when it should be. The alternative would be that year by yeai smoe other work would be advanced as having priority, and the great Sounds region would con 1 inue to be only a terra incognita when it ought to be the resort of many thousands, and eventually of a settled population of its own.