HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 17 May 1928, Page 3

HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.

ASSIS ANCLE GIVEN BY STATE. EtXPEDNITUI’E OF PETROL TAX. [BY TJiLEGKAM. I’IUiSS ASSOCIATION.J PAPAROA, May 1(5. How the State is assisting in improving the Dominion’s reading system was mentioned by the Prime Minister, lit. Hon. ,J. G. Coates, at Paparoa to-night when ho quoted figures conveying the operations ol the past few years. Mr. Coates -paid that in less than four years tiie Alain Highways Board had assisted in the construction of 450 miles of metalled roads, 240 miles of tar and bituminous surfaced roads, 27 miles of concrete roads and over four miles of bridges. The expenditure during the same period, including the amount estimated ioi- 1927-2 S, was nearly 113,250,000, maintenance taking £1,442,000 and construction £1,784,000. In addition the local authorities had found £570,000 for maintenance and £725,000 for construction, mailing a total of £2,330,00 spent on maintenance and £2,500,000 on construction on the (5400 miles of main highways. The grand total of expenditure had therefore been £4,800,000, or about £1,250,000 a year. Highways work could be considerably accelerated by the petrol tax, Mr. Coates continued. It was anticipated that the Highways Board would spend between £BOO,OOO and £900,000 this year on the maintenance of the primary and subsidiary main highways, and also a similar amount on construction work. Recommendations were also being made for the addition of a further 800 miles to' the 27500 miles of subsidiary roads which had been declared main highways. The Prime Minister mentioned that the main roads through aIL boroughs having less: than (5000 inhabitants had been declared to be main highways, so that from now on 10,000 miles of the country’s road system had been brought under the benefits of the board’s operations. Nevertheless there were still about 35,000 miles of road which had to be maintained by the general taxpayer and counties without assistance from the motorists. The Prime Minister said that the petrol tax would also enable the board to give better subsidies to' counties adjacent to large centres of population, which suffered from heavy motor traffic. The board had already approved subsidies of £3 per £l. for the construction of high-class surfacing in the vicinity of Christchurch, Wanganui, Nelson and Hastings. Other schemas for improving the roads of the Dominion were in process of development, and the board was taking the initiative in the preparation of such schemes in districts immediately surrounding all centres of over (5000 inhabitants. Mr* Coates added that during the year the net expenditure by the Government cm the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges other than main highways had been £2,698,280. Of this amount n 0 less than £2,466,002 had been spent on construction.