THE NORTH ROAD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1000, 11 June 1862, Page 5

THE NORTH ROAD.

TO THE EDITOE OB THE LYTTELTON TIMES,

Sib,—l have unfortunately to travel frequently on the North Road, and to suffer from the miserable mismanagement of the funds voted by the Council for its formation. Some thousands of pounds I believe were expended for claying it, and instead of its being immediately metalled and thus forming a permanent and useful road, the contractor was allowed to take his own time, and the work was not commenced until just before the rain set in, the consequence has been, that the heavy cart loads of gravel taken from one end of the road to the other, and the general heavy traffic have reduced it to the consistence of mortar, and m some parts large holes have worked through to the sand, so that the greater part of the road is almost impassable. All this might have been prevented if the work had bGGn commcnccd < earlier 5 and the metal could have been obtained nearer to Kaiapoi than Woodend, a distance of four miles The heavy toll on the bridge prevented the contractors taking advantage of the large gravel beds within half a mile of the Kaiapoi end of the road; so that in addition to the inconvenience and delay arising from having to cart gravel so great a distance, the well-formed road is cut up, and the public have to pay more for the work than would be the case if we had a free bridge or one under the control of the Government. The country at large suffers quite as much as the people of this district from this unnecessary and vexatious taxation. Your obedient servant, DOG CART.