CORRESPONDENCE.

Marlborough Express, Volume LI, Issue 228, 26 September 1917, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

ROAD MISCONSTRUCTION,

[TO THE EDIWR.I

Sir,—l shall be greatly obliged if you wiil allow me a little space on the above subject. Road construction is a more vital thing now than it has ever been, and will become more so as the motor traffic increases. I wish to call the attention ofl the ratepayers of the Awatere County to the great waste of money through misconstruction that has been going on _ for' years, and is still going on. Some, of the * loads, or I should sag' '^i^es/ 1" which, are intended for* °roads, are graded so high tluat the shingle when put on simply rolls into the watertable, and leaves the road weakest just where it should be strongest. The traffic is all forced to go in the one track spanning the ridge. The result is a rut and holes on each side for miles, from which the water cannot escape. In travelling along the ''ridges" if one tried to quarter the roadway one is in imminent danger of a capsize. All wise men will get out of a rut if they can, but our Council s>eeiii to have got into a rut of construction, or misconstruction, thasfc they do not seem to be able to get out of; consequently ,we are pay-

ing hundreds a year for this mode of construction and maintenance more than we should —in other words, the rates are tlfrown away. I have made it jr.y business to measure one of these recently constructed "ridges." The measurements are as follows: From watertable to centre of ''ridge" 13ft. Cm.; height of crown from level 2ft. 7in. I leave councillors and ratepayers to work these- figures out for themselves. I make it somewhere about one in six. Now, Sir, if' we lived in a deadlevel country such an attempt on the part of tho Council to construct lulls and valleys might be excusable if tbe intention was to variegate the scenery, but where we have a plethora of hill's and valleys such an attempt is a deplorable waste of money. I do not know if anyone is personally to blame for this waste of rates, but I think the ratepayers should make it their business to find out, and if it. is a personal fad the faddist should get "short shrift" next election. If our Council set their engineer to make a road over a hill and he graded it one in six or less, what would they call him? On the sumo line of reasoning, what are the Council or those responsible for this foolish construction ?

If the Council require an objectlesson in a well constructed and useful road, let them Study the road from Parker's corner over the Redwood Pass to Blenheim. That road is alv. ays in good order, and no ruts. 1 .should say it casts little to maintain, and it is used nearly into the water-table, so there is no waste of construction.' Our Cbtmcil construct a road 27ft. wide, and only one-third, or 9ft., can be used with safety. In one instance the road has been constructed nearly a. chain wide and about 10ft. of the centre metalled, which has to carry all the traffic in bad weather. In dry weather the traffic uses the clay sides, which are blowing away so fast that they will soon be like broad deep ditches on either sido. What that road will cost the ratepayers in time to com© it is hard to estimate. A great many, of the ratepayers are motor-car owners, and it behoves them to wake up and see that the roads are made so that <one can move about on them with an "even keel," instead of, when meeting or passing stnyone, or trying to avoid a hole or rut, having to run at any angle up to 45 degrees. Everyone knows that a machine: should run as level as possible. If a car has to run for miles a.t a sharp angle all the bearings are cut and strained, and the life of the car is just about oneouarter of what it ohould. be if running on a good road. So you rf see, fellow ratepayers, whatg we are payii^'Wor bad • construction, to say nothing of maintenance. How are we to maintain a mad that is so graded that the shingle will not stop on it, out rolls into the water-table? The Council has a grader, which is sent out on parade now and then; also a stone crusher, over which we will draw a veil, as the Council has done.

AN INDIGNANT RATEPAYER