The Times TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1939. The Gap is Closed

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 6

The Times TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1939. The Gap is Closed

The closing o£ the gap iu the three-quarter-mile-long ramp spanning the Whirokino swamp heralds the consummation o£ a line road engineering enterprise planned on a large scale and carried through with splendid efficiency in the face of great natural obstacles. For many years the two-mile stretch of road across the marshlands between Foxton and Levin has been a bugbear to motorists and a nightmare to highway engineers. Within a few weeks now the ramp across the marshes will carry traffic smoothly and safely well above the level of the highest Hoods, and there will be no more fear of hold-ups on the main urtcrial highway of the North Island. Only one engineering problem remains to be solved—that of building a modern bridge to replace the inconvenient oneway structure which spans the Manawatu at Whirokino. It may not be an easy one to solve and apparently some months will elapse before a start is made, but motorists who have endured the discomforts of the old highway for so many years will not object to waiting a little longer for a bridge in keeping with the splendid highway with which the skill and patience of the engineers have now provided them. The city of Palmerston North can well afford to be proud of the network of up-to-date highways which cater for tho profit and pleasure of its citizens and the countryside generally. Almost equal in importance to the Whirokino project is the reconstruction of No. 60 highway connecting Palmerston North with Wellington via Shannon and Levin. Here again vision and enterprise have combined to produce one of the finest pieces of road engineering in }hc Dominion. Tar-sealing operations have now been completed from Levin to within a mile of Tokomaru on the southern end, and from tho city boundary to Keeble’s corner on the northern end, and the nicely-graded swinging curves over one of the most beautiful scenic routes in the Wellington province will make motoring a sheer delight. The two routes to Levin, when completed, will provide a delightful afternoon round trip, and thus add a further attraction to the city as a place of residence.