ROADS IN THE MAKING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 4 January 1927, Page 7

ROADS IN THE MAKING

(To The Editor.,

■Sir, —Owing to lack of wing-power which he has been denied froin sharing even with the common house sparrow, man, the lord of creation is condemned, for the present at any rate, to crawl along the surface of the earth as best he may. Aviation at best- is but a tour de force—clumsy, hazardous and uncertain when compared with the flight of birds and not sufficiently advanced to admit of general application to our needs of transport. Hence for a time at least we must be content,to wear out leather, rubber and steel in our effort to get about and remove tilings from one place to another; equally hence we are up against roads. Centuries back the Romans realised that without roads a country could neither be developed nor dominated, whereupon they set to work with their legions and made highways across Britain, North Africa or wherever they planted their standards. These roads, after more than a thousand years, are to this.day the main arteries for traffic and models of what roads should be. They are straight and undeviating. A blind corner was as distasteful to a Roman road-maker as a bottle of whisky is to> a prohibitionist. “Non nobis” he would remark, which was His vulgar way of saying “Not on your life.” New Zealand for its age has a remarkably large amount of-roadage, but the simplicity of the Roman model has been scrapped in favour of a- more slavish adherence to contour. Hence we have our hairpin and horseshoe bends, our hawk’s craigs and other scenic embellishments which might delight the heart of a goat, but as a safe method for transporting ourselves and our belongings might easily be improved upon. Fast moving cars now have to be acrobats of the road as it were and more or less proficient at “blind man’s buff. ’ So they' get as inudh fun as possible for their money. In the Nelson province, thanks to the W.C.C., the N.A.A., the P.W.D., the 1.X.L., and the 1.0.8. F., our highways and byways offer an endless source of study' and" amused interest to those who no business or pleasure bent follow their ramifications. '

The science of road-making, roadmending or road upkeep appears to be one which, except for the purpose of spending certain monies extracted from a- class of people who use the roads less than-others, is little understood. Fifty years ago when the' tricycle was regarded as a danger to pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic had yet some years to go before being ousted by the motor-road-mender hammered away at his heap of flints and later on spread them across a section of the roadway. The iron-shod wheels of passing vehicles eventually ground them down to a passable surface. Such patching as was indicated was done by filling up potholes with the metal. That was ail. The method employed served its purpose then. But to-day it is hardly conceivable that a similar one carried out (much less thoroughly) should be perpetuated when smooth passage is imperative for heavily-laden, fast-moving rubber-tyred vehicles. The whole business is so futile, such a labour in vain, such a. ivalnton -waste -of ratepayers’ money; that it gives one to wonder what type of brain is aV the back of it all. Certain mechanical contrivances are being used more or less effectively—principally less. There is the road-grader, that much vaunted implement of road repair. Its function appears to be that of, scraping all the slush and tr.'f from the roadside and leaving the same on the watertable The convex surface so obtained vanishes with the first rain-storm when the loose material is rapidly swilled back (o its original place—a, comical game! Then we have the road-scarifier—an-other touch of genius and a rather better proposition for" it bodily shifts the potholes from one place to another and sovaries the monotony of severe humping at any one given spot. The cost of this; variety entertainment is, however, only d/6 per chain, so why worry? At certain intersections of mad and rail, miscalled .level- crossings, the oncomer is invited to “Stop" the which failing to do lie may miss the infrequent train," but- lie will not .miss tho hump coming to him. So unlevel was one that an overhead bridge at a cost of many shekels has been erected to provide, an alternative. The bump there is now on ilie ratepayer. On the bills there is food for thought, hut if at the wheel little time for it. One vaguelv wonders why at the most, dangerous corners the roadway should always be narrower Ilian elsewhere, ft is a rase of the higher the fewer. Warning signs “Slow up,” “dangerous corner,” “sound the born.” and so forth beoome increasingly frequent as the. ascent- approaches the summit. “Safety First” is a hit satirical for if vou followed this out you would not he there at all. Of course all these hair-raising corners could be toned down, but- visitors would then lose a thrill mid tbe road-bog would not- be killed off in bis crime So on with the dance! I am. etc P ' F.W.S.