ARTERIAL ROADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17139, 19 April 1919, Page 10

ARTERIAL ROADS.

RECONSTRUCTION scheme.

VICTORIAN SYSTEM URGED.

INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE. The matter of reconduction and improvement of arterial roads of the Dominion was considered by the Parliamentary Industries Committee on Thursday. Mr. M, H. Wynyard, representing the Gocd Roads Association, urged tho desir- ! ability of adopting the Victorian system of i reconstruction of main roads, under which the cost of reconstruction was borne ay the I local bodies in proportion to benefits re- ! ceived, and Ihe maintenance was shared ' equally by the Government and the local bodies) tho general supervision being undertaken by a country roads board. This system, said Mr. Wynyard, was similar to one used successfully in the United States, and was particularly applicable to New Zealand. He was sure that motorists ; throughout New Zealand would bo willing Ito pay any reasonable licensing fee- The material used for tho Victorian roads, of which there were about 5000 miles, was tarred macadam, tho cost of which was about £2600 per mile. The cost of tho concreto reading used extensively in America was nearly .25000 per mile for a ,16ft roadway. , , l The chairman, Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, | drew attention to Mio fact that the GovernJ ment already contributed about £400,000 a ' year toward roads in the backblocks, which i would not come under the scheme suggested. Improvement in Administration, Mr. Wynyard stated that all that was dosired was co-ordination in expenditureIn reply to a question as to how many miles of good road there was in thtj Auckland district, witness said there was a certain mileage of good roads, bulb, generally speaking they could not be considered good as compared with those in other dis- , tricts. Ho would not go so far as to agree i with the chairman that there were practic- | ally no good main roads in the Auckland 'Province, but the cost of metal was high. : and tho quality was very bud. Except for ! an immediate volcanic aroa, there was praci tically no road metal obtainable for many miles, both north and south of Auckland. In reply to fuilthor questioning ,is to the Victorian system of reading, which several members said had been a failure', witness said his association was not wedded to tho scheme; if any modification were neces- | sary it would gladly be made. His association only wanted to improve the roads throughout New Zealand, and the question of material, concrete, or tarred macadam, did not affect the administration question. The chairman remarked that, although the scheme was sound in prinoiple. one of the difficulties in connection with it was that taxation for main roads would fall on peoplo who had no roads at all. _ With regard to the responsibility of the counties in keeping the roads in good order, witness said many of these were not large enough to maintain a qualified engineer. Another difficulty lav in the fact that large areas of new land had been brought in during recent years, such as in the King Country, in which very little roading work had. been done. Defining Main Roads. Mr. Pearce expressed the opinion that it would be a difficult matter <,o determine which roads should be considered

nain roads. Frequently the heaviest iraffic took place on roads not considered main roads. Would witness consider, for instance, that a road as good as those of Taranaki should be put through from Auckland to Wellington, traversing tho sparsely populated area of the Taupo and surrounding districts? Mr. Wynyard said the important point was that main roads should be con* structed to carry the heavy traffic of the future motor traffic. Witness described the bad condition of the road through the bills at Rangiriri, which was absolutely impassable for traffic of any kind during winter. The only present outlet for the products of the district to the port of Auckland was by train. Mr. Pearce: " And you would ask the Government td make a good motor road so as to compete with the railway?" Witness: That is not quite a fair way to put it. I think we are all agreed that good roads are vital to the prosperity of the country, but it would be beyond the powers of the committee to suggest any enforcement. Mr. Pearce: In building main arterial roads the needs of backblocks settlers must not be overlooked, to whom roads are absolutely essential. It might be a difficult point to determine just which roads should bo termed "main roads." Witness explained that under the system advocated information as to main roads would be sent to every road board; if they were not in agreement the matter would bo submitted to the Minister. Replying to a remark by the chairman that counties should raise loans to make good roads, as this could not be done out of revenue, witness said that nearly all the counties had done this. Raglan County, for instance, had raised £100,000 for road construction. The people were heavily rated, but thev appeared to be satisfied. Distribution of Cost. Geo. W. Hutchison, secretary of the | Automobile Association, said that hearty i support had been given to the good roads i movement throughout New Zealand. His , association was not advocating improve--1 ments for tho benefit of motorists, but for all traffic. There had been no trouble in Victoria as to tho relation of county i counoil to tho country road board. With regard to the raising of sufficient money for reconstruction, under the scheme in question those who benefited were taxed ■in proportion to the benefits received. | Every case, however, was treated on its I own merits. ' In reply to the chairman, witness said he would not suggest that the presen' position was the fault of the local bodies. The question as to whether roads to railways and ports were more important than roads from one district to another, would have to bo considered when the classificai m, of " mam " roads was determined. I he reading question was brought , before the committee at a later stage bv ' Mr. J. Blair, representing the Rodnej County Chamber of Commerce. Loca bodies, he said, were not able to cope ; with the initial difficulties, and until the j Government look over the main arteria roads and put them in good order, th< I North Auckland district could not pro gress. M ; G ; , v ' t pea asked whether ii would not bo better to push the railways first, which would tap the "

r-'u 1 ' " P -.10 whole area . here was nothing worthy the name of in i arterial road in the north at present. witness agreed that the railway was uglily important, but good roads were needed to reach the railway. He strongly urged that the Government take over- he main roads _ He did not think that this would lead m any way to diffl. cullies of divided control.