TRAFFIC TO TARANAKI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18702, 7 May 1924, Page 11

TRAFFIC TO TARANAKI.

LAND'S ROAD OUTLET. . • V - _r. • •

ST MONTH'S RECORD.

IARLY A THOUSAND MOTORS

Traffic records taken at the Waihi toll gate, three miles north of i Waitara; on the Main South Road between Auckland and 4 Taranaki, show that 935 motor-cars passed' through for the month of April, as compared *. with 600 for the corresponding period !■ last year. ' The revenue dorivcc} from all traffic through the gato showed an increase of £36. N

: The first two weeks of the past month were marred by very heavy rains, which caused numbers of slips and great damage to the roads. The main road being temporarily blockcd in many places beyond 'Uruti, the - traffic .through the toll gate showed a very small increase over last year's figures, but the bene-' ficial influence of the; following dry spell on the Mount Messenger and Awakino Valley roads was reflected in the enhanced toll gate receipts. For the last two weeks of the month 570 cars passed through, producing a total revenue of £99, while for the same . period in 1923, 279 cars were accounted for, the revenue being £63.

\ : ;. r Road Wearing Well. „ . This increase in traffic, which is becoming more marked every year, is chiefly attributed to the 'extension of the metal on Mount : Messenger and the Awakinc Valley road, and when the latter is • finished '. the revenue oO the gate should increase still more. In the last two weeks of April : the increase in the number of cars passing through wasi mainly due to the railway strike. As in the case of other counties throughout the Dominion, the Clifton County was offered the* opportunity to call for Government assistance to keep the road open for communications during the strike, but no such action - was necessary. Notwithstanding the extra traffic, the* main road - between Waitara and Tonga,porutu is standing up to the work very well, but the huge loads that some of the lorries have been transporting has caused the Clifton . County Council some concern as to the future maintenance of their main highway. During the next five months a limit will be placed on these loads, and by so doing the council hopes to be able to keep the road in good order throughout the winter.

Limit on Heavy Loads. At a meeting of the. council last Friday the chairman, Mr. R. ,H. Pigott, spoke of theobjection raised ,by a member of the Highway Council recently, to the action of the, counties imposing a limit on ,the weight of loads carried on main highways. He explained thai, it was a matter of allowing the unreasonably heavy loads to be carried for a short time and prohibiting motor traffic altogether as the winter progressed, or keeping the loads down and having the road in good order throughout the. whole of the winter. Furthermore, it would be impossible to keep a check on the lorry 'drivers to see that they intruded on no other rt>ad except the main highway. The council was of the opinion that the fact of tar-sealinc the main road would not solve the f problem of the cost of maintenance, if the experience of counties was any criterion. A- limit of ten tons would also have to be placed on the loads carried if the road was tar-sealed, a weight which was not" uncommonly carried on the road, to-day. It was mentioned that, during . the .restriction of the next five months, if a long spell of good weather was experienced,- it might be possible to allow heavier loads to be carried.