ROAD TO NORTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23011, 12 April 1938, Page 8

ROAD TO NORTH

jt, 'PROGRESS OF SEALING § . MUCH ALREADY DONE iii |( AUCKLAND TO WHANGAREI | COMPLETION IN TWO YEARS 'I! ' Within tiro years it is hoped that | there will be a paved all-weather surface on the mam highway from Auckland to Whangarei. Improvements finished and in progress will ultimately 1! result in the provision of a first-class J: tourist road, giving more rapid access to northern beaches, the famous Waipoua kauri forest and the popular deepj. sea fishing resorts around the Bay of Islands. In addition to opening new , scenic routes, the road will also offer \ better facilities for freight and stock j! transport. Until recent years North Auckland jt was comparatively isolated because of j[ unsatisfactory road conditions. Not many years ago the journey to Whangarei occupied all of eight hours under good conditions, and perhaps two days if it rained. Ten years have seen remarkable changes, and modern motor •1: transport permits the average driver to /cover the distance of 115 miles in little more than three hours. Flooding Less Troublesome 3; . Recent extensive deviation work and I the elimination of sharp corners and : () steep gradients are expected to reduco the mileage to , a bout 10S. There should • also be a saving in driving time of fully half an hour. Future improvements, as traffic increases dictate, may even lower the distance nearer to 100 miles, j Flooding lias constituted one of the most frequent sources of menace to the motorist on this highway. The most vulnerable section has always been the Dome Volley, in the vicinity of Hoteo. ii Now, however, the road has been raised about 10ft., and over the stream so j prone to flooding there are two heavyI traffic bridges to ensure passage in all '■ weathers. 1 » Slips continue to occur is the Dome j Valley whenever heavy rainfall is experienced, so that the sealed road is often blocked temporarily. Gradually the banks of the cuttings are subsiding j' to more settled angles, and this type of trouble may. bo expected to disappear. Twenty men aro almost continuously engaged in the vicinity and one large wash-out is at present receiving , attention. Stretches of Pavement Practically two-thirds of the road has already"been paved. The longest atretches are those from Silverdalo to Waiwera, from Warkworth to Topuni, and from Waipu to Oakleigh. Two important links remain to be finished before sealing can be completed right through. They are the big reading programme between Albany and Silvex-dale s,nd the revolutionary Topuni-Waipu deviation. Long stretches will be tar-sealed next summer season to fill the present gaps. ' Eight miles frpm Albany may have to consolidate further before sealing, but the unsealed sections around Waiwera and Puhoi will receive attention and make one unbroken stretch to Topuni of 50 miles. Road widening is now being done south of Warkworth. in preparation for this work. It will require two seasons for the construction wofk in the Topuni-\Y aipu deviation to settle. However, from the Waipu junction jiorthward, sealing preparations are now being made, and. the work will .continue as long as the weather is favourable. It should be , - finished by nex y t summer, linking the present 16-mile stretch to Oakleigh, which is in the ,course of being widened by 3ft. The road for half distance over the last nine miles to Whangarei has been straightened and otherwise improved, read} 7 for sealing next season. Eliminating Level-crossing

Bridges are also being widened. Ten one-way structures between Waipu and Oakleigh are to be extended to 24ft. in width, work having been started on one at Mata. Two of the five bridges beyond Oafcleigh are on bad corners, and one is now being; rebuilt at Otaika. , , .. The only levd-crossing on the road is that at Oakleigh. Xi as regarded as the second most dangerous crossing m the North- It is to be eliminated with an overhead bridge, the approaches of which lave been consolidating for a year. Supports are jiow in place ana men are working on w 0 decking. It in hoped to have t&e bridge finished by the time sealing starts. With traffic through Devonport threatening to make this route replace that section of the mam highwav to Brikenhead, improvements are in hand between the Takapuna-Waite-mata botmaaxy and Glenfield s Corner. A sum of £IO,OOO is there being spent under State subsidy in reconstructing a mile and a-half of roadway and erecting; two concrete bridges. Eighteen men are employed under contract on this work, which includes the realignment and regradine of the surface. The -work will require some months to complete.