FUTURE HIGHWAYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23156, 30 September 1938, Page 14

FUTURE HIGHWAYS

VISION IN PLANNING SOUTHERN TRAFFIC OUTLET NEED OF EARLY ACTION The growing need of a traffic outlet to the south from Auckland through the eastern suburbs and linking the air terminal was the subject of an address bv Mr. K. V. Mlake at a luncheon meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce vostcrdny. Mr. presided over a good attendance. Mr. Blake discussed the various proposals put forward in the past few years, and urged the necessity for promptly deciding on a plan and making land reservations before settlement became too intensive. _ _ ! "This generation is not giving the; same thought to the wise planning of j Auckland as did the pioneers," said Mr. Blake. "Auckland owes much to the depression which halted development, and gave time for future planning to he considered. There is scope for vision and a bold and com para- j tively inexpensive scheme of arterial j reading, and the .sooner the move is made the better it will be for our descendants." Question of Cost It was not a palliative that was wanted, continued Mr. Blake, but a cure for present-day traffic congestion. The present was a time of hurry, and roads had to be planned in terms of shortest distances and » saving o* I human and mechanical energy. New j roads would cost little more t|ian imj provements to old roads, which carI ricd to a logical conclusion would re- ' suit in vast sums being spent and no real relief obtained, but a transfer of congestion to another point not far away. Mj\ Blake paid tribute to the efforts of town planning authorities and the city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, in the matter of urging for a southern outlet, and he described the three different routes that had been considered for the proposal, favouring the last, which followed the waterfront road to Hobson's Bay, around the Orakei Basin and across toward Remuera, linking with the Great South Road just beyond Otahuhu. This road, he said, would be an important link in shortening the distance between the city and the aerodrome, in the event of the Manukau Harbour scheme being completed. Looking Ahead "Conditions other than those disclosed by traffic tallies should be taken into account in deciding on a new route," said Mr. Blake. "There is only one rule and that is to planfar ahead of coming events. Unless this is done, we shall never overtake them, but they will overtake and submerge ns. Legislative provision must be made so that the inertia of many local bodies can be swept away, and the community should visualise a future in transport which might seem as fantastic as the flight to Australia did in the eves of our forefathers."