EAST COAST BAYS ROAD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23178, 26 October 1938, Page 12

EAST COAST BAYS ROAD

The Waitemata County Council has had to face several of the difficulties with which local authorities are becoming very familiar in reviewing its scheme for a sealed road to all the East Coast bays from Milford Beach to Long Bay. This is an area which has developed rapidly within recent years. Resort to it for week-ends and holidays has increased steadily, and the permanent population is now quite considerable. To provide better road access has become a real necessity, but the council has found two obstacles, the difficulty of raising loan money, and the growth of costs since the estimate was first made. The engineer has now recommended abandonment of the original scheme. In its place, he proposes that the East Coast road, which follows the main ridge well above the coast, should be formed and sealed, and that access to the various bays should be by feeder roads. The council approved the change of policy and decided to discuss it with the ratepayers. Apart from finance, the engineer advocated the new scheme on the ground that developing the East Coast road would remove a considerable volume of fast-moving traffic from the neighbourhood of the beaches, and would serve county residents other than those around the bays. These are both sound points. On the other hand, many people who go to the bays are dependent on the bus service for transport, and it is not clear that the new route would be suitable for this traffic. It seems likely that the coast road- would have to be kept up to a standard sufficient for the buses, and this might add to the cost of the whole policy. These are aspects which should be made clear when the proposed change is put before the ratepayers.