THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1948. THE LEITH VALLEY ROAD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26847, 11 August 1948, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1948. THE LEITH VALLEY ROAD

Since it must be assumed that the Dunedin City Council would not frivolously sign away control of some 2000 acres of land, the ceding of a considerable area in the upper Leith Valley to the County Council must be interpreted as meaning that the prospect of a northern outlet via Leith Valley and Waitati is not at all remote. It is true that the ceding of this land will involve the city in little financial loss, but the proposal remains, nevertheless, an example of local body co-operation which merits approval, in tangible form, on the part of the Government. Statutory recognition of the transfer should be no more than a formality, and there would appear to be no obstacles to the undertaking of a survey of the route by the Main Highways Board. If it is the decision of the various authorities concerned that the main northern entrance to the city should be through Leith Valley no; time should be lost in preparations for providing a highway comparable with the approaches of other main centres. As far as the new boundary of the city the road would 'be a State highway, and the cost of its construction would be a charge on the Highways Board.

The cost of. constructing a new road from' the old boundary.on the Leith Saddle to the city has been estimated at £400,000, a price at which the ratepayers of Dunedin would, with good reason, have looked askance. By withdrawing the northern boundary of the city in this area, however, the City Council has restricted the effort that would be required of it to one within its means. The advantages—particularly those associated with shorter distances and easier gradients—of the proposed Leith Valley road are many, but there are ardent supporters foT the suggestion that the present highway shpuld be maintained as a secondary route. Despite the admitted defects of this road, it is one which unfolds to travellers panoramas of great beauty as the city is approached. It would be difficult for anyone to refute the claims that can be made for the Leith Valley scheme as a means of catering for the needs of modern, fast-moving traffic, but a policy of steady improvement on the Mt. Cargill highway, even though it becomes a subsidiary route only, should not be overlooked.