Improvements to Main Highway

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26909, 22 October 1948, Page 6

Improvements to Main Highway

Special Reporter \l/ORK is being pushed forward at good speed on the main highway through Central Otago, the mild winter having assisted greatly in the task. The steam shovel and other heavy earth-moving equipment shown in the pho ograph are engaged at present in scooping away tons of material from a hillside, lowering the level of the road and permitting a more straight run to be made roughly parrallel to the river a few miles before Roxburgh. With the exception of two comparatively short stretches toward the Queenstown end of the Kawarau Gorge, which were heavily corrugated at the week-end, the highway to the

lakes is in good condition for the expected Labour Day week-end traffic. Motorists would, however, be advised to use caution on sections where work is in progress as day by day operations may leave stretches of soft tar, unrolled surface material spread to a depth of several inches, or greasy surfaces from the application of water to aid packing. In addition, tar barrels placed down ihe centre of strips of road periodically enforce a sort of mechanical slalom run At the present rate of progress, it would appear that motorists will find the majority of the highway tar-sealed by the time of the Christmas and New Year holiday season.