IMPROVEMENTS IN MORNINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3889, 25 September 1928, Page 16

IMPROVEMENTS IN MORNINGTON.

MAILER STREET EXTENSION. (Photographs in This Issue.) Although_ residents of the suburb of Mornington are enthusiastic in their praise of the advantages of the district, there are probably few who will deny that it has one great drawback after the tramway terminus has been reached —its inaccessibility. To the stranger its streets are a maze, and he usually finds his destination mainly by the means of questioning the pedestrians whom he meets; but a short time hence one important change will be effected. By the construction of -what is known as the Mailer street extension a transformation is to be made, and a considerable part of the suburb is to be opened up in a striking way. In short, Mornington is to have a new main street and a new entrance, and in tliis- populous and attractive section of the city’s residential hill areas the value of properties should be enhanced, and the great benefit of increased tramway facilities prove a boon. This has not been done, however, withOii' the expenditure of large sums of money. To enable the extension of Mailer street to be mace 23 properties, or portions of properties, had to be purcnased, involving compensation amounting to £16,283. For the widening of the existing portion of Mailer street three properties have been purchased at a total lost of £3500. In Edition to these amounts the cost of all the construction work which will be undertaken will be in the vicinity of £BOOO. The cost, no dount, is great, but as an effort to maintain Dunedin’s right to the title of “ The City Beautiful ” the work is probably the most important which the City Council has undertaken for a considerable time.

It is proposed eventually to continue toe Mornington tramline to the end of the new road, but tne matter will probably not be reconsidered for some time yet, as the line cannot be laid until the road has consolidated. JTor the next 12 months at least, therefore, buses will Le run on the route. Half-of the cost of the extension of Mailer street will be borne by the Tramways Department. It will not be possible to make use of the old extension line, which has been out of use for some years. The Mailer street extension will connect Lawrence street with Kenmore road, the total length being 18 chains. The street will have a uniform width of 51 feet, and It will be joined on the north side by a cross-road three and a-half chains long almost opposite Jubilee street, and on the south side by a continuation of Elgin road nearly two chains long. The work of constructing the street so that the grade in no part will exceed one in 12 involves excavation at the top of the street to a maximum denth of 13 feet, the maximum width of the cutting being 77 feet. The cutting will be .11 chains long, and it is estimated that altogether 21,000 cubic yards of earth will be re moved. All this spoil is to be deposited i* the hollow where Saville row and Longwood avenue formerly converged. The maximum- depth of the filling will be 23 feet, and it will be 110 feet in width at its widest part. It is important in the filling in of a hollow to this depth that the material should be consolidated as it is deposited. If the spoil were taken only to the edge of the holow and tipped over, it would be necessary to wait at least two years to allow >the earth to settle before footpaths could be constructed and the kerbing work done. In this case, however, the spoil is being carted to the bottom of the hollow, and from there the' road is being gradually built up. By the adoption of this plan the material is consolidated as it is laid down, the horses and drays passing continually over it, pressing it down ,in such a manner as to leave no chance of subsidence later. This involves no greater amount of work, and no extra carting is necessary. When the road is finished it will have a 39-foot carriageway. Concrete kerb- - will be laid down, and the footpaths on each side will be G feet wide. Bluestone metal will be laid on the road to a

depth of 6 inches, and the footpaths will be of tarred macadam. Had it been proposed to lay down grass plots at the sides of the street, the purenase of a great deal more property would have been necessary, but the surface soil has been stripped off, and it will be placed on the embankments so that grass and shrubs may be grown. Before the work of excavating was commenced a considerable amount of time ’ had to be spent on clearing the ground. Eleven men were employed in making the way clear and in hewing down the large trees on the property. None of this wood is to be wasted, however, and it will be taken :o the tion yard, where it will be used for firing purposes. The spoil is being removed by an excavating machine which was - borrowed from the Drainage Board. So quickly is the work done that eight drays ar? kept moving in a continuous stream to and from the hollow. As soon as one dray has been filled another is backed in to take its place. It was considered when the scheme was first proposed that the work could be suitably done by contract, and accordingly tenders were invited. When they were received, however, it was found that in every case the original estimate was exceeded, and it was decided to carry out the work departmentally. So far progress has been quite satisfactory. It is

interesting t - note thrt since the cp tions began on July 31 last only two hours have been lost through bad weather. In addition to the extension, Mailer street itself has be«n widened from tne present tram terminus to the site ot the more .important operations. Its width, which was previously only a little over 30 feet, has. been increased to 66 feet. All the necessary property has been purchased except the police station, and when negotiations in that respect have been completed Mailer street vill have a width to Lawrence street of 66 feet, and for the remainder of its length a width of 51 feet.