THE BOROUGH ROADS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17078, 6 July 1926, Page 7

THE BOROUGH ROADS.

DAY LABOR OR CONTRACT. A BIG POLICY QUESTION. During the coming spring and summer tlie Gisborne Borough Council will be embarking upon the first stage of its work in connection with ihe construction of permanent roads for which :« loan of £30,000 was recently granted by the ratepayers. It is natural that several very important policy matters will come up for decision prior to the commencement of this work, and in the near future the Council will be called upon to decide whether they will favor the policy of day labor or contract in connection with the reconstruction of the main arterial roads. Yesterday afternoon members of tho Council visited a number of the main roads on which it is proposed to carry out work, iin.l later, at the residence of Cr. Toncycliffe, an informal discussion was held in committee. Arising out of this a committee consisting of the Mayor and Crs. T. Todd and D. W. Coleman was appointed to confer with the engineer and bring down suggestions for consideration at the next Council meeting. This committee will go into the question of the roads which should be done first, the methods which should be employed, and ihe amount of money that will be available for the permanent construction of roads other than the main highways. 'THE CONTRACT QUESTION. It is known of course that for some time several of the councillors have been giving consideration to the question of allowing some of this work to be done by’ contract, and this question is bound to come up for discussion at one of the Council meetings in the near future. The Council recently’ decided to purchase a bitumen plant suitable for carrying out tho work itself, but that does not. necessarily bind it to the day labor system. It lias also purchased a very considerable quantity of Trinidad asphalt, which it is proposed to use on the main streets, but should it wish to do the work on a contract basis it would be easy- to make arrangements for a contractor to use the materials and plant provided by the Council. It is probable that the work will have to be divided into several sections, for while there are some of the roads that will have to be put, down under the hot mix system, there are others for which bitumen grouting will probably be sufficient. As long as the roads arc put down in such a manner as to be permanent, the Couneill will bo keeping faith with the ratepayers and carrying out the terms under which the loan was raised. THE TIME AVAILABLE.

The Council will doubtless not forget that there is to be another election next, y-car, and it. will naturally be anxious to show to the ratepayers the work that has been carried out during the two years it has been in office. It will bo seen that as the bulk of tho work cannot, be commenced until the spring, that there will not be a great deal of time available for tho completion of tho. roads .that are to be laid down on a permanent basis. A considerable portion of the money which has been voted by the ralepayers has already been spent: in tho purchase of plant and materials, and the sum which should be at the disposal of the Council in the coming settsou will not be much in excess of £20,000. The first question that w.ll have to be settled is the policy of the Council in regard to the 'main roads. It is probable, and indeed the intention has been made clear at several meetings by different councillors, that tho policy .will be to concentrate on one or two of these- roads so that the benefits of good roads will be made clear to the ratepayers. By so doing the' Council .will be in the strong position of being able to point out to the ratepayers and show them exactly where’.the money has gone; later going to'them for a further amount to carry out other works. WHICH MAIN ROAD?

If, as seems probable, tho Council decides on concentrating on one main road during the coming season, a decision will soon have to be reached regarding which of tho roads is to be laid down. There are only four main roads that will have to be. considered, these being Childers road, Gladstone road, Palmerston road and Ormond road. Until the decision of the ratepayers regarding the scrapping of the trams has been given, the Council is hardly likely to decide'on reconstructing Gladstone road, while Orinoml road may also be eliminated as councillors have shown in '.previous discussions that they consider there are other roads needing attention before that road. This leaves Childers road and Palmerston road as the* two most likely to receive attention during the next; season, and in this respect a lead will probably be given to the Council by tho special committee which was set up yesterday.