MAIN NORTH ROAD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16211, 8 December 1926, Page 7

MAIN NORTH ROAD

TAKING OFF CORNERS OTOKO HELL PROJECT During their tour through the Poverty Bay tho members of the Main ! Highways Board were impressed with the progress made, on the roads in all the counties. The provision of a sound oil ' weather road between Napier and Gisborne, and for a considerable distance along the coast, bore testimony to th 0 excellent s\ork of the past three or lour years, arid to the willingness of the .County Councils to spend money.on 'improvements thai are not super-rurinc-i ments.

Throughout tho trip through the district, the spokesmen of the party lo.d the settle]s and tho county councillors that thp funds of the Highways l>*-«rd are not inexhaustible, and that onjy the most deserving cases could oe assisted; but at no stage? was there any suggestion that the. board was dissatisfied with the efforts of the local bodies in Poverty Bay... Two county councils in the north, on the other hand, were subjected to severs criticism by one of the members of tho board for meir lack 'A energy in roading matters. The road which confronted the local authorities a few years ajjo have mainly been overcome by & display of activity which earned the appreciation of many visitors," official and private. That'there is-.stiiLmuch to do, however, cannot■ be 'gainsaid-,' -and the Highways Board 'members were acquainted with a number of'matters in which the district, authorities desired, their assistance; .< It was not necessary,v-jn- many cases, to emphasise these,' needs, for tho board comprised practical men 10 whom a. problem, in roads is as meat and drink. The acting-chairman, Mr. C. J. McKen/ie, proved to be specially alert for these problems, and the study he gave to them m passing- should bear fruit in the near future. IMmOVJNG THE ROUTE. '

One matter which ha* for many years been troubling the Waikohu County Council and which was brought to Mr. Mckenzie's attention roused his keen interest, this being the bridging or complete cutting-out of the two fords on Gold Creek, just below Otoko viaduct. This section of The main North road always hafc' been a source of worry, for in bad weather the creek becomes impassable, and the metalling and improvement effected on the Otoko hill, and on the road north of Otoko, give no service, while deep fords hold up "traffic. The last few chains of the (Jtoko hill descent are' very steep, and similarly there is a steep pinch out of the ford under the viaduct, and tho section generally fails to conform to the new standard of loading requirements recently set up. A plan for the bridging of the fords has been in hand for some time, but it k possible that, as a result of the visit of i the Highways Board, the fords may be obviated altogether, as well as the steep pinches at each end of the section. Some chains from the northern end of tho Otoko hill it may ue found possible to deviate the main road, carrying it along the side of the hill and on to a terrace whi-oh overlooks the stream. The propbsed lino of the deviation falls in, to some extent, with (hat of an old road which formerly served the settlers in the hinterland, and which debouches at the (Jtoko railway station. If the investigations now being made prove this line to be practicable, the Highways Board may be expected to give it serious consideration, for the grades into and out of the dip mako tho existing section a difficult one to improve.