BETTER HIGHWAYS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17116, 23 November 1929, Page 10

BETTER HIGHWAYS

RECORD OP PIVE YEARS INTERESTING COMPARISON AUSTRALIAN STATES AND U.S.A. The activities of the Main Highways Board in the last' five years are shown in a detailed review contained in the hoard’s anum'il report on roads for the past year. The amount, of construction work accomplished on main highways since the board commenced to function is represented by 635 miles of formation and widening. 620'miles of gravelling and metalling, 262 miles of tar and bituminous macadam, 30 miles of bituminous concrete, and 39 miles oi cement connote. a. total of 1760 miles, pins 31.252 ft of bridges. In 1924 the total rural mileage of improved sindaces was 525 miles. This has Leon increased in live years to 639 miles. EXPENDITURE IN AIhSTjUALIA. Comparing these result,s with' other countries, it is pointed out that in Victoria the County Roads Board, the counterpart of the 'Now Zealand Main Highways Board, has been in operation for about- 16 years, while in New South Wales the Main Roads Board has been in operation for about four years. The Comparisons between these two States and New Zealand for the past year are as follow ;

Total Expenditure. New Zealand, March 31. 1929, £1,917,C00: New South Wales,' .1 une 30, 1928. 1)3,365,000; Victoria, June 30, 1928, 1)2,265,500. Expenditure per Motor Vehicle.—New Zealand, £9 12s: New South Wales, £l6; Victoria, £ls 2s.

Expenditure per head of population. —New Zealand, £1 6s Id; New South Wales, £1 7s 7d ; Victoria,, £1 5s 7d.

The figures per head of population are in remarkably close, accord, while the expenditure per motor vehicle in Now Zealand is very substantially lower than m the two Australian States.

A similar comparison lias been prepared showing the sa.me information (m respect of 1927) for 11 of the American States, the populations of which range from 80,0000 to 2,500,000, a range which includes the population of the Australian States and New Zealand. The average, expenditure oil highways per head of population for the 11 States referred to is ,£1 6s 6d, a shade over the New Zealand figure and almost exactly Hie average between Victoria and New South Wales. “Again it is obvious,” states the hoard, “that if the petrol tax had not boon imposed in New Zealand, highway expenditure would have lagged behind that of our neighbors, as the expenditure per head of population in this country for the year 1927-28 was only 14s 7d.” BETTER ROADS THAN IN' U.S.A.

Although the above information goes to show that main highway activities have just reached a- stage comparative with what is being done in other countries. it is not desired to give the impression that raiding development in New Zealand as a whole lias lagged behind corresponding development elsewhere. Eighty per cent, of the roads in the United States are shown to be unsurfaced, as compared with about 37 per cent, in New Zealand. About 15 per cent, of American roads have gravel and metal surfaces, as against about. 60 per cent, in New Zealand, and what arc termed “high type surfaces'’ amount in America to 5 per cent., as against 2-J, per cent, in New Zealand. The board concludes that its review appears to support the following conclusions : (1) That highway development in New Zealand is merely keeping pace with the development of motor transportation; (2) that the Lite of expenditure on highway activities has just reached a figure which is remarkably close to the rates of expenditure in other countries where the donilitions of national development and the development of motor transportation arc somewhat similar to those in New Zealand.