Gore MAIN HIGHWAY

Southland Times, Issue 22993, 12 September 1936, Page 18

Gore MAIN HIGHWAY

DEVIATION AT McNAB

The announcement by the Main Highways Board, published in yesterday’s Southland Times, that a five-mile deviation of the main InvercargillDunedin highway in the vicinity of McNab had been decided on has been received with satisfaction by motorists throughout Southland and particularly by those in the Gore district who _ in the past have suffered considerable inconvenience through flooding on this road. For a number of years the road has been impassable for motor traffic on several occasions each winter through flooding, and various suggestions have been made for overcoming the trouble. The decision of the Main Highways Board, however, promises immunity from a recurrence of the difficulty, and motorists are hopeful that the new section of the road will be open for traffic before next winter. The board has indicated that construction will start about the end of October. An alternative route for traffic for the purpose of eliminating the section which has been subject to flooding was put forward several years ago when it was proposed to complete the road from Mataura to Clinton via Kaiwera. This route had the merit of reducing the distance between Mataura and Clinton by approximately nine miles, but objections were lodged from Gore against the elimination of that centre from the route. In any case, it would have been necessary to continue the present route | as a main highway to give access from both north and south to the Waimea highway leading to Queenstown and the Eglinton Valley. Frequent Flooding. The flooding problem has occurred over the section of the road traversing the lower end of the Waikaka Valley. The valley provides the main drainage for a very large catchment area and the Waikaka river at that point flows between low banks through flat country. The result is that the Waikaka river and several other small streams in the vicinity readily overflow their banks after heavy rain, whereupon the road becomes impassable. Apart from the inconvenience caused to the travelling public, the section of the road presents something of a problem to the County Council responsible for its maintenance, since the surface gravel is frequently washed away through flooding. At the present time the road surface is damaged from the scouring which occurred at the beginning of this week. Several years ago a substantial sum of money was spent on clearing the willows in the vicinity with a view to giving the water a clearer passage to the junction with the Mataura river, but the work resulted in only a slight improvement and did not prevent the flooding. A Southland Times reporter yesterday travelled over the route that is likely to be adopted for the proposed new section of the highway. A considerable amount of reading has previously been done in the vicinity, and it is probable that only a small proportion of the length of five miles will require to be freshly surveyed for the acquisition of land to link up the stretches of road already fenced and formed. Probable Change in Route. In view of the fact that the section of the existing highway from the Gore Borough boundary to the crossing on the Waikaka railway line has already been sealed, it appears unlikely that this section of the route will be altered, although a saving of distance could have been effected by following the existing road which runs from the East Gore school along the south side of the Waikaka river and main railway line to Otikerama. An inspection of the locality indicates that the road may be deviated from near the McNab railway siding across the railway and river to join the road previously mentioned. Portions of the road on the south side of the railway have not been gravelled, but preliminary formation has been completed and a limited amount of straightening and grading would make the road suitable for main highway traffic. This road showed no signs of having been flooded, but it could be raised without much difficulty. An extension would probably be necessary from Otikerama to join the present main road just south of Pukerau to avoid a double crossing of the railway and to ensure that other low-lying sections of the present road should be eliminated. BAND CONTEST Excellent entries have been received for the forthcoming brass and pipe bands’ contest to be held at Gore on Saturday, November 14. There are six B grade, four C grade and eight pipe band entries. The entries are:— B Grade.—Green Island, Mosgiel, Gore, Dunedin, Artillery, Otago Mounted Rifles (Oamaru) and Bluff. C Grade.—Port Chalmers, West Harbour, St. Joseph’s Orphanage and Tapanui. Pipe Bands.—Gore, Momona, Taieri, North Otago, Wyndham, John McGlashan College, Mataura and Invercargill Caledonian. ■ GARDEN CLUB At the annual meeting of the Gore Garden Club Mr J. Speden presided over a good attendance of membersr The annual report and balance-sheet were adopted. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows: President, Mr J. Speden; vice-presidents, Mesdames VZ. J. Blackmore and T. A. Fleming and Messrs J. G. Duncan and R. Roger; committee, Mesdames A. Duncan, R. Fisher, R. Hamilton and J. Potts, Miss M. Robertson and Messrs W. J. Blackmore', T. Brown, A. Duncan, A. G. Henderson and C. A. Treschner; secretary and treasurer, Mr M. Fowler; auditor, Mr J. Harper. Mr C. J. Burrows waited on the club on behalf of the Gore Amenities Society, which proposed holding a monster show in February with the object of raising funds to assist it ‘in its campaign of beautifying the town. The society was seeking the co-operation of other societies in an effort to make the show an outstanding success. After a short discussion it was decided to go further into the matter at a later date.