STATUS OF ROAD TO RIVERTON

Southland Times, Issue 23544, 25 June 1938, Page 12

STATUS OF ROAD TO RIVERTON

Declaration As Main Highway Sought REQUEST SUBMITTED BY COUNTY A request from the Southland County Council that the Riverton-Lomeville road should be declared a State Highway was submitted to the local members of Parliament at the conference of Southland local bodies and members of Parliament yesterday. In presenting the remit the council stated: “This council made application to the Main Highways Board for an additional rate of subsidy on the cost of building new concrete bridges to replace the narrow bridges •' on the Riverton highway and on the cost of reconstructing and sealing the length of this highway in the Southland county. This highway carries a considerable volume of traffic foreign to the county, and our application for increased subsidy has been declined. The Main Highways Board has undertaken to carry out work at the Iron Bridge to eliminate flooding of the highway, and the County Council is contributing to tbe cost of this work on the basis of £1 for £ll. The council feels that this rate of subsidy should apply to the cost of construction of bridges and the sealing of this highway.” Mr G. W. Whittingham said that 1500 cars were passing over the Riverton■Lorneville road every day and it had been stated that a road of that type was not economical to maintain if it carried more than 150 vehicles a day. Mr D. J. Wesney: I am satisfied that the Southland County and the Wallace County could give figures to show the Main Highways Board why it should take the road over.

The Hon. T. F. Doyle, M.L.C., said he would like to see the remit amended so that the members of Parliament would be asked to bring the matter before the Minister of Public Works. The road should, he thought, be a State Highway. If that was done the whole of the costs would be a charge on the Government and not on the local bodies.

Mr Wesney said the time had come when the counties could prove that the road carried a sufficient number of cars to justify the Main Highways Board taking it over.