NEW HUTT SCHEME.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 9 December 1925, Page 5

NEW HUTT SCHEME.

ROAD TO WAIRARAPA. CONFERENCE TO BE CALLED. -Shortly after thei Kutt County Council met yesterday, Mr. A. H. Beuliam, -the eouueiUs engineer, read liis rc.pofct, dealing witn the proposed scheme raAputing a traffic tunnel through the. Wninui Hill at a cost of £300,000. ‘-The existing road level at the -commencement of the traverse of the Wninui side of the hill,” he said, ‘‘is .-554 feet above the Day’s Bay road at Graeefield, whilst the road level at -the present saddle is 719 feet above otlie same point. Tho traverse has been taken for the approach road on .the Wainui sule, parallel to the iffiih. water main to tne point where tiie lar.ior turns to enter me hid, thence continues in' the same liue for a total distance of -lu chains with a grade of one in G The lay-out men goes on mr a dil^nce of ,l 8 chains with a rising grade of 21 in Go to tne tunnel portal. The length of the proposed tunnel from tins point is 18 eaains, the- grade falling towards the Hutt Valley at one in uu. hue neignt oi the tunnel mouth above tne road at (inzccfield would necessitate tne cons.i action of one mile 24 chains of -sidling road, having a grade of one in 164. From an inspection of the alignment of this road i do not consider that .any extraordinary difficulties wotiid 'present themselves. My preliminary i-smyate for 24ft wide roads, metalled to ySft., and a two-way traffic tunnei, is eoO.000.” After the report had been read Couftrillor D. G. Hoggard outlined a big -scheme he had in mind. “The tunnel,” iic said, “would not be justified at all except as, part of a plan for a low level route to the Wairarapa which could 'be •carried through fairly cheaply, having regard) to its many advantages.” To reach the Wairarapa at present, he said one had to cross the Mangaroa hill, with a - into the J’akarata^rValley, and a subsequent -.climb up the Rimutaka 'Hill. Through by Wainui-o-mata and the Western the proposed tunnel the route wduld go Bake road to Featherston. The distance from Featherston to Wellington would bo twenty miles longer than at present, but against that the highest point would be only 400 feet above sea -level. ‘The principal item of expense would be the tunnel, which was estimated to cost £50,000. A new road of .15 miles, which would not cost more tiffin. £25,000 ,would be required to go from tho Orongorongo Valley to the Western Lake road, but there were no serious difficulties in the way of its -construction. The road would cost about £2OOO per mile to surface with •bitumen on the penetration system. I thing that a bitumen surface would be the best,” continued Mr. Hoggard, -‘and a surface of it would not cost more than £120,000. The total expenditure on a bitumen road from Lower Hutt to Ewitherson, including the tunnel, woulPflot cost more than £IBO,OOO. “This sum is a mere trifle compared with the cost of the railway tunnel from Mangaroa to Cross Creek, which would run into a million and a quarter of

money. Mr. Iloggnrd moved: “That delegates from the local bodies interested, the Public Works Department, and the Main Highways Board be invited to attend a conference in the council’s office -a some convenient time in February to further discuss the scheme.” The motion, seconded by Mr. McKay (.'lire chairman) was carried.