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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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Contents


ADMINISTRATION

The provincial period up to 1876 was one in which a great deal of roading legislation was passed. The six, and later, the nine provinces did their best to legislate roads into existence. In the 24 years of provincial government, over 120 ordinances or Acts relating to roads, their construction, roads boards, toll gates and tolls, main roads, and so on were passed. The provincial councils tackled their roading problems seriously, but they were handicapped by a shortage of funds. At the same time parochialism, which demanded that money raised in an area be spent in that area, led councils to construct roads without regard for the linking up of the colony. Failure to plan for through routes was one reason for the inauguration of the public works policy of the Central Government. Generally the provinces took care of their main roads, and the roads boards, which they had power to establish, constructed and maintained local or district roads.

By 1875 there were 314 roads boards and they did good work in essentially pioneering days. They brought local interest to bear on the problem and greatly assisted the important work of opening up the country and making rural life possible. As the counties were established after 1876 and it became possible for county administrative officers to travel to remote parts of their district to supervise work, there was no need for two bodies and the smaller began to disappear.

Following the abolition of the provinces, the Counties Act and the Public Works Act of 1876 were the effective Acts for much road work. The Counties Act defined the various classes of road and decided who was responsible for the maintenance of them. There were district roads in areas where there were road districts, and county roads in counties without roads districts or where the county had decided to take over some of the more important roads. Finally, there were Government roads, roads which the Government decided to maintain or existed in districts where the Counties Act was not in force and there were no roads boards.

Up to 1922 this system continued in a general way and the county councils carried the main burden of roading construction and maintenance. At the same time the Central Government made a substantial contribution throughout this phase of development, either by the actual construction of new roads subsequently handed over to the counties to maintain, or by the provision of liberal grants, either by way of subsidy or as free grants to assist county councils to construct new roads.

By 1920, when it became obvious that the motor vehicle was rapidly replacing horse-drawn vehicles as the main form of road transport, roading authorities began to appreciate the need for new standards of roading, particularly for the main arterial roads of the country. Road traffic, which hitherto had been almost local in character, began to assume national significance and the provision of through roads was outgrowing the capacity of local authorities.

The growing demand from local authorities for some greater measure of national provision, including finance for roading needs, culminated in the passing of the Main Highways Act of 1922. This marked a milestone in the roading history of New Zealand and laid the foundation for an era of great roading expansion. Under this Act provision was made for the declaration of main arterial roads as main highways, and the control of these roads became primarily a national concern. The administration of this Act was entrusted to the Main Highways Board, comprising two members appointed by the Government, an officer of the Ministry of Works, two representatives of county councils, and one representative of motor-vehicle owners. In the early stages of its operation, the Board declared 5,954 miles of main highways and, by further declarations from time to time, the total milage, including State highways, had been increased to 12,723 miles by 1952.

Funds for the Board's operations were provided from the Main Highways Account, a separate account within the Public Account. Into this account were paid tyre tax, motor-vehicle registration, and licence fees and, following the passing of the Motor Spirits Taxation Act of 1927, the proceeds of the tax on petrol, then at the rate of 4d. per gallon. The Board's share of the costs of main highways was met by means of subsidies to county councils and boroughs under 6,000 in population, which continued to carry out the actual work of construction and maintenance on those lengths of declared main highways within their respective areas. The rate of subsidy has varied over the years, being on a basis of 10s. in the pound in the initial stages and increasing to a general basis of M.H. £3 for L.A. 1.

In 1936 an amendment to the Main Highways Act empowered the Board to classify any main highway as a State highway, the whole cost being borne by the State out of the Main Highways Account. 3,921 miles were declared State highways, leaving 8,193 miles of main highways. Amendments to the Public Works Act in 1947 and 1948 made provision for the declaration of certain highways as motorways. Traffic on these is strictly limited to motor traffic, and access is restricted to specially designed junctions which eliminate cross traffic. Ribbon development fronting motorways is totally prohibited.

National Roads Board

As these later changes were taking place, a new doctrine began to be preached by roading authorities – namely, “the user should pay”. Although motor taxation in various forms became established as an essential source of roading revenue, it was also recognised that some new authority with a fresh outlook and with wider jurisdiction was necessary. The country was investing large sums of money in equipping itself with modern vehicles of size, weight, and loading capacity unthought of before the Second World War and was also paying proportionately large sums for the petrol it used. It had, however, no adequate means of putting the necessary amount of money into a parallel effort to provide itself with the type of road needed in the new transport age. Consequently, on 1 April 1954, the National Roads Board, appointed under the National Roads Act of 1953, took office as successors to the Main Highways Board. The change was made of necessity – a necessity arising directly from the march of years. The 30-year-old financial and administrative system previously in use had been outpaced by the times. As in 1922 and again in 1953, a centralised highway administration tended to develop along lines similar to those in other highly motorised countries like the U.S.A.

Under the chairmanship of the Minister of Works, the Board is an organisation representing private and commercial vehicle owners, counties, municipalities, and the Ministry of Works and Transport Department. The representative nature of the Board enables the widest possible background of knowledge and experience to be brought to bear on roading matters. The Board's chief executive agency is the Ministry of Works. This department provides a Roading Division to supply the Board with engineering and administrative services and which undertakes the construction and maintenance of State highways, including motorways, totalling 7,060 miles. The other agencies are the local authorities, being 122 counties and roads boards who control, maintain, and construct their own 43,850 miles of county roading, and 158 municipalities with their 4,970 miles of streets. The country is divided into 21 regional roads districts, each with an advisory council of similar composition to the Board. These councils make recommendations on local matters.

National Roads Fund

Revenue is derived from road taxation paid by the users, the motorist and commercial operators, in the form of petrol tax, tyre tax, milage tax, registration and licence fees, and heavy traffic fees, and from the Central Government, which contributes £1 million from general taxation. It is an inviolate fund and all taxation paid into it must be used solely for roading purposes. The Board works entirely out of revenue without recourse to loan finance and with no provision for overdraft. (In 1965 the petrol tax was ls. 5¾d.)

Allocation of Funds

The Act, amended in 1959, now defines that, of the annual motor revenue, not less than 51 per cent shall be allocated to State highways; not less than 30 per cent shall be allocated to county roads; and that not less than 14 per cent shall be allocated to municipal streets. This revenue must be used to meet the full cost of maintenance and construction on State highways; to subsidise local authority spending on roading, whereby the National Roads Fund pays 3s. 7d. of the cost; and to provide free grants to local authorities to be spent on roading where special needs can be proved.

Traffic Growth

Broadly speaking, traffic growth depends on the increase in the number of vehicle registrations. The following table shows the total number of vehicles registered at certain periods, and the population at the same date.

Vehicles Population Persons
(000s) (000s) per Vehicle
1954 602 2,118 3.52
1957 728 2,263 3.11
1960 844 2,404 2.85
1963 1,042 2,575 2.47
1964 1,072 2,590 2.42

At this rate of increase it is possible that by 1973 there could be one motor vehicle to every two people, compared with the present day ratio of one to 2.47, and the number of vehicles could rise to 1.51 million.

It is on this background that future highway planning is based.

State Highways

(a) Classification:

The classification of State highways into categories I, II, or III restricts vehicle loadings to those which the road can reasonably carry without serious damage. Bridges are similarly protected.

(b) Pavement Design:

Highway pavements are designed for axle loadings used in the classification system. Generally they are stabilised base courses with bituminous seals–surface dressings on sprayed binder. This form of surfacing has been used to achieve the maximum sealed milage with a minimum cost, but the demands of heavier traffic are taking toll of these light foundations. Maintenance expenditure is correspondingly very high.

(c) Bridging:

The replacement of bridges, mainly timber, over numerous swift-flowing rivers and streams is a major problem, and fluctuations in steel supplied over the post-war years seriously retarded the bridging effort. The Board places emphasis on the use of local materials; where possible, reinforced or prestressed concrete structures are designed in preference to those in steel.

Summary of Bridging, 1963–64

Completed During Year 1963–64 Under Construction at 31 March 1964
No. Length No. Length
ft ft
State highways 49 7,622 56 13,565
Motorways 3 519 6 6,178
Local authorities roads and streets:
Counties 332 18,374 133 10,683
Municipalities 10 1,174 11 936
Total 394 27,689 206 31,362

(d) Motorways:

To ease the mounting congestion of traffic on approaches to, and routes through, the urban areas, the Board has constructed 35 miles of motorway in Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin cities. It has further work in hand, including the urban motorway in Auckland. Progress on motorway construction is slower than the Board would wish. Land-compensation costs are high and this governs the finance available for construction. Consequently motorways are being constructed at a rate which is neither economic nor sufficient to overtake the traffic situation, but it is the best which revenue finance will allow.

National Roads Board Expenditure, 1963–64

State highways: £(million)
Maintenance 4.39
Construction 6.53
Bridge renewals 1.11
Motorways 3.12
County roads:
Maintenance and construction 7.94
Municipal streets:
Maintenance and construction 3.74
Total 26.85

Land-development Roading

In addition to works financed from the National Roads Fund, the Central Government provides £1 million annually for the construction of access roads through large land blocks being developed by Government departments for land settlement, and for major through roads of national importance. Projects in the latter category are the Haast roading to link Westland and Central Otago; the West Taupo Road; and the Kopu-Hikuai Road across the southern section of the Coromandel Peninsula.

by Dudley John Chapman, B.A., D.P.A., Investigating Officer, Administration Division, Ministry of Works, Wellington.