NEW BRIDGES OPENED.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 12, 15 January 1924, Page 8

NEW BRIDGES OPENED.

CEREMONY AT MANGAKAHIA. QUICK ROAD CONNECTIONS. In a speech made at the opening of two new bridges nt Mangakahia Valley particulars of which were supplied by our Whangarei correspondent yesterday, the Hon. J. G. Coates said the tour of himself and his officers in the North had been helpful in visualising its re- i quirements in the matter of roads and I railways. Mangakahia should be well j served, for, when the railway reached Kirikopuni and tho roael connection was made, no part of the valley should be more than 20 miles from the railway, either at Kaikohe or Kirikopuni. The road would give quick connection between North and South, and as roads could be built five or six times quicker than railways, the settlers would have their connections so much the sooner. The development of road transport | would probably bo so rapid that they j would not regret the stopping of tlie railway ot Kirikopuni. Mrs. Coates having cut the ribbons the bridges were declared open, amid cheers. The visitors were subsequently entertained by the settlers at a banquet in a copse of native bush. Replying to a toast, Mr. Coates em- ] phasised tho importance of conccntrat- I ing on particular roads, and pressing them to completion. Tt was impossible to do everything at once, but it was also useless to spenel £50 hero and £50 there and obtain no tangible result for the money spent. The northern counties, or most of them, had adopted the policy of concentration on particular roads, with results that were already visible. As the settlers saw what was being achieved and felt the benefits, they would never rest content with a reversal to "the old policy.