WHERE SHOULD THE JUNCTION BE ?

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3450, 15 February 1912, Page 5

WHERE SHOULD THE JUNCTION BE ?

MAKARAKA v. KING’S ROAD. MR J. TOWN-LEY’S OPINION. “So far as I am aware our Railway League is strongly of opinion that the connection should be at Makaraka.” said Mr J. Townley, President of the East Coast Railway League, when discussing with a representative of c?iO “Gisborne Times” last evening the comparative merits of the King’s Road and Makaraka junction. Mr Townley, continuing, said that floods did not provide the only reason why the junction of the Napier line with the Gisborne-Rotorua line should be at Makaraka, but unquestionably z the station at King’s Road in times of flood would be closed to traffic both by rail and road. Tlie public were quite aware of this fact, and knew that after heavy rain the water was several feet in depth. The fact that the King’s Road junction would provide a shorter route to Napier was nothing at ali when compared with the expense of maintaining the line during floods which might follow in quick succession. In 1900 this matter was referred to the railway engineers, who were working in Gisborne, and they were against putting embankments through the Makauri block on account of floods. He was quite sure the residents of the borough would much prefer the junction at Makaraka, for the travelling public from 'Wellington to Auckland via the East Coast main trunk line would make Gisborne a stopping place. “There is no doubt,” said Mr Townley in conclusion, “that Gisborne being the principal town should have the nearest connection, with the main line. Of course, it might be that Mr Holmes (the Engineer-in-Chief) has the idea that in future we may possibly prevent such floods, as we have had in the past, but, whatever we may do, we can’t stop the rain falling, and more or less we are bound to have severe inundations through tlie drainage from the. Big River. From whatever point of view I look at this question I am strongly convinced that the connection should be at

Gnkaraka, which has never been flooded during the last 40 years. I think that the idea of having the junction at King’s Road ought to be carefully reviewed,, for it is not yet too late to remedy what appears to me a, defect.”