Trucks
trash - Northern Advocate - 11th July 2011.
Roads being trashed
After making two return trips to Auckland from Whangarei on
Thursday and Friday last week, I have a challenge for our senior decision
making politicians; leave Whangarei at 0620am and personally drive through to
Auckland, in your private vehicle. Personally experience the number of trucks
impeding the flow of traffic, experience the large amount of pot holes and
undulations in the highway, and also experience the road works and the mess
they make of your car. Then over a coffee at a local café think about the
future of traffic services to Northland, without looking through rose coloured
glasses.
Hopefully without the chauffeur driven BMW trips, the
taxis from home to departure points, or the air flights between centres on our
national air carrier or special Air Force flights in a helicopter or jet, you will get to really
appreciate what the normal run of the mill people are actually concerned about.
Our roads are being trashed by the trucks. Keep our rail
lines open to Northland or have separate dedicated city linking roads for the
beasts that impede the traffic flows and gobble up many dollars on road repairs
and maintenance, leaving our highways for the light vehicles they were designed
to service. Lets’ be sensible the tracks are already there.
And as for the coffee, it’s not bad at McDonalds, Burger
King, Wild Bean café or other cafes but possibly at tad more expensive than the
coffee at Bellamy’s, or those purchased on the ratepayer’s credit card. Don’t
forget to wash the dirt and cement splashes off your own car. Could this be a
platform of a new TV program “Make the Politician drive”, with a bit of reality
thrown in for good measure
Warren Slater
Maunu