Ask Phoebe: Diesel shuttle will fill Waitakere gap when rail plugs in
5:30 AM Tuesday Nov 27, 2012
The give way sign is the trap for visitors to Devonport, says Denis Manson. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Q: With the conversion to electric trains and wires out west going to Swanson at present, is Waitakere to lose its rail service or are there plans to extend the electrification to Waitakere? Glenn Wootten, Waitakere.
A: Auckland Transport says services from Swanson to Waitakere are under review. It is expected that where rail services continue to serve this area after the completion of electrification, a diesel-powered shuttle service will operate between the two stations.
Q: Is it possible to have the give way sign on the corner of Victoria Rd and Calliope Rd in Devonport removed? Several times, I have had to stop behind cars as one turning right has decided to stop and give way to right-turning traffic into Calliope Rd. This might have been correct before the recent law change but as Victoria Rd is the main road, cars turning left into Calliope Rd have preference over the right-turning traffic from Victoria Rd into Calliope Rd. The give way sign is the trap for visitors to Devonport - or am I, and the persons travelling with me, wrong? Calliope Rd has a stop sign. Victoria Rd has a give way sign tilted toward the traffic turning left. Dennis Manson, Devonport.
A: I'm sorry, Mr Manson, but you and your passengers are wrong. The traffic law changes in March state that if you are turning right you must give way to all vehicles coming towards you, including those turning left. This applies only if both vehicles are facing no signs or signals or the same signs or signals. At a T-intersection or driveway, traffic on a terminating road (bottom of the T) must give way to all traffic on a continuing road (top of the T).
At the intersection you refer to, motorists turning right from Calliope into Victoria face a stop sign, as you note, and must thus give way to all other traffic, and proceed only when the way is clear.
The give way sign on Victoria Rd for traffic wanting to turn left into Calliope indicates that motorists wanting to make this manoeuvre must wait until right-turning traffic from Victoria into Calliope has cleared.
Q: On Northcote Rd on Auckland's North Shore, opposite the Poenamo Hotel, a normal-sized red bus is parked on the side of the road. It seems to have been converted to a house bus. I wondered what the laws are regarding parking and living on the side of the road in a bus. Diana Broomfield, North Shore.
A: This matter has been investigated by Auckland Transport and the Auckland Council. The bus is parked legally. If there is evidence such a bus is being lived in, council staff can act but otherwise if it is parked legally, no action can be taken.