Want to go to the zoo? Follow the signs. Need to get to a hospital? You better bring a map or GPS along, advises Joanna Davies.
Auckland Zoo is clearly signposted on the Northwestern Motorway. To get there, take the St Lukes exit. Take the same exit if you want to visit Motat, the Museum of Transport and Technology - another popular tourist attraction clearly signposted before you reach the necessary off-ramp.
But, if you have an appointment at Auckland City Hospital, and you're unfamiliar with the
tangled interchanges around the city centre, you may have more trouble locating it. And not just that hospital. There are no signs on the Northern Motorway for North Shore
Hospital, but there is one for AUT University.
On the Southern Motorway, there is one sign for Middlemore Hospital just before the Otahuhu off-ramp, even though the hospital is 4km from the motorway. Rainbows End also gets a sign before the Redoubt Rd offramp. Auckland City Hospital, by comparison, is less than 1km from the Northwestern Motorway.
Douglas Brooks of Henderson believes hospitals need signs on the motorways because
there is no way to know which exits to take.
"I was bringing my wife to some appointments and you can't find your way here because there aren't any signs on the motorway. If someone is new to the city, they wouldn't know which exit to take.''
From the Northwestern Motorway, the quickest route to the hospital in Grafton is to
take the Port exit, or the Wellesley St exit. From either of these, the next set of traffic lights is where the first signs for the hospital appear.
"Really, they need to put a hospital sign under the first Port exit signs,'' says Mr Brooks. "Several people have mentioned that it can be difficult to know which exit to take, and if you miss the port you end up on the Newmarket Viaduct and then you have to try and find your way back.''
The NZ Transport Agency has a guide for signs, and only hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments within a "reasonable distance'' of the motorway can be signposted.
Mr Brooks has contacted the agency to express his concerns.
Mark Fenwick of Auckland District Health Board says the board would be concerned if it
heard from people struggling to find the hospital.
"We would welcome people contacting us if they do have a problem with the directional
signage on the Northwestern Motorway. Additionally, the board would endorse the New
Zealand Transport Agency taking any action that may assist motorists on the Northwestern Motorway in finding Auckland City Hospital.''
New Zealand Transport Agency's Auckland state highways manager, Tommy Parker, says the agency is investigating the locations and visibility of the hospital's signs.
"To ensure drivers using the motorway get earlier notice that they are heading towards the hospital, we are also investigating the possibility of adding the internationally recognised sign for a hospital - a white cross on a blue background - to signage further back along the motorway,'' says Mr Parker. "We have to balance the need to ensure that there's not too much signage in a high-speed motorway environment with the need to keep people, particularly visitors to the city, informed about the destination they are driving to.''
Here you go
Attractions signposted on Auckland's motorways:
- Auckland International Airport - signs at off-ramps on the Southern Motorway
- Auckland Zoo - signs before St Lukes off-ramp on the Northwestern Motorway
- AUT University - signs before Esmonde Rd off-ramp for the Northern Motorway
- Motat - signs before the St Lukes off-ramp on the Northwestern Motorway
- Rainbows End - signs before the Redoubt Rd off-ramp on the Southern Motorway
- SkyCity - signs city-bound on the Southern Motorway, for the Nelson St off-ramp
- TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre - signs before the Redoubt Rd exit on the Southern Motorway.