I commute on a bus from the North Shore to the city, which travels along the Fanshawe St bus lane before turning (slightly) left on to Sturdee St at the junction of Fanshawe, Sturdee, Market Place and Nelson Sts. For the last 200m of Fanshawe St prior to this intersection, it goes from a bus lane to what appears to be left-turn only for Market Place traffic. On the Sturdee St side, the bus lane restarts immediately. Are buses allowed to travel in this left-turn only lane? About half of the buses do, and the other half stop about 200m before the intersection, pull right by one lane into the main traffic, then move back 200m later. What should buses be doing? Surely it would make sense to have this as a bus lane for these 200m? Simone French, North Shore.
When I addressed this question last year, a spokesperson for Auckland Transport advised that the sign is provided to clarify what is meant by the arrow in the far left lane when approaching Market Place from Fanshawe St.
The far left lane is intended for use only by vehicles turning left into Market Place, whereas the adjacent lane is intended for vehicles travelling along to Sturdee St. As this is not quite a straight ahead movement, vehicles must bear left.
Auckland Transport is working on a project that will assist buses to travel ahead to Sturdee St from that lane. The current width of the exit from the intersection, where it is marked as a bus lane, is less than desirable for buses.
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Advertise with NZME.Bus drivers have been advised to use the adjacent lane to travel towards Sturdee St until such time as changes are made.
What is happening with the Waterview Connection? I have heard that Alice, the tunnel-boring machine, has stopped her good work. Was there a breakdown? How far had she got? Neville Robinson, Auckland.
No breakdown, just a breather. Alice stopped earlier this month so steel fibre brushes associated with the installation of the tunnel lining could be replaced. She was about 40m underground and had travelled 870m, about a third of her 2.4km journey to construct the first of the tunnels to connect the Northwestern and Southwestern motorways.
The brushes help to form a waterproof seal as the concrete segments that line the tunnel are lifted into place by Alice.
During the maintenance break, work continued behind Alice to install a large culvert on the floor of the tunnel to carry the cables for the ventilation, communication, fire detection and lighting systems.
Alice is expected to arrive in Waterview in late September and be turned around ready to start her return drive to Owairaka in early 2015.
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