Ask Phoebe: Expressway will cut travel on any journey

Road users travelling from Tirau to Auckland would shave 35 minutes off their total travel time by using the Waikato Expressway once it is complete. Photo / Stephen Barker

No post office required to calculate time saved when new Waikato road up and running.

NZ Transport Agency says when the Waikato Expressway is finished it will save 35 minutes on the journey between Tirau and Auckland. My question is where in Auckland do they measure the journey to? Brent Jones, Auckland.

Historically distances between towns or cities were taken from post office to post office. With the closure of many of these in the late 1980s, the measurement becomes problematic.

The Waikato Expressway is another matter. NZTA says it's an overall figure, rather than point-to-point. The stated 35-minute time-saving is over the entire length of the expressway.

So road users travelling from, say, Taupo to Auckland or Tirau to Auckland, in your case, would shave 35 minutes off their total travel time by using the Waikato Expressway once it is complete. There is no Auckland landmark in the equation. The Waikato Expressway will simply create a shorter drive time between destinations by shortening the route and reducing congestion, allowing higher speeds.

There is an unusual intersection on Franklin Rd in Auckland City where you can turn left or right out of Wellington St on to Franklin Rd.
However, directly across the road is England St, which you can only turn left out of to head northeast on Franklin Rd. I use this intersection every day to turn out of Wellington St and there is often confusion about who has the right of way when turning to head down the hill. Is it the person turning right out of Wellington St across traffic, or the person turning left out of England St joining the flow of traffic. I've always gone with the presumption that it's the latter, but some people seem to have different and sometimes angry ideas. Tom Lucker, Freemans Bay.

You are correct. The road code states that if you are at an intersection and turning right and the opposing vehicle is turning left, you must give way. Thus, the vehicle turning left out of England St has right of way.

And, in a similar vein:

The other day I found myself in the following situation: I was at a stop sign at a T-intersection, turning right. Directly opposite me (the top of the T) was a car exiting a private residential driveway, indicating to turn left. I was under the impression that I had the right of way because I was already on the road. Is this correct? Mike Batten, Auckland.

No. The road code states that if you are turning right, you must give way to all vehicles coming towards you who are turning left. And if you are at a stop sign, you must stay stopped until you have given way to all other vehicles. This includes those turning out of a driveway.

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