Ask Phoebe: Hope yet for more Popsicle Band fun

Auckland Hospital. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Where has the Popsicle Band gone? Whenever our family drive past Tip Top corner on the Southern Motorway, we all look out for them. But the last few times we've been past, they haven't been there. Will they be coming back?
Kieran Bingham, aged 9, Whenuapai.

The nice people at Fonterra, which owns Tip Top, say the Popsicle Band was old and damaged. During visits to the site, children invariably wanted to climb on them and it was becoming unsafe.

Because of concerns over health and safety, the band was removed. However, the team at Tip Top is working on the layout of the factory tour and plan to improve the experience, so it is possible that the band might return.

I noticed recently that there are no signs on roads into central Auckland indicating which exit to take if one wants to go to Auckland Hospital.

For anyone coming from out of town to visit loved ones or other patients, finding the right route can become a nightmare for anyone that is not aware of which exit to take. The only sign I came across was one at the end of the off ramp.

Would you know if the transport agency responsible for the motorway signs is going to fix this problem?
Cameron Carter, Panmure.

PS. There are plenty of signs on the Southern Motorway indicating which exit to take to go to Middlemore Hospital.

The Transport Agency says it is already responding to the need for more signs, and is installing additional ones on the city-bound lanes of the Northwestern Motorway (State Highway 16) to direct people to Auckland Hospital via the Wellesley St off-ramp in Grafton Gully.

The agency will work with the hospital regarding the location of additional signs to help those people heading north on the Southern Motorway (SH1) to the hospital.

It is expected that the Khyber Pass off-ramp will be re-confirmed as the most direct route and best exit from the motorway.

Thank you to all those who wrote to advise of the easiest way to get from the airport to SH16.

It seems the best way is to follow SH20 to the Sandringham Rd exit (at Maioro St), go down Sandringham and turn left into Mt Albert Rd. Continue along here as it becomes Carrington Rd, and then left into Great North Rd. This will lead you to the Pt Chevalier onramp to SH16 north.

A suggested alternative is to take the Sandringham Rd exit from SH20, turn left into Stoddard Rd, carry on to Richardson Rd, go across New North Rd into Woodward Rd and thence to Carrington Rd.

Yet another suggestion is to travel along Maioro St, turn right into New Windsor Rd, right again into Blockhouse Bay Rd, right into Great North Rd and thence to the Pt Chev onramp to SH16.