The ramp light may have been activated to help minimise delays because of congestion further along the motorway. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Can you tell me why there are stop-go lights on the on-ramps to the motorway, like Ellerslie-Panmure Highway northbound and Greenlane northbound, when there are free-flow lanes to the next off-ramp? I'm sure it would ease the traffic flow around those areas if they were removed, and a single lane
would give drivers time to merge into the main stream. Angeline Williams, Auckland.
The NZ Transport Agency is responsible for the operation of ramp signals. They are managed to try to improve traffic flows throughout the Auckland motorway network, not at each individual on-ramp. If the signals are operating at an on-ramp where traffic appears light, they may have been activated to help minimise delays because of congestion further along the motorway.
What constitutes a truck for the purposes of transit lanes? I am sick of patiently sitting in line while every "tradie" in a van or a ute with only one person in the vehicle and then every other person in a Land Rover, Rav 4 or similar also using the T2 lane with only one passenger in go sailing past. Joanna Wemyss, Waiuku.
A spokesman for the NZ Police advises that signs at the on-ramp lanes allowing access to the motorway for HMVs (heavy motor vehicles) will often have a weight on them eg 3.5T+ (3.5 tonnes and over). An HMV is classed as anything with a Gross Vehicle Mass above 3.5 Tonne. And T2 lanes must only be used for vehicles with two or more people on board. You may be fined for usage outside of this law.
There are large truck check/weigh stations north of Plimmerton and at Ohakea. With the multitude of trucks coming in and out of Auckland why are there none of these weigh stations in the upper north? Allen Grainger, New Windsor.
