Ask Phoebe: Nasty spot's upgrade years away

The SH20 Mt Roskill extension is done but Mt Albert/Sandringham Rd needs work.

It's great that the SH20 Mt Roskill extension is finished and open, but no moves seem to have been made for the upgrade of the Sandringham Rd/Mt Albert Rd intersection. What is going to be done and when? Also, are there any layout changes planned that will make it easier for residents in the area to exit their streets on to these roads? We are already finding it very difficult to get on to Sandringham Rd in the morning traffic. Gail Thomas, Marne Rd, Sandringham.

The Sandringham Rd/Mt Albert Rd intersection is a really nasty one. Over the past five years, 60 crashes have been recorded within a 50m radius and although traffic-light phasing has been changed, there's still room for improvement.

An upgrade is in the wind, but it's not going to happen any time soon.

Work is not anticipated to start until at least 2012. The hold-up is because the council has to buy designated road frontages on 22 properties on Mt Albert and Sandringham Rds, and although negotiations with the landowners have begun, it all takes time.

Earlier proposals for improvement included dedicated right-turn lanes at each approach to the intersection, extension of the existing bus lanes along Sandringham Rd, more cycle lanes and cycle advance bays, wider footpaths and underground power and phone lines. It would be wonderful if some or all of these eventuated.

So, although Marne Rd residents have a flush median for turning into and out of Sandringham Rd, sustained relief is not in sight.

Are you able to find out when there will be electronic bus timetables at the Albert St bus stops? Sue Proffitt, Auckland.

Beverley Wilson asks the same question but also wants to know when the electronic signs will be erected at Victoria Park bus stops. There are three bus shelters there, she says, but it's difficult to read the destination signs on buses in the early evening because of sun strike on westbound buses. It would be helpful to know which buses are imminent, she says.

First of all, Albert St. The Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) was working with the city council last year to put in the signs during the upgrade of Albert St. That way, access to power supply would be co-ordinated and poles could be used for several purposes.

Then the Albert St upgrade was put on hold for financial reasons and, with it, the electronic signs.

Similarly, a planned upgrade of Victoria St has been suspended while a study of public transport in the CBD takes place. Work on Victoria St is planned to begin in 2013, but no word yet on Albert St.

The good news for North Shore bus passengers, though, is that ARTA is in the process of installing electronic signs on Fanshawe St by Victoria Park, opposite the Air New Zealand building.

I commute by bus from New Lynn bus centre to Albert St in the city. Sometimes it takes an hour for the trip, even by express bus, for a journey that should only take 35 minutes. Most of the hold-up is in the section of Great North Rd between Avondale and Pt Chevalier. It can take up to 30 minutes for that stretch alone, as there is no bus lane and a huge volume of traffic. Are there any plans to widen the road here and put in a bus lane? David Stewart, Titirangi.

Tricky, but timely. As part of its support for the Western Ring Route, Auckland City Council made it a condition that bus priority measures be included in SH20 Waterview. Specifically, this means a bus lane on this section of Great North Rd to avoid congestion around Waterview.

However, any decision on a bus lane depends on the eventual design of the motorway and its alignment and, as we know, this is currently the subject of heated debate. When the dust settles, maybe we'll know a bit more.