KEY POINTS:
On the Southeastern Motorway onramp northbound is a T2 lane. I understand this to be a bus/truck/high occupancy vehicle lane. Is this right? How long has it been there? How many Auckland onramps have them, and how many are planned? Is it a 24-hour job? Val McKenzie, Auckland.
These lanes, also known as managed priority lanes, have been operating on the Southeastern Highway and Mt Wellington onramps since early August.
They are part of the ramp signalling project, and 11 are planned for the Southern, Northwestern and Northern Motorways.
Those on the citybound onramps at Lincoln Rd, Te Atatu Rd (from the peninsula) and Great North Rd should be ready by early next year.
Priority lanes are also planned for Greville Rd southbound and Constellation Drive, northbound and southbound.
Trucks, buses and car-pool vehicles can use the lanes to bypass the ramp signals. They are open 24 hours a day, even when the ramp signals are off. A trucks-only priority lane has been operating at the Grafton Rd southbound onramp since last October.
I'm relatively new to Auckland, so I hope you can point me in the right direction regarding speed humps. We live in Ellerslie with two toddlers, and I enjoy walking to parks and cafes. However I have noticed that Ballin St seems to be a rat-run for cars coming from the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway to Ladies Mile. The speed of these vehicles is really scary for a wee girl trying to learn the road rules. Do you know if the city council has considered putting speed humps in Ballin St? Who do I contact to ask for an assessment to be done? Celia Cavanagh-Briggs, Ellerslie.
The Auckland City Council is more than happy to do an assessment of speeding in residential streets. The guidelines include reported accidents, traffic speeds and volumes, number of commercial vehicles using the street, the geometry and length of the street, and the type of road, eg, local or arterial.
The council also works with the police on enforcing speeding restrictions, and often local communities get into a safety campaign to target poor driver behaviour in their streets.
To get in touch with the council, phone (09) 379-2020; tell the operator what you're after.
Is there anything planned for the corner of Mead St and Rosebank Rd to make it safer? There are so many accidents on that corner caused by vehicles overtaking left-turning cars going into Mead St and thereby moving into the path of right-turning vehicles waiting to turn. As well, many motorists do not observe the stop sign in Mead St, and combining that with excessive speed on Rosebank, it's a really dangerous spot. Jacqui Dunn, Avondale.
The T-intersection of Mead and Rosebank has a stop control, giving priority to traffic on Rosebank Rd. Eight crashes have been recorded here in the past five years.
The new flush median should have helped motorists trying to get in and out of Mead St, but the council will look at trying to make further improvements. This might include advance warning of the stop sign and a review of road markings and signs.
* Time is running out for nominations for the grimmest road (street, crescent, lane, terrace, place, close etc) in the Auckland region.
Email your suggestions to askphoebe@nzherald.co.nz before the end of this week. We'll pick the 10 worst and try to get something done about them.
