Ask Phoebe: Upgrade for intersection

What are the plans for the intersection at East Tamaki Rd, Preston Rd and Ormiston Rd in Otara? Jim Agnew, South Auckland.

Improvements are scheduled to start in about two years, and funding has been set aside for it. The plan is to make it a more efficient four-legged intersection, and so far Manukau City Council has bought most of the land it needs and is in the process of getting the necessary resource consents for the work.

The Road Code states that entrances to supermarkets are intersections, for example the Countdown Greenlane entrance on Great South Rd. If a car is waiting to turn right into Countdown, and another is waiting to turn right out of Countdown, who has right of way? Frank Wood, Auckland.

When both vehicles are turning right, as in this case, the car on Great South Rd must give way to the vehicle leaving the supermarket.

And again from Mr Wood:

Now that the road from Hobsonville to Greenhithe is a motorway, how would mopeds travel north or south?

Mopeds, 50cc scooters and motorcycles are all classed as motorised vehicles, and are thus allowed on motorways, as long as they can keep up with the speed of the traffic flow.

What are the rules for stopping at ramp signals when they are on, and are they monitored? I travel on the Southern Motorway most days, entering at the Khyber Pass onramp. At least 90 per cent of those going onto the motorway do not stop or even slow down at the signals. If you dare to stop you are often rudely tooted at by other motorists. Val Hird, Whangaparaoa.

Traffic lights on motorway onramps are like any others, in that they must be heeded. If the light is red, you must stop. The ramp signals are monitored by police as part of their regular motorway patrols, but it can be a very thin blue line, as we all know, and they can't be everywhere at once.

Our house is in a road, to the south is another road, and to the north is a street. What is the difference? Linda Waters, Auckland.

Nothing at all, really. I live in a street which becomes a road as it heads west. Odd. In rural areas, road is more common (however, in the Rangitikei area "line" is prevalent) but in urban areas, the terms are interchangeable.