Ask Phoebe: Young lovers get sinking feeling

Sand pitfall: Driving is limited on Kohimarama Beach. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A couple of weeks ago, a young couple decided to go for a romantic drive on Kohimarama Beach, as far down as the water line. Unsurprisingly, when it came time for them to leave, they found they had sunk up to the wheel rims in soft sand. I and another walker dug them out and they drove off into the sunset, but my question is, is it legal to drive on any of the Auckland City beaches? Campbell Notley, Auckland.

No, it's not, unless you are launching or retrieving your boat. The relevant Auckland City bylaw (20.3 1 (d)) states that except with permission from a council officer or a council licence, you may not "drive, ride, propel, or wheel or park any vehicle across any beach... except in an area set aside for the driving or parking of vehicles including a formed road or a vehicle crossing".

Neither, incidentally, may you land your parachute or hot-air balloon on any beach, unless it's an emergency. Just thought you'd like to know.

Can you tell me when and why they took the class categories off the roads, e.g. Class 1, Class 2 etc? They meant that trucks with more than three axles and a certain tonnage had to stick to Class 1 roads (major arterial routes). This would mean that container trucks and the like would have to stay on main roads and not take shortcuts through the suburbs, unless they had a legitimate reason to be there. I'm thinking Wharf-Orakei-Glen Innes-Panmure, all the way to Pakuranga and East Tamaki. Ian Yorke, Panmure.

There's a bit of history here. Dave Bates, operations manager with the Transport Agency, says the grouping of roads under different classes was an attempt to manage the impact of rapidly growing heavy vehicle traffic last century. At that time, many roads were of very basic quality - a thin crust of gravel or seal over sometimes poor-quality fill.

The then National Roads Board encouraged a programme of road strengthening after World War II, using financial incentives, to bring the road network in line with the needs of a growing and more mobile population.

The expectation was that as roads were improved and made more able to withstand heavy loads and wear and tear, the need for the class system would diminish. Over time, the roads board made funding to local authorities contingent on them removing the class restrictions from roads to open them up to use by all types of vehicles.

All class 3 roads were abolished by 1975 and class 2 by the mid-1980s. Now, when a local authority wants to restrict heavy vehicles for a particular reason, it does so through a bylaw or by local area traffic management schemes.

Around six or nine months ago, a number of strong lights were installed under the northern end of the harbour bridge, facing west. They were there for about six months, but now they have all been removed or switched off. What was their purpose, and why have they been removed? Frank Keegan, Auckland.

It was a temporary measure, for the safety of maintenance workers on an access walkway under the bridge. The walkway was used during the strengthening of the northbound (western) clip-on. Now that the strengthening work has switched to the southbound clip-on, the lights are no longer needed.