Ask Phoebe: Airport rail link at planning stage

Photo / Jason Dorday

Can you update us on the work happening on the motorway leading to and from Auckland Airport? Will there be an airport to city rail link? Anthony Couwenbergh, South Auckland.

Auckland Transport is developing a business case considering heavy and light rail route options for rail to Mangere and the airport employment area. Rail has been identified as the best long-term option for improving public transport in the area. The current focus of the project - also known as Southwest Multi-modal Airport Rapid Transit (SMART) - is on planning and route protection for future rail.

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Where does the name Jacob's Ladder come from? Bill Davidson, Balmoral.

Wikipedia advises that Jacob's Ladder is the colloquial name for a bridge between the earth and heaven that the biblical patriarch Jacob dreamt about during his flight from his brother Esau. The name is now applied to a number of steep public staircases throughout the world. In Auckland, Jacob's Ladder was originally a wooden set of stairs dating from the late 19th or early 20th century, connecting the former beach at St Mary's Bay to the suburb. It has been replaced by a newer structure.

Inspector Peter McKennie, national manager of operations of the New Zealand Police's road policing team, has kindly provided the following, about speed limits around schools: "Some schools have variable speed limit signs during certain hours, but not all schools. The speed limit is the speed limit as signposted; i.e. if there is no variable speed limit sign, the normal posted limit for the area applies. A 4km/h speed enforcement threshold is applied in school zones. A school zone is designated as any road, no more than 250m from the school boundary, on which any direct school access exists."