Ask Phoebe: Heavy trucks in the clear to use bridge's outer lanes

Trucks are no longer restricted to the centre lanes on the Harbour Bridge. Photo / Dean Purcell

A while ago there was a directive for all trucks over a certain weight to use only the centre lanes on the Harbour Bridge. Now I see many huge trucks towing equally large trailers using all the lanes and wonder if the bridge has been strengthened and the rule no longer exists.
Marianne Stevens, Takapuna.

Worry not - the trucks are now legal. In June 2007 trucks weighing more than 13 tonnes were banned from the outer lanes - the box girder extensions - of the Auckland Harbour Bridge when the Transport Agency's maintenance programme discovered the box girders had to be strengthened to handle the growth in traffic. The trucks were restricted to the centre lanes of the bridge until last December, when the strengthening was completed and the ban lifted. But as Auckland continues to grow restrictions of some sort may have to be imposed again sometime.

What is the best route to State Highway 16 from Auckland Airport? Leaving the airport via SH20 you get a signpost to Waitakere, then the highway ends and you are left to choose between Blockhouse Bay, Pt Chevalier and some other place.
Caroline Sayle, Auckland.

It's a bit counter-intuitive, but to my mind the best way is to go south from the airport on SH20 until it meets the Southern Motorway at Manukau, then north until you get to the Northwestern Motorway (SH16) interchange. If anyone knows of a better way, please let us all know.

Over the summer there have been big advances in the earthworks and the construction of the overbridge foundations at Maioro St and Stoddard Rd. This new interchange will provide direct on and off access to SH20 once the Waterview extension is completed. With the latter still a few years away, will the new interchange become usable before the Waterview extension is completed?
Ray McDonald, Auckland.

Yes it will. The scheduled date for completion is March next year. Features of the $40 million project include a new interchange to form the gateway from the SH20 Mt Roskill extension to the Waterview connection, and removal of the roundabout at the end of Sandringham Rd extension. The Sandringham Rd extension will be closed between Stoddard Rd and SH20. Maioro St will be realigned and extended further north to a new signalised intersection with Stoddard Rd. Two new sets of traffic lights will be installed to ease motorway access.