Get moving: No plan to repeat southbound ramps

Q: New on- and off-ramps, both southbound, are being built just south of Drury on the Southern Motorway. Will there be northbound equivalents? Are these to be standard ramps, or are they being built for a specific purpose? Murray Harding, Auckland.

A: The ramps at Quarry Rd in Runciman are temporary and have been built to carry very large and heavy equipment to Huntly for the power station upgrade.

They had to be built because the loads to be carried are too tall for the existing Quarry Rd bridge.

There will not be northbound equivalents, and regular traffic will not be able to use the ramps, as the gates now in place will be opened only by arrangement with the trucking companies.

And as they are not for public use, they will not carry normal motorway numbering or labelling.

Q: On the Southern Motorway, a bottleneck occurs where three lanes reduce to two at the Mt Wellington overbridge. Plans were announced recently to widen the motorway on either side of the bridge to four lanes, which will only make the situation worse. Are there any plans to widen the overbridge? Ken Graham, Greenlane.

A: No. The narrowness at this point is deliberate, and works as a brake in the system. The Southeastern Motorway feeds a huge amount of traffic on to the Southern Motorway from both Onehunga and Pakuranga, and the narrowing to two lanes slows down northbound traffic and allows the traffic from the Southeastern to get in.

Q: Recently while reading the Road Code I came up empty-handed when looking for rules pertaining to pedestrians, vehicles and driveways/carpark entrances. Natural self-preservation would dictate that pedestrians give way to cars, but is this the law? Also, when crossing a side street, the pedestrian should give way to traffic - correct? Tony Connell, Auckland.

A: At the bottom of page 98 in the 2005 Road Code for car drivers there is a note to the effect that drivers must give way to people using the footpath when entering or leaving a driveway. But your sense of self-preservation is well placed, I feel, as not all motorists obey the law.

When crossing a side street, you should look out for traffic, but drivers should also be aware that there might be pedestrians about. It is a general duty of care, the responsibility of every road user.