Ask Phoebe: Early toll road exit sign is for heavier vehicles

Can you tell me why the signs on the motorway going north after Oteha Valley Rd say that to use the free route north and avoid the toll road, you must use exit 398 at Silverdale, when in fact the last exit before the toll road is 394 at Orewa? I was caught out here the first time I used the motorway after the new tunnels opened. Being a local, I have now found out that the sign is misleading. However, tourists and others would not know this and add time and miles to their journey unnecessarily, as I did. Cathie Smith, Orewa.

You're not the first to ask. The free route north is signposted at Silverdale because, by agreement with Rodney District Council, all overweight and oversized vehicles using this part of the state highway network have to take this route through Orewa and Waiwera before rejoining SH1 near Puhoi. These vehicles are not allowed to use the toll road because of their size, and neither are they allowed down Grand Drive, the final exit to Orewa before the toll road. Would it not then make sense to indicate this, so that ordinary motorists would know that there is another exit for them, at 394, which they are entitled to use?

The toll road is proving an excellent source of questions for this column. Here's another.

I travel the toll road every day and am concerned about the wild goats on the eastern hills above the road. Earlier this month the goats were within 15m of the road. While there are some barriers to stop them getting out on to the road, they do not extend all the way along the hill, and there are gaps where potentially the goats could get on to the road. When is the New Zealand Transport Agency going to plug the gaps? Brian Holmes, Warkworth.

The Transport Agency is already strengthening the security fence beside the road to prevent such a happening. Goats have been able to use the steepness of the terrain to get through and over the fence in some spots, but the new arrangement will hopefully foil them.

What is the story with the lights at the intersection of Highbrook Drive and El Kobar Place in East Tamaki? The lights on Highbrook turn red for no apparent reason, day and night, when there is no traffic coming out of or waiting to go into El Kobar. Is it a problem with the sensors, if there are any, or is it just a way to break up the traffic flow towards the motorway? Lisa Shelley, South Auckland.

Manukau City Council says it knows there is a problem with these lights, and it's trying to fix it. One issue is that the signals are not yet connected to the "big brain" SCATS computer that runs most of the region's traffic signals. Another problem is that some of the cables to the traffic lights have deteriorated because they were installed quite some time ahead of the signals themselves. These cables are being replaced, and when "big brain" is hooked up, things should work a lot better.