Ask Phoebe: Motorway extension also route for new train line

Could you tell me how the Auckland railway line will link up with Manukau City when the railway station being built is completed? Margaret Wills, Manurewa.

The map shows the route it will take, connecting with the southern line at Puhinui and travelling alongside the new State Highway 20 motorway extension. The line goes underneath Plunket Ave and Lambie Drive.

The rail link is about 2km long, and the new station will be housed in a 300m trench, finishing at Davies Ave.

The walls for the trench are finished and excavation has started so it's all going well. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

With the construction of the Stonefields subdivision and commercial businesses in and around the Mt Wellington quarry, Lunn Ave has become incredibly busy This will get worse when the almost 3000 dwellings are completed in Stonefields and the Mitre 10 Mega opens. Are there any plans to alleviate this? In particular the corner of Lunn Ave, Marua Rd and Harding Ave which is dangerous at times. Jacqui Lloyd, Auckland.

The most recent information I have, from December 2008, is that the council appreciates the problem but there is little it can do until the Stonefields Quarry development is finished. It is monitoring traffic flows so it can start planning traffic management strategies. This will probably incorporate traffic lights at this intersection.

What is the rule for slower traffic using the right-hand lane on the motorway? We were heading north on the Southern Motorway and a car was doing about 90-95km/h in the right lane for many kilometres. Faster traffic had to undertake dangerous manoeuvres to pass on the inside. Is there a penalty for this type of inconsiderate driving? Lloyd Anderson, Te Awamutu.

The road code states that when driving on a laned road, and this includes motorways, you should keep in the left-hand lane as much as possible, and you shouldn't use the lane closest to the centre line if you are going to hold up other traffic. If you want to drive at less than the speed limit of 100km/h, for whatever reason you should keep in the left-hand lane. It is an offence to impede the flow of traffic, say the police, and this can be enforced.

* A column last week said that State Highway 1 had been extended from Hillsborough Rd to Sandringham Rd. It should have said State Highway 20.