Ask Phoebe: Postcodes will be vital for mail to find its way around the Super City

Postcodes will become more important for Super City residents. Photo / The Aucklander

Will addresses and postal codes need to be updated when the Super City becomes a reality? I presume Manukau, North Shore and Waitakere, for instance, will no longer be valid and will all need to be changed to Auckland. Ian Grant, Auckland.

Your presumption is correct, Mr Grant. New Zealand Post addressing manager Geoff Pearce says city and town names within the geographical area covered by the new Auckland Council will be replaced by Auckland on November 1.

For example, Henderson, Waitakere, will become Henderson, Auckland. Similarly, Takapuna, North Shore City, will become Takapuna, Auckland.

Postcodes will not change but they will be even more important. Under the postcode system, there are no duplicate streets or addresses within an urban postcode boundary, which is not the same as a suburban boundary. There are 18 Beach Rds in the wider Auckland area, for instance, all of them with different postcodes. To find your postcode, visit www.nzpost.co.nz or look in your local telephone book.

The small shopping centre on the corner of Benson and Upland Rds in Remuera has signs for "5 minute" parking for "Monday to Saturday". As the sign did not say "At all times" and it was well after 6pm, I assumed I could park without restriction. A shopkeeper told me it was restricted five-minute parking to ensure his customers had somewhere to park, and I could not stop there without risking an infringement notice. Could you please confirm that unless the sign says "At all times", the parking is unrestricted after 6pm? Ken Baldock, Auckland.

The Auckland City Council's website has information about these blue-and-white parking signs. For example, P30 on a blue-and-white sign means you can park there for up to 30 minutes.

Parking restrictions apply between the days and hours stated on the sign. Again, for example, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm.

If there are no days or hours of application on the signs, the signs automatically apply to Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6pm. These restrictions don't usually apply on public holidays, unless otherwise stated.

Thus, at after 6pm, you should have been fine.

The development of Carlaw Park has significantly increased the amount of traffic trying to enter the complex, yet it is almost impossible to get in there by car. Coming down the freeflow from the motorway, there is no right turn opposite the end of Alten Rd, and if you continue and turn right up Parnell Rise, the median barrier prevents access to Carlaw Park Ave.

This means you either have to get to the city via Parnell Rd, or perform a u-turn in Alten Rd or Parnell Rise to get to an office. These u-turners are becoming more frequent and disruptive, especially during rush hour.

Equally, getting out of the zone and into the city forces you to cross the left-turn lane in Parnell Rise to be able to get to Beach Rd, which is difficult in the afternoon rush hour. Are there any plans to improve this complex situation? David Wilson, Auckland.

And, while we're in the area, Richard Elliott has problems with vehicles doing u-turns on Stanley St, at the intersection with Parnell Rise, presumably to get back to Nicholls Lane, and so becoming entangled with vehicles turning left into Stanley from Parnell Rise.

As there are no "No u-turns" signs in Stanley St, Mr Elliott presumes the rules of intersections apply and left-turning vehicles need to give way to vehicles on their right. Could I clarify, he asks.

Access to Nicholls Lane from Stanley St is under the control of the Transport Agency, which says that because of safety issues, a right turn cannot be accommodated.

Auckland City transport assets network performance manager Karen Hay, says access to Carlaw Park Ave from Parnell Rise is limited to left-turn only.

The raised central median was installed to curb repeated crashes caused by drivers crossing the westbound traffic lanes. For similar reasons u-turns are banned the entire length of Parnell Rise.

At the intersection with Stanley and Parnell Rise, the rules for u-turns must be observed. The Road Code says that in the absence of a "No u-turns" sign, you may make such a turn, as long as the road is clear in both directions and it is safe to do so, and as long as you don't create a hazard for oncoming vehicles.

It seems at this intersection this rule is not being observed.

And the council suggests the safest way to get to Carlaw Park Ave is to turn left into Augustus Tce, right into Parnell Rd, and right again into Parnell Rise, allowing then a left turn into Carlaw Park Ave.

* Unusually high tides, known as king tides, are likely to affect the Northwestern Motorway this week. Take care between the Patiki Rd interchange and Rosebank Rd bridges, and do not use the cycleway 90 minutes each side of high tide. The high tides will continue until Sunday.