Ask Phoebe: Road staying two way despite trams

The tramline is the first to be laid in central Auckland for more than 50 years. Photo / Paul Estcourt

We live adjacent to the Halsey St railway line that is being installed. Our questions are: Is it going right around the block eg: Halsey, Jellicoe, Pakenham etc? When is it due for completion? Does this mean that Halsey St will become a one-way street, because I can't see how you can have two lanes and the railway operating in the same space.
S. Ingram, Auckland.

First of all, it's not a railway line, it's a tram line - the first to be laid in central Auckland for more than 50 years. The trams will run clockwise on a 1.5km circuit of Wynyard Quarter - between Jellicoe, Halsey, Gaunt and Daldy Sts - to draw visitors to the developing precinct and to provide them with on-board information about its attractions.

The project is costing $8 million, and is scheduled to be finished by August. The two heritage trams that will run on the circuit have been leased from a museum in Bendigo in Victoria. The Auckland Waterfront Development Agency also hopes to borrow an electric light-railcar for demonstration purposes during the Rugby World Cup.

The council-controlled organisation also wants to use the circuit as a demonstration pilot for a possible light-rail extension across Viaduct Harbour to the Ferry Building, or perhaps even further.

A $3.5 million pedestrian and cycling drawbridge reaching across the mouth of the harbour to Te Wero Island would need strong enough foundations to carry light-railcars, and work on new piles has already begun.

My information is that Halsey St will remain two-way.

There is a road named as Westgate Drive which runs between Royal Rd and Westgate Shopping Centre. It was completed ready for use in January 2010 and since that time has not been opened for traffic and the barriers still remain in place. It would save a lot of time and petrol for vehicular traffic to have access, which would greatly shorten the journey for those who live in the lower Royal Rd and surrounding area of Massey. The grapevine says it is closed over a dispute between the developer and the old Waitakere City Council. How true is this and if so, is there a solution pending to have it opened for regular traffic. Could you please find out so we of Massey have an answer to this?
Brian N. McNair, Massey, and Samantha Atkinson, West Auckland.

The most recent information I have on this is that the extension to Westgate Drive was built by a developer as part of a subdivision under construction. It will become a public road when road ownership is transferred to Auckland Council. Until then the road is private property and the developer can limit access.

What is the reason for the large hole being dug in front of the church close to the Victoria Park tunnel? Will it be part of a carpark for the church or is it part of the tunnel construction, for example for a ventilation plant?
Paul Barrett, Auckland.

The Transport Agency advises that the hole is being excavated for a new parking building for the Victory Christian Church, because their old carpark area was appropriated for the Victoria Park tunnel project.