KEY POINTS:
In last week's column you mentioned the new Manukau Harbour crossing. I must have missed something. Where is this crossing to go and what else do you know about it? Tom Robson, Ellerslie.
You haven't missed it yet, Tom. The Manukau Harbour Crossing will be a duplicate motorway bridge across the Manukau, alongside the current Mangere Bridge. Construction is due to start in 2008, and completion in time for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 is seen as a high priority. Currently the cost is estimated to be about $330 million, but if the foundations and piers are to be strengthened in order to carry a future rail link, the cost will rise by $9-10 million. The new bridge will be built to the east of the existing one, and together they will provide four lanes each way. Motorways on either side will be widened to carry the extra traffic. At this stage the old Mangere Bridge, built in 1914 and closed to motor traffic since the 1970s, will be retained for pedestrians, cyclists and fishing enthusiasts and as a buffer against the new structures being struck by vessels using Onehunga Wharf.
I regularly use the bus stop on the northern side of Remuera Rd close to Broadway. Currently the bus stop site is congested because of construction work, and recently erected scaffolding makes things worse. A temporary solution would be to move the stop 30m closer to the western side of the entrance to Newmarket railway station. Can this be done? Jim Morgan, Remuera.
The scaffolding has gone now, Jim, as you've probably noticed. Temporary relocation of the bus stop to where you suggest would put it in a 4pm-to-6pm clearway, which is not an option.
A triangular sign and two parallel transverse white lines on the road are used to indicate "give way" at controlled intersections. Recently I have noticed the sign but only one white line on the road. Does this represent a change in the code, and if so, will the same be applied to compulsory stops in future? W. Martin, Milford.
It is an alteration to the road marking only. The traffic rules that currently apply at intersections controlled by give way signs and compulsory stops have not changed, whether there are one or two lines on the road.