Get Moving: Blue line puts ruts in place

By PHOBE FALCONER


Q: What is the purpose of the sets of parallel blue lines on State Highway 1 after the Silverdale offramp northbound and also on Kahikatea Flats Rd?

Helen Chitty, Kaukapakapa, and Mandy Wolstenholme, Orewa.

A: Accounts ranged from aliens, UFOs and light sabres, but sadly the explanation is much more pedestrian. The thin blue lines are calibration marks to allow a high-speed data machine to take accurate readings of the road surface. The lines ensure that successive readings are taken in the same places.

Q: I have noticed zig-zag lines on White Swan Rd, near the pedestrian crossing by Kimber Hall Ave. What do these new road markings mean? I haven't seen them anywhere else.

Paula Smith, Mt Roskill.

A: The lines, also painted on Richmond Rd near Francis St, are being trialled to see if they might be a good alternative to the diamond markings that currently indicate a pedestrian crossing coming up. The trial started in May, and Auckland City, which doesn't want anyone to know about this because it feels that would prejudice the impartiality of the responses, will be asking motorists what they think the zig-zags are and how effective they are.

Q. The two structures in Franklin Rd near the entrance to New World cause traffic to merge from two lanes to one, and then break out into two lanes again to turn left or right into Victoria St West. Is it possible to remove these structures so the traffic flows more smoothly?
Tim Welch, Auckland.

A. Auckland City says Franklin Rd, coming down from Ponsonby Rd, is actually only one lane. The purpose of the islands is to slow traffic down before the Victoria St intersection.


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