Get moving: Transit nearly ready to start work on Mt Roskill extension

By PHOEBE FALCONER

Q. When will Transit start building the Mt Roskill bit of the State Highway 20 extension? It seems to have been in limbo since the 1915 law on Auckland's volcanoes was discovered. - Bevan Jenkins, Te Atatu

A. Transit has been going through the appeal and resource consent processes, and it is nearly there. Work on the Mt Roskill extension is due to start at the end of this year or early next year, and it is expected to take about four years to complete, at a cost of $143 million. When will the flags be flying again on the Auckland Harbour Bridge? - Cliff Barnett, St Heliers

The new improved flag poles, shorter and stiffer than the old ones and more able to withstand wind squalls, will be put in place next month.

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Q. The much-vaunted electronic bus timetable boards seem to have been much puff about nothing. The boards at the Mt Roskill shops and at the St James stop in the city haven't worked for months. And before that, when daylight saving ended, the adjustments that were made put the timetable out by two hours. - Paul Andrews, Mt Roskill

A. Those boards on the Dominion Rd and Mt Eden Rd routes were just a trial to see if the system would work. And it did. Now Auckland City has approved a new system for 150 bus stops around the city, the same system as the one that is in place on the Link route. This should eliminate those pesky problems with daylight saving time.

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Q. Bus lanes on Onewa Rd can be used by private cars with three or more people on board. Will the bus lane on Esmonde Rd and the extended onramp to the motorway be able to be used the same way? - Bryn Jamieson, North Shore

A. Transit plans to allow high occupancy vehicles to use the onramp and the busway on the bridge once there is enough capacity at the St Marys Bay end. At the moment cars would have to merge back into ordinary traffic at the end of the bridge, and this would create confusion and congestion.


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