Continuing its crackdown on road cones, the Government is soon to force local councils to adopt a risk-based approach to minimise spending on orange witch hats.
“New Zealanders have become increasingly irritated by the too-frequently over-the-top use of road cones and costly temporary traffic management around roadworks,” Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.
“This approach causes drivers unnecessary delays, creates congestion and wastes taxpayers’ money. The previous government spent a whopping $786 million of taxpayers’ money on temporary traffic management in just three years.”
The Minister calls for a “common-sense approach” that “means fewer disruptions for drivers, and less taxpayer money wasted”.
“Local roads are owned and maintained by councils. Many of them still use the very prescriptive Code of Practice, which is why we still see ridiculous temporary traffic management measures on local streets, such as quiet cul-de-sacs covered in road cones because of minor work on a footpath.”
The announcement comes after the Government launched a hotline to allow the public to report unnecessary or excessive use of road cones.
“You can drive around this country at different times of the day, and you’ve got whole roads shut down, no one is doing any work, and the cones are frankly just clogging up the joint,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said. “It’s just symptomatic, frankly, of a country that is not getting things built.”
WorkSafe, now tasked with managing public complaints through the new hotline, will also provide guidance to councils and contractors about when and how road cones should be deployed.
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