Whenever I pass through a set of roadworks – an almost daily occurrence, let’s be honest – that’s idle and unmanned, my mind often flicks back to the glory days of Top Gear. Every so often, at least one of the three presenters would comment on, groan about, or ridicule road works, especially when a worksite was more ‘site’ and less ‘work’.

Yes, almost every time I approach those ‘roadworks’, ‘temporary speed’ and ‘stop on request’ signs, the lines of orange cones and the fleet of roadworks machinery, it’s like I’ve instantly hit the replay button on a TV show that was so influential on the way a lot of the world viewed motoring. I’d often think, ‘Man, it must take a really long time to get stuff done in the UK with all their health and safety and labour rules.’

Sure, I get that different worksites are impacted by different factors – location, time of year, traffic volume, project scope and budget, and so on – and so running them 24/7 until the job is done isn’t necessarily practical. And whether there are people onsite or not, measures must be in place to protect the worksite and those passing through it.

But to what extent?

A couple of weeks ago Transport Minister Simeon Brown revealed the NZTA has spent $786 million on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM) between the 2021 and 2024 financial years. The figure is just for the projects they have available cost records for, and excludes expenditure by local councils.

Sure, it’s a nationwide expenditure, but it still seems grossly excessive. We’ve probably all joked how great it would be to have the contract to supply road cones … Yeah, it seems it would be.

I’m pretty confident the percentile of motorists capable of understanding a couple of warning signs and following the path created by a few well-spaced cones is very high. And surely, if the lowest common denominator is so inept they fall outside of that percentile, they shouldn’t be driving to begin with? I get the ‘But accidents happen’ argument – well, an excess of cones won’t stop an out-of-control vehicle. And don’t get me started on the restrictions left in place long after the work is complete.

Simeon seems to agree and I see it as hugely positive the fact that the NZTA is now required to publicly report this spending each quarter. The agency and its contractors need to be accountable for how they operate in the public sphere with the public’s money.

Kudos, too, to the agency, which implemented a new risk-based approach to how TTM is implemented in all new construction contracts from 1 November and in all new maintenance contracts as they come up for renewal. Simeon says costs are already down after one quarter, so let’s see what the next financial year’s reporting will reveal.

Optimised TTM is one of four key pillars in the government’s Performance and Efficiency Plan for NZTA. With the increase in roading projects announced this year and expectations for them to be delivered timely and cost-effectively, it’s good to see concrete steps being taken to safeguard public funding and resources and, at the same time, reduce motorist frustration.

Take care out there,

Gavin Myers
Editor