Council road projects must meet new guidelines to access Govt funding

Council-led roading projects will now only receive central government funding if new risk-based national guidelines on traffic management are followed, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.

Between 2021 and 2023, around $786 million was spent on temporary traffic management, including stop-go signage and road cones.

Bishop said the introduction of the new risk-based guide nearly halved those costs.

"The code was 500 pages long and specified road cone usage down to the centimetre. That’s what drove the enormous blowout in costs," he said.

"Vast swathes of road cones down quiet cul de sacs for just really simple jobs helps no one, protects no one, it's just endless cost, time, and money."

Local Government NZ's Neil Holdom said compliance with traffic management requirements could often account for up to half of the project cost.

"The smaller the jobs, the higher the percentage, both in water and in roading."

He said the system would be adapted to be more efficient and risk-based.

"That will mean more road closures, so that will be a bit more inconvenient for people, but it will allow us to get the work done safely."

Bishop emphasised that worker safety remains a priority, but the focus was shifting away from over regulation and overuse of traffic controls.

"Now we're moving away from that and just letting the people are actually working in the road corridor, assess the risks, use the cones where they're necessary."

Since its launch last month, the Government's road cone "hotline" has received more than 600 reports, with the worst offenders being Auckland and Wellington.

The initiative, via a form on the Worksafe website, was launched to invite reports of cases of over-compliance in temporary traffic management.