Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced measures to reduce expenditure on temporary traffic management, including a new risk-based approach for workers and mandated reporting of spending.
A NZ Transport Agency review of 800 worksites across the State Highway network in February found temporary traffic management wasn't needed at 145 of these sites.
Brown said some level of temporary traffic management was "essential" but the review showed the current approach was "out of control".
"Excessive use of road cones and temporary speed limit reductions — sometimes left in place when work is complete — simply increases cost, forces people to slow down, and frustrates drivers."
Simeon Brown says too many temporary traffic safety arrangements are slowing motorists down for no reason. (Source: 1News)
A new risk-based approach to temporary traffic management with "far less reliance on the no longer humble orange road cone" would be rolled out at worksites on State Highways, he said.
The approach, recently published by NZTA, provided flexibility of equipment and controls based on the level of risk at each site. For example, a short night road closure might be used in place of the traditional stop/go approach.
"This new approach will include changes to contracts, a new way of training, and monitoring to ensure this meets both safety and cost efficiency outcomes.
"NZTA is now also continually reviewing current temporary traffic management on the network and instructing its suppliers to remove temporary traffic management that is not required."
He said he had asked NZTA when he was appointed as Transport Minister to outline expenditure on temporary traffic management each year for the past three years — only to be advised the information was not compiled and was unavailable.
In future, NZTA and all road controlling authorities would be required to report quarterly on temporary traffic management, he said, with the first report to be produced in October to determine a baseline of previous spending.
"My expectation is that expenditure on road cones and temporary traffic management will reduce each year going forward."
Independent members would be appointed by the Government to a "Road Efficiency Group" with a focus on "finding efficiencies" in road maintenance spending, he added.
"The Government is also reviewing the Health and Safety at Work Act and the impact it has on temporary traffic management practices in order to see if changes are required to the Act to ensure we balance the safety of road workers with the need to keep costs under control and not unnecessarily inconvenience motorists."
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