John MacDonald: Simeon understands your road cone pain

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

In Canterbury we talk about things happening pre-earthquake and post-earthquake. And I’ve been trying to remember what things were like pre-earthquake when it comes to road cones.

Because after the quakes there were road cones everywhere and, on the first few anniversaries, we had people putting flowers in road cones around town.

I remember on the first anniversary, driving to work and seeing the cones all decorated.

Thirteen/fourteen years on, though, I think it’s safe to say that our attitude towards road cones has shifted a bit. So much so that the Transport Minister is launching a crackdown.

And he has come to the road cone capital of New Zealand to do it. Christchurch is where he’s announcing his plan to have less road cones and less unnecessary disruptions on our roads.

And I say “hallelujah” to that. Especially if it means we have less of those crazy situations where there’s work done on a stretch of road, they finish the job, move on to the next one, but the cones stay there for weeks after.

It’s something Simeon Brown talked about a lot about pre-election. And, since being in government and becoming the minister responsible for roading, he’s cracked on with doing something about it.

The starting point was to find out whether this excessive use of road cones we talk about is just an impression or a perception, or whether it’s real.

So he got NZTA to review 800 road maintenance or road works sites around the country —where there were road cones and all the other traffic-slowing measures in place— and they found that at 145 of those 800 sites, the road cones weren’t actually needed.

So boompha, that was the ammo he needed. Yes, road cone use is out of control. And so he’s doing something about it.

Which will delight the likes of Mid-Canterbury farmer Ray Logan who says he is fed up with the number of road cones around the place.

He says he drove past the Ashburton Domain, where they were putting in a new kerb and channel, and the road cones stretched the entire length of the work site "almost touching each other".

He’s been quoted in the media saying: "It's just excessive, and I see it as having no respect for the ratepayer's money.

"It's already fenced on both sides, so really you only need a few dozen cones as the fence is the barricade but then you have this long line of I don't know how many road cones.

"Completely unnecessary."

The local council has hit back at that saying that the work involves heavy machinery and an open trench. There are kids from the local high school using the area. There’s people using the domain to think about, and there’s a rest home nearby.

So, as far as the council’s concerned, all the road cones aren’t over-the-top at all.

Which the council would say. Because the other thing in all of this, is the health and safety regulations that are at the root of this road cone madness.

The Ashburton council, for example, knows that if it didn’t have that sea of road cones at that work site by the Ashburton Domain —and something terrible happened— it would be in the firing line for failing to keep the workers there safe.

Which is something the Government has committed to looking at. Whether our health and safety laws —like the road cones— are excessive and out-of-control.

But this is a great start. Because the only winners at the moment are the road cone companies.

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