Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Auckland's mayor is pushing for a law change to charge contractors for what he calls "nonsensical" road cone use.
Wayne Brown commissioned consultants Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY) to assess temporary traffic management in the city.
The report claims that contractors in the city were profiting from taking up road space with equipment and staff for too long, and that existing regulation incentivises contractors to cause maximum disruption.
Brown said the number of road cones in the city - a regular feature thanks to major works like City Rail Link and Watercare's Central Interceptor - was embarrassing.
"Temporary traffic management has gone beyond necessity, which doesn't make worksites any safer. The loss in productivity to Auckland businesses and households is taking a massive toll on our city financially, but it also causes undue stress," he said.
Auckland Transport has reduced its spend on temporary traffic management by $1.27 million since February, he said, and would be introducing a new disruption assessment tool.
But, Brown said the city's ability to crack down on road cones was limited by legislation.
"Legislative change is needed to undo the economic damage unleased by bad policymaking."
He has welcomed the Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown's, stance on temporary traffic management system, but said the review completed by the New Zealand Transport Agency last week would not lead to action.
The review was of temporary traffic management at 800 worksites, and found that 145 of them were not needed.
"It's strikingly obvious that NZTA and MOT have a disturbing lack of understanding of commercial drivers for this industry. I'm not convinced we need another review. Just give us the power to set fees and fines that reflect the scale of disruption," he said.
