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The Government’s road cone hotline is officially one of its most absurd wastes of public money, Labour Party transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere says.
“Not only was it virtually unused, but the Government also couldn’t say how many cones it resulted removing.
“One objective the Government had was the removal of non-compliant cones, but 93 per cent of call outs had cones used perfectly. Who would have thought.
“By November, 2025, there were on average fewer than 20 valid complaints per week nationwide.
“As of September 30, 2025, the Government had spent $148,545 on the hotline, or $136.15 for every one of the 1,091 complaints logged to that point.
“Now that Chris Bishop and Brooke van Velden have completed their performative battle with the cones, it’s my hope not a single road cone is on top of a tree, on the head of a statue, or a single centimetre out of place over summer.
“Rest in peace road cone hotline, you will not be missed.”
On December 17, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden announced the road cone hotline would close as the pilot hit its objectives.
The road cone digital hotline pilot is wrapping up ahead of schedule, after six months of valuable data collection and relationship building with road controlling authorities, she says.
The hotline closed on December 19 to coincide with the requirement of NZTA for councils to have a plan in place to apply the new risk-based temporary traffic management guidelines to their local roadworks contracts before approving Government funding for those projects.
“This pilot has done exactly what we needed it to do,” van Velden says.
“We now understand what’s really causing the excessive use of road cones and changing to a risk-based approach is key to resolving these issues.
“When the public see excessive road cones, chances are it’s because the local council signed it off.
“Site visits revealed 86 per cent of sites were compliant with the number of cones and other temporary traffic management devices laid out in the council-approved traffic management plans.
“The problem seems to be councils across the country weren’t required to apply NZTA’s most recent guidance to temporary traffic management, so while the use of road cones may be consistent with council-approved plans, they may still be excessive.
“Moving forward, NZTA has said all councils must be fully compliant with the new guidance by July 1, 2027.”
