36966 (2025). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

36966 (2025). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: What steps, if any, has he asked NZTA to take to reduce the “ridiculous use of road cones” by councils between now and 1 July 2026?

Hon Chris Bishop: As Minister of Transport, I have made it clear that I expect NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) to reduce temporary traffic management (TTM) cost and compliance. The Government’s expectations about reducing expenditure on TTM are specified in the Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024/25 – 2033-24 as part of the Strategic Priority: Value for Money. The NZTA Board is responsible for ensuring this expectation is met by NZTA. On 26 July 2025, I announced that the NZTA Board will require councils to apply the more pragmatic New Zealand guide to temporary traffic management to their local roadworks contracts before approving government funding for those projects. By requiring local councils to adopt a risk-based approach, we’ll see more sensible use of temporary traffic management on local roads, keeping road workers and others safe, at a more reasonable cost to ratepayers.