He said the reason the sculptures had not had impact was "purely logistics", with a requirement they be set back from the road.
"The site didn't lend itself to what we intended. We were hamstrung because it's on a state highway."
Mr Carey said there was a need for a "soft introduction" to Whangarei, with the opportunity for people to pull over and experience any art marking the gateway to the city.
"When you create works of art, when people interact with them they become iconic," he said.
Mayor Sheryl Mai was also frustrated by the lack of attention the sculptures received and said she would be open to relocating them, in consultation with the artists.
The district council's Whangarei Entranceways Draft Report painted a relatively glum picture of what visitors experience on the way into the city.
WDC senior landscape architect Bruno Gilmour said, as a Whangarei newcomer, he recalled the difficulty in finding the Town Basin upon entering the city, with ongoing enhancements to State Highway 1 likely to reinforce the tendency for visitors to stay on the main road.
The report identified five key State Highway 1 intersections - Rewa Rewa, Tarewa and Maunu roads; Central Ave; and Kamo Rd - as potentially needing work.
"Gateways have potential as locations to celebrate and reinforce a sense of arrival," the report read. "These don't necessarily have to be 'gate like'... they do though, create a sense of passing through a threshold."
It said roads leading into Whangarei were unattractive. Rewa Rewa Rd sported industrial buildings and a dump, while taking the Tarewa Rd route took visitors past a "long, ugly timber fence" preceded by a secondhand car yard.
Council staff were in consultation with NZTA over the beautification of the state highway intersections and would report back "at a future date".
