Traffic cones are dotted along SH1 in Mercer as police officers stop motorists at one of the southern checkpoints set up on Wednesday. Photo / Michael Craig
Traffic cones are dotted along SH1 in Mercer as police officers stop motorists at one of the southern checkpoints set up on Wednesday. Photo / Michael Craig
A rise in Covid-19 testing stations around the country plus new checkpoints stationed at Auckland's boundary have seen an increase in thousands of bright orange and pointy objects popping up during the country's latest lockdown.
At most drive-through Covid testing stations and the more newly set-up drive-through vaccination centres, traffic cones can be seen snaking back for kilometres in an attempt to direct motorists to their respective stations.
And the five new police checkpoints separating Auckland and Northland from the rest of the country after it dipped to level 3 overnight are dotted with the bright orange plastic objects.
About 2000 traffic cones are being used at the NZ Police southern boundary checkpoints on State Highway 1 and SH2 alone.
The cones belong to contractors engaged by NZ Police's road safety partners, a Police media spokesperson said.
The southern checkpoints are at SH1by Mercer, Mangatawhiri Rd/SH2, Waharau Regional Park and SH22/Pukekawa-Churchill Rd and Logan Rd.
More checkpoints and with them many more road cones will be needed north of Auckland if the Government gives Northland the all-clear to move into level 3 from Friday morning. Auckland is being ringfenced while it remains in level 4 for several more weeks.
An Auckland cone supplier told the Herald there had been huge demand for cones after the previous lockdown and while they had received several orders for 2000 cones from traffic management companies servicing essential services such as the DHBs and NZ Police over the past few weeks, it hadn't been unmanageable. Many companies already had a good stock of traffic cones from the previous lockdown.
Waka Kotahi does not hold information on the number of road cones currently being used on roads and uses various contractors and subcontractors to carry out traffic management including putting out the road cones.
Within Auckland any major roading projects being run by Auckland Council remain suspended while the city remains in level 4 so if anything there are probably fewer cone being used for road works.
However outside Auckland, a return of level 3 also means non-essential maintenance and project work outside of Auckland can resume and with it more road cones on the streets.
Traffic cones surround the Covid-19 testing station in Auckland's Otara after a rise in community cases saw an increase in the number of people getting tested. Photo / Dean Purcell
Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional manager of infrastructure delivery Jo Wilton said state highway and maintenance works started in the region today, but under stringent rules to ensure workers followed level 3 requirements and kept themselves and others safe.
As motorists travelled through the work sites and most likely numerous road cones, Wilton urged them to be patient, respectful and look out for road workers who were stepping outside of their bubbles to do vital work.
