Road Cone Digital Hotline Pilot Concludes After Six Months of Key Insights

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says the pilot has achieved its intended purpose.

 

The Government’s road cone digital hotline pilot will close ahead of schedule on Friday, 19 December 2025, after six months of data collection, site inspections, and engagement with councils and road controlling authorities across New Zealand.

The early conclusion aligns with a critical transition point set by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), which now requires councils to have plans in place to apply the new risk-based temporary traffic management (TTM) guidelines before receiving approval for government funding of local roadworks projects.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says the pilot has achieved its intended purpose.

“This pilot has done exactly what we needed it to do. We now understand what’s really driving the excessive use of road cones, and changing to a risk-based approach is key to resolving these issues,” Ms van Velden says.

Councils Identified as Key Decision-Makers

One of the most significant findings from the pilot is that the majority of perceived overuse of road cones originates at the planning and approval stage. Site visits conducted during the pilot showed that 86 percent of worksites were compliant with council-approved traffic management plans, meaning contractors were largely following the rules set for them.

However, compliance with local plans does not necessarily mean best practice. Councils were not previously required to apply NZTA’s most recent TTM guidance, which promotes a more proportionate, risk-based approach. As a result, many plans approved by councils met outdated standards and still required large numbers of cones and devices, even where the actual risk to workers and road users was low.

NZTA has now made it clear that all councils must be fully compliant with the new guidance by 1 July 2027.

“That’s a crucial insight. It tells us where efforts should be focused,” Ms van Velden says.

Public Feedback Helped Identify Root Causes

The hotline was designed with three core objectives: giving the public a clear channel to raise concerns, identifying the root causes of perceived overcompliance, and clarifying WorkSafe’s role in temporary traffic management enforcement.

Thousands of submissions from the public helped confirm widespread frustration with long stretches of cones, reduced speed limits, and traffic controls that appeared unnecessary or disproportionate. The data collected through the hotline provided evidence that the issue was systemic rather than the result of isolated contractor behaviour.

Clarifying WorkSafe’s Enforcement Role

Another key outcome of the pilot was addressing confusion around WorkSafe’s enforcement role. Some councils and contractors believed they were unable to adopt a more risk-based approach, despite NZTA guidance, because of concerns that WorkSafe might take enforcement action for being under-compliant.

In response, WorkSafe inspectors received additional training in temporary traffic management and the new NZTA guidance. Inspectors will continue to integrate this approach into business-as-usual assessments, supporting a more consistent, clear, and proportionate regulatory response.

This work forms part of a broader culture change programme within WorkSafe aimed at improving regulatory certainty and encouraging sensible, risk-based decision-making.

Ongoing Collaboration and Future Improvements

Beyond the data collected, the pilot helped build stronger working relationships between WorkSafe, NZTA, councils, and those responsible for temporary traffic management on the ground.

“Beyond the data, WorkSafe has built important working relationships with those responsible for temporary traffic management. That collaborative approach will continue as they work with NZTA to help councils better understand risk-based compliance,” Ms van Velden says.

Lessons learned from the pilot will also inform improvements in how WorkSafe receives and responds to feedback from both the public and businesses, ensuring concerns are handled more effectively in the future.

While the hotline is closing, the Government says the insights gained will continue to shape reforms aimed at reducing unnecessary disruption on roads, improving public confidence, and ensuring safety measures are proportionate to real-world risks.