Road Cone Humour Is Costly

There’s something about a road cone that seems to generate tomfoolery, sometimes downright theft.

Each year about a hundred of the road cones used around town disappear or are damaged beyond repair.
On top of the cones that have to be replaced due to normal wear and tear, that’s a cost of $3000 to $4000 each year for Marlborough Roads.

Staff regularly have to retrieve road cones from the rivers and from the branches of trees.

The road cones are used for a purpose; alerting people to a hazard. Members of the public are urged not to move them – and certainly not to misappropriate them.

Damage and theft of temporary road signs is an even bigger headache for Marlborough Roads.
Road signs get spray painted, drawn on, even shot at.

Warning road signs showing the exclamation mark, uneven surfaces, road closures or slippery surfaces attract the most trouble.

This year alone, $7000 worth of signs have been lost from Havelock to Rai and $3000 worth from Hawkesbury up to Wairau Valley. Irreparable damage accounts for another $3000 of costs.

It’s not really a joke because of course, one way or another, ratepayers foot the bill says Marlborough Roads.