Of gorse, there’s a problem – Traffic island weeds thrive amid red tape wrangle – صحيفة الصوت

New national safety rules are leaving traffic islands across the country weed strewn and jungle-like, with one local leader branding the eyesores potentially dangerous.

A jungle-like median on a Hamilton main thoroughfare left so long a sturdy gorse bush has grown to full bloom is the latest case and has the city’s deputy mayor hot under the collar.

It comes on the heels of another oasis of foliage in a state highway median in Nelson riling residents

Hamilton deputy mayor Geoff Taylor was alerted to the overly weedy traffic islands on Waka Kotahi-managed state highways running into and through Hamilton by concerned locals.

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While council takes on the weeding of them, it’s been slowed down by what he described as overzealous safety regulations.

He says it’s not a good look for city entrances and that unmanaged weeds could potentially reduce driver visibility.

Taylor criticised the extra bureaucracy and advocated more lobbying in Wellington to try to sort things out.

“Are we a confident, ambitious, fast-growing city or are we a government department that has to wait for permission from head office?” asked Taylor, who is running for mayor this year.

Under the new rules – introduced in 2020 after three Higgins road workers were killed in the Bay of Plenty the previous year – site specific traffic management plans for maintenance must be approved by Waka Kotahi before work can go ahead.

“These requirements now include extra steps before council staff can work on or near a busy road corridor to ensure the safety of road workers and road users,” Waka Kotahi’s system manager Waikato Cara Lauder said in a statement.

While this created more work up front for the likes of councils, it did help mitigate health and safety concerns, Lauder said. Plans would be approved for 12 months.

“Aesthetics such as roundabout vegetation is secondary to safety issues.”

Roundabouts and traffic islands on state highways – in the likes of Ōhaupō Rd, Cobham Drive, Cambridge Rd, Morrinsville Rd, Kahikatea Drive and Whatawhata Rd – have been affected, Taylor said.

He’s asking questions about the fees paid by the council to a consultant to help manage the situation.

Taylor understood the shift meant the council had to move from one overarching management plan for maintenance to multiple and detailed site-specific plans.

This had led to delays, complicated by Covid-19 lockdowns, staff shortages and access to consultants to develop plans.

Taylor understood staff were concerned that more complaints about slow or no maintenance of weeds along state highways could come in. He planned to push harder for changes to reduce the red tape involved.

However, a statement provided by Hamilton City’s communications team said the council “understands and respects” the recent Waka Kotahi safety-related changes.

The statement said there were no plans at present to try to get Waka Kotahi to change the rules.

“The new approach and requirements for traffic management aims to keep council staff and contractors – as well as all our road users – safe.”

On whether the new rules had created any headaches for maintenance of traffic islands, the statement acknowledged some delays in getting state highway work plans approved within the city boundary but some approvals had been received.

“Staff will keep working with Waka Kotahi as our overall plan rolls out over the coming months to ensure we stay on track with our safety priorities.”