Government praise for NPDC’s traffic management leadership

NPDC’s efforts to prioritise risk-based traffic management is helping to reduces costs and get jobs done faster – earning praise from the Government.

In a letter to the Council, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop commended NPDC for trialling the New Zealand Guidelines for Temporary Traffic Management, saying the Council’s efforts show “vision and leadership”.

“I commend you for your efforts in playing a key role in the transformational shift for the sector,” he wrote.

The guidelines outline how to use a risk-based approach to plan and mitigate the risks to road workers and road users to keep them safe. All councils will be required to operate under it from January next year, but NPDC started applying it last year so that staff would be up to speed by the time the changeover occurs.

“We’ve already had significant results, both in shortening the length of time that a road is affected during a works period and in saving money,” says NPDC General Manager Operational Excellent Sarah Downs.

“For instance, we’ve had a six per cent reduction in costs for traffic management around transport projects – bettering our goal of five per cent – and we expect that reduction to continue.”

Sarah says that for some projects, such as the new roundabout at the intersection of Princess Street and SH3 in Waitara built by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), it was better to close a section of the state highway entirely during the last part of the works period than have stop-go traffic management.

“That part of the roundabout project was completed more quickly than it would have taken with stop-go traffic management. On top of that, we were able to coordinate with NZTA to enable us to put in a new water main during that closure, which saved us about $100,000 in project costs.”

“I know that it’s easy to focus on the number of road cones being used for road works, but these guidelines go well beyond that, with Council staff and contractors, making sure that the right type of traffic management is used for the type of work and the location involved.”

“It’s this type of coordination and planning that the new guidelines require, and we’re seeing good results from it.”

Sarah also recognised the efforts by Downer NZ through the New Plymouth Infrastructure Partnership (NPIP) in the achievements to date, saying that staff and contractors were still learning how to get the most out of the NZGTTM and will be applying those lessons to future traffic management planning.

Fast facts:

• NPDC maintains 1,300km of roads and 630km of footpaths across the district.
• In the 2025/26 financial year, 16 cents of every rates dollar is spent on our roads.
• NPDC has a $24 million budget for road maintenance, operations, and renewals this financial year,
• Around 80 per cent of this funding receives a 50 per cent subsidy from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
• New Plymouth Infrastructure Partnership (NPIP) is a 10-year partnership between NPDC and Downer NZ that works on roading, parks and reserves, facilities maintenance, and other projects across the district.

Caption: The rebuilding of Taranaki Road over Purangi Saddle late last year used periodic road closures under the new approach of the NZGTTM.