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Home / New Zealand

Auckland Transport to chase road campaigner over penis pothole drawings

NZ Herald
4 May, 2021 12:22 AM3 mins to read

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In order to draw attention to a number of potholes on Kahikatea Flat Road, Geoff Upson drew large green penises around the potholes. Video / Geoff Upson

Auckland Transport is vowing to take legal action over penises drawn on its roads to highlight dangerous undulations and potholes because it won't tolerate vandalism.

But the man behind the graphic pictures says he only draws on parts of the road that need replacing anyway and always wears a hi-vis vest to ensure his safety.

Road safety campaigner Geoff Upson received a call from police at the end of last week because a member of the public had complained about his latest penis drawings on Old North Rd on SH16.

Upson admitted he was responsible for the road art and was told police would liaise with Auckland Transport (AT) before getting back to him.

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He initially drew penises on what he describes as the dangerous undulations in February, but returned last week to redo them because they had faded and the road had still not been repaired.

Upson said he only drew penises when the problem area of the road was big enough - otherwise it would just be a smaller circle around a pothole.

He drew his first penises around a number of potholes near his home on Kahikatea Flat Rd, near Waitoki, in 2018 after complaining to AT 20 times over the state of a road and continuously being ignored.

Since then Upson estimated he had done about 100 drawings - some of them penises.

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In his view, the council only had one job and that was to make sure the roads were safe and they weren't doing that, he said.

"If they come out and fix the road then 100 per cent of my drawing will be removed."

AT planned to lay a complaint with police over the latest vandalism on Old North and Peak Rds.

AT spokeswoman Natalie Polley said the graffiti had placed the person doing it at risk, as well as potentially causing a safety risk and a distraction for other drivers.

The Old North Rd potholes would be repaired soon and AT was keeping track of the costs to remove the markings so that it could be passed onto the culprit.

It estimated removing drawings would cost about $2500 per area as the biggest expense was traffic management.

"We have a process to charge for damage. We cannot expect the ratepayer to fund vandalism."

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