Editorial: Going round in circles in the kingdom of the cones

On the day that our front page reported Whanganui District Council needed to find an extra $20 million over the next 10 years to repair mainly rural roads damaged by logging trucks, it was a little distressing to find the city centre thoroughfares being dug up again.

They hadn't seemed in too bad a state that the precious money and machinery couldn't have been used closer to the forestry sites. But then I'm no expert and I appreciate we need good standard roads everywhere, and it is generally considered cost-effective to repair and upgrade after relatively little wear and tear rather than wait till the road starts to fall apart.

And so central Whanganui is again covered in a rash of cones and we are almost becoming a mini-Auckland as the queues of cars grow longer and drivers wait patiently - and sometimes impatiently - for the man in the high-vis vest and safety helmet to put them out of their misery with a friendly "come-on" wave.

No reports of road rage attacks yet, but it may have been a close thing on occasions.

The other week I was heading home to St John's Hill when I hit the roadworks at the top of Victoria Avenue.

What with the railway line and assorted entries and exits, it must already be the worst junction in New Zealand - throw in the cones and diggers and I did a quick turn though the Gull service station and headed for the Virgina Road route up the hill.

Except ... except that they were re-surfacing at the Halswell St-Glasgow St roundabout and I was in another queue. I pondered whether there was some poor soul somewhere driving round in circles trying to find a clear way home.

Little point trying to sneak down a few side streets to beat the hold-ups, the workmen have the city in virtual lockdown. In the kingdom of the cones, the man with the Stop-Go sign is king.

And so we sit there, turn up the radio, make a few calls on the cellphone, waiting for our turn.

This is a good thing - it teaches us to be calm, to be patient, not to get wound up. All things we can put into practice should we ever reach our destination.