There's little doubt there's unnecessary spend at the Transport Agency. 

The Transport Minister's called NZTA's costs eye-watering and excessive, after revealing a near $800 million spend over the past three years. 

That went to road cones, traffic management, state highway maintenance, and capital works. 

Temporary Traffic Management Chair Dave Tilton told Ryan Bridge he believes it's a systemic issue around how much temporary traffic management is deployed. 

He says it's a prescriptive system, which doesn't give room for site-specific considerations. 

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