Traffic management plans and temporary traffic management
Council or the road authority won't approve your corridor access without a traffic management plan, and your crew can't start without the corridor access. That's the whole game — and it's why we treat the TMP as the critical-path document, not an afterthought the night before the dig.
CiviEase designs TMPs — the document councils require before they'll approve a CAR — and supplies the temporary traffic management and equipment to run them — lane closures to full road closures, event traffic management to urgent works, across Christchurch and Canterbury.
Got a letter, plans, or just a site address?
Send it through — we'll identify the next step, usually within one working day.
TMP design and submission
A TMP is more than a drawing. It's the risk assessment, the layout, the staging and the sign schedule that prove to the road controlling authority (RCA) that traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and your crew will be safe around the work. We design TMPs the way NZ's risk-based guidance expects:
- Scoped to the actual risk — a quiet Sockburn side street doesn't need the same plan as an arterial like Blenheim Road. Over-cooked TMPs cost you money; under-cooked ones get bounced.
- Complete on lodgement — site-specific layout, traffic volumes, duration, detours, pedestrian routes and the crew methodology. Missing pieces are the number one reason TMPs stall at review.
- Aligned with the work programme — dates, stages and crew movements that match what you'll actually do, so the approved plan is the plan you can run.
Who reviews your TMP matters. On Christchurch local roads it's the Christchurch City Council corridor access team; on district roads it's Selwyn or Waimakariri's reviewer; on state highways it's NZTA; and every one of them reads plans against NZGTTM risk-based principles with slightly different expectations. A TMP written generically for "council" gets questions back. A TMP written for the specific RCA and road environment gets approved — that's the difference we design for.
Once the design is right, we lodge the corridor access request with the TMP so the two approvals move together — no gap where the TMP is approved but the CAR is still sitting in a queue.
Need a TMP the RCA will actually approve?
Send it through — we'll identify the next step, usually within one working day.
Temporary traffic management setups
We plan and support the full range of TTM setups Christchurch jobs actually need:
- Lane closures — single-lane and multi-lane, short-duration and static, with the right taper lengths and signage for the road's speed environment.
- Footpath and pedestrian management — closed footpaths with safe alternative routes, which CCC corridor reviewers scrutinise hard, especially near schools and shops.
- Stop/go operations — manual traffic control for two-way flow past the works on constrained sites.
- Temporary traffic lights — for longer-duration single-lane sections where stop/go crews would be out there for weeks.
- Full road closures — with detour routes agreed in advance, resident and business notification, and the sign-off trail the RCA expects.
Every setup is matched to the approved TMP — improvising on site is how audits fail and permits get pulled.
Event traffic management
Christchurch's event calendar — stadium events, show week, street festivals, community markets — all needs traffic management that handles crowds, road closures, bus routes and residents who still need to get home. Event TM is its own discipline: the TMP has to account for peak pedestrian surges, temporary parking changes and stakeholder notification, often across multiple roads at once.
Book event TM early. Approval lead times don't shrink because your event date is fixed, and event-season equipment availability tightens across every Canterbury supplier at once. Christchurch's event season concentrates demand into the same months as the summer roadworks programme — stadium fixtures, A&P show week and street events all compete with construction crews for the same VMS boards, lights and qualified people. The organisers who get smooth approvals are the ones who lodge while there's still slack in the system.
Urgent and emergency traffic management
Burst mains, unsafe trees, crash damage, emergency utility repairs — sometimes the work can't wait for the standard approval cycle. Emergency provisions exist in the corridor access system for genuinely unplanned safety-critical work, and we support urgent TM callouts with rapid TMPs and on-site setups.
One boundary, stated plainly: "I forgot to apply" is not an emergency the RCA recognises. If you know the work is coming, lodge early — it's cheaper and faster than retro-fitting approvals.
Equipment and vehicle hire
When the TMP is approved, you need the physical gear to run it. We hire:
- VMS boards — variable message signs for advance warning, detours and event traffic
- Temporary traffic lights — portable signal sets for single-lane shuttle sections
- Cones, signs, stands and bases — the everyday TTM kit, in the quantities real setups consume
- Traffic management vehicles — for crews running mobile or convoy operations
Hire the gear instead? If your own STMS runs the site, our equipment hire fleet covers temporary traffic lights, VMS boards, TMA and arrow board trucks and cones and signage — DIY hire under your approved TMP, without the crew margin.
Honest availability wording, because it matters: vehicle and equipment availability depends on project timing, location, booking schedule, site suitability and the traffic management requirements for the work. Ask as early as you can — particularly around major Christchurch events and the summer roadworks season, when every supplier in Canterbury is stretched at the same time. Hiring through the same team that designed your TMP also means the gear matches the plan: the right sign schedule, the right number of cones, and no Sunday-night discovery that the setup on paper needs equipment you don't have on the truck.
Need the plan and the gear to run it?
Send it through — we'll identify the next step, usually within one working day.
What affects the scope
Every site is different, so we scope the work before confirming a price:
- Simple, low-risk TMPs (quiet streets, short duration) generally require less design and review work than staged or higher-risk plans, but we quote after reviewing the site and activity.
- Mid-complexity plans — lane closures on busier Christchurch roads, staged works — cost more, because the risk assessment and review cycles are heavier.
- Complex, multi-stage or arterial-road TMPs sit at the top, and adding on-site TTM crews and equipment is a separate cost again from design.
Price is driven by category and risk factors: road type, traffic volume, duration and complexity. For general market context, see what can affect TMP costs in NZ. We quote fixed-scope once we've seen the site and methodology.
How TMP and CAR fit together
The TMP and the corridor access request are one approval in practice, whatever the paperwork calls them:
- The TMP describes how you'll keep traffic and people safe.
- The CAR asks the RCA for permission to occupy their corridor.
- The RCA reviews them together and issues a Works Access Permit with conditions.
That's why we run both from the same desk — read how CAR and TMP fit together for the full sequence. If the work also affects site access or needs a staging assessment for a consent, our team handles site access and construction staging assessments too. And if you're running crews across multiple Canterbury jobs, ask about TMP support for civil contractors — programme-level scheduling beats job-by-job scrambles.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Traffic Management Plan — and what does a TMP cost in NZ?
If your work affects a road, footpath or cycleway, traffic-management information will usually be required as part of the corridor-access process. The exact requirement and price depend on the road controlling authority, road environment, risk, duration and complexity. Send the site, dates and methodology for a scoped quote.
What is a Corridor Access Request (CAR) and when do I need one?
A CAR is your application to the road controlling authority — Christchurch City Council for most Christchurch roads — to work in or occupy the road corridor. You need one before any excavation, crossing, scaffolding or occupation of the berm, footpath or carriageway. The TMP is attached to the CAR, and the approved Works Access Permit is what lets you start.
How do I apply for a CAR in MyWorksites, and how far ahead?
You map the work location in MyWorksites, enter dates and work details, and attach your TMP and methodology. Lead times depend on the road authority and road category — allow a realistic buffer at CCC, and at least 15 working days for Auckland Transport. The safest rule: lodge the CAR before you book the crew, because approval queues don't flex for your programme.
Paperwork to pavement.
Send us what you have — we'll take it from there.