So the boys decided to do something about it.
The pair - both year eight pupils at Tahuna Normal Intermediate School - drafted a submission and sent it to the Dunedin City Council, then went along to this week's hearings committee meeting to make their case.
And they certainly didn't hold back.
Far from being nervous or intimidated, Kahu (13) launched into a plea to keep the road closed to vehicles, and ripped into motorists who made a habit of leaving rubbish lying around.
"Just because we are kids it doesn't mean we don't notice the rubbish and glass left behind after [cars] have been along at John Wilson Ocean Dr.
"It's disgusting and lazy the way adults treat that stretch of road," he said.
Josh (12) then took the microphone, praising walkers and cyclists who now made the vehicle-free drive "really, really friendly" and safe, and urged committee members to keep it that way.
"Adults are always telling kids to get off the computer . . . so taking a walk or riding up the drive is a fun way to do that."
The pair said their school regularly took trips to the drive for physical education classes, but they worried the road's peaceful car-free space would be lost before they were adults.
"Sometimes it can be really sad knowing that when we get older there might not be much of a land left after adults have eaten everything in the ocean, poisoned all the rivers through farming and polluted the atmosphere," Josh said.
"We don't have any control of that now, but we still have a voice and an opinion."
The boys spoke at Wednesday's session and made their case immediately after Josh's mother, Justine Tindley, who also wanted the road kept closed to vehicles.
Ms Tindley said it was the boys' decision to make their own submission, and the pair worked on it each evening for several weeks before Wednesday's appearance.
