Stop-go sweet gesture smooths the way

Dunedin motorists are being rewarded for their patience with sweet treats.

Fulton Hogan staff working at the stop-go lights along Portobello Rd have been handing out lollipops to motorists as they wait.

Senior project manager Brett Paterson said 10,000 lollipops had been ordered to give drivers their sugar fix.

"We understand that as we do our work, we affect the traffic coming through and cause a few delays and hold people up in their daily business, so just one of the wee things we do as a thank-you to the community is hand out a few lollipops to the people as they go past," he said.

"It's just a little thank-you from us to say `sorry, we know we interrupt your day, but here's a lollipop'."

Feedback had been pretty positive, he said.

"We get a lot of smiles and thank-yous, and occasionally we get some muffins dropped off and things like that as well, which is really cool."

The stop-go lights are in place as work continues on the Dunedin City Council's Peninsula Connection safety improvement project.

Work is set to continue through to mid next year.