Work crews on roadworks sites around Wānaka say motorists are taking out their frustration over the roadworks on the people staffing them.

They say some drivers are also driving dangerously, ignoring signage, and refusing to comply with the rules.

A worker at the Downer’s site (where a roundabout is under construction on the corner of Riverbank and Ballantyne roads) told the Wānaka App that workers receive “heaps” of flak.

Across town at a different site, a worker who asked not to be named said she and other crew members were being abused by drivers “pretty much every day”.

Workers have also witnessed dangerous, erratic driving.

While most people tolerate the roadworks and follow the rules, she said there were others who “abuse you, yell at you…tell you to hurry up if you’re setting up signs.”

“They always think it’s our fault that there are roadworks,” she said.

“You get people who try to fight their way through. Sometimes you get scared because they try to run the red light.”

Last summer a roadworks site worker was killed after being hit by a truck while directing traffic on State Highway 23 near Raglan.

The Wānaka worker said that incident is front of mind for workers when they are dealing with angry drivers.

“You don’t know how some people are going to react or what they’re going to do,” she said.

The worker at the Downer site had also witnessed plenty of erratic and dangerous driving.

He said it was about “once every couple of days” that “someone will try and push it.”

Incidents had included motorists trying to open gates and drive through private property to avoid having to wait and driving down clearly-marked one-ways in the wrong direction.

NZTA said around 10 roadworkers or people travelling are killed at roadworks sites each year, and a further 30 are seriously injured.

Motorists should drive to the posted speed limit, drive carefully, and follow signage and any instructions. 

PHOTOS: Wānaka App