Is it art? An “epic fail?” Or a roadworks accident?

A photo of a road cone asphalted into a New Zealand footpath in New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, has drawn derision on a Facebook community page, with one comment describing it as an “epic fail”.

“OMG surely someone taking the piss,” wrote another poster.

Yes, it’s a road cone asphalted into the footpath, deliberately, by the council. (Stuff)

“Some drunk person is gonna try to kick that,” said another.

Yet another suggested it could be art that becomes a local landmark.

Melanie, who posted the photo, said she used the road daily.

She found the “bizarre” and she wasn’t alone – screenshots of the post are doing the rounds on social media.

However, a New Plymouth District Council spokesperson said the cone was simply protecting an exposed pipe.

The pipe connects a water main to an adjacent house, and was left uncovered while crews installed a new main, he said.

A temporary asphalt patch was laid over the path as a safety measure, securing the cone in place over the pipe. Later this year, the connection will be finished and a permanent surface put down.

The council had not fielded any complaints over the cone, the spokesperson said.

Road cones have been in the spotlight this year, with the Government announcing a crackdown on their use.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there were “hundreds of them doing very, very little”, and his deputy, David Seymour, complained about too many “frickin’ cones”.

Even Transport Minister Chris Bishop calls their deployment “overzealous”.

To tackle the tide of road cones, the Government launched a hotline for concerns about their use earlier this year. RNZ reported 650 reports in the hotline’s first month of use. In Wellington, there were 115 complaints in two months.

This article was originally published by Stuff.co.nz and has been reproduced here with permission.