Stop, go and boogie

A road crew is soothing motorists’ frustrations with long queues by busting out dance moves and breaking into song. The line of cars at the roadworks on State Highway 57, south of Shannon in the lower North Island, can get up to 60 deep at times, and it seems the road workers feel motorists deserve more than a customary nod or wave for their patience. The Higgins contractors managing the traffic are being heaped with praise for entertaining motorists, and one road worker holding the ‘‘slow’’ sign has moves that are anything but. Tooting horns and broad grins, from both drivers and passengers, are the common signs of appreciation for the entertainment. Some have slowed down to give the workers food and lollies as thanks – a school bus stopped because the children on board wanted to share their lunch with the crew. Alana Olliff, who was visiting family in Levin, saw the worker on the stop-go sign holding his hands in the air as she went through the roadworks. At first she thought she was being flagged down, then realised it was because he just didn’t care. ‘‘[The] guy was really going for it, pulling out all the moves. It was frigging awesome. ‘‘He was waving, jigging and smiling at everybody, and a woman on the crew where they were steamrolling the road had both hands in the air, dancing along.’’ Olliff thought she had caught a spur-of-the-moment display, so she asked her dad when she got home if he saw it too. He told her the crew had been getting their groove on for days and the whole town was talking about it. Olliff said she might drop them off muffins and coffee next time she went through as a thanks for brightening up her day. ‘‘It’s got to be hard, because it’s such a mundane job, but these guys are out there having a blast and making it fun for everybody.’’ Don Mcintyre, who lives near the road works, said the crew were quality characters – even the ones not dancing would take a moment from their work to nod, wave and share a smile. ‘‘It’s a great way to keep everybody happy.’’ An on-site supervisor would not let Stuff speak with the road worker, citing safety reasons, and would not tell us his name.