SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project update

SH1 Kinleith - Upper Ātiamuri open today, Putāruru - Tokoroa to close tomorrow morning

22 November 2024

What’s happening on SH1 between Tīrau and Taupō

We’ve hit another milestone in the project with the partial re-opening today of the section of State Highway 1 from Kinleith Road, south of Tokoroa, to Upper Ātiamuri.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s happening on SH1 and what’s coming up in the remainder of 2024 and early 2025. All of the closures are covered in more detail lower down, including detour routes where these have been confirmed.

Current closures:

• East Taupō Arterial section of SH1 until Friday 6 December
• South Tokoroa to Kinleith Road, expected to reopen Wednesday next week.

Upcoming closures:

• Tomorrow morning (Saturday 23 November) from 5am we will be closing SH1 Putāruru to Tokoroa for 4 weeks.
• On Sunday 24 November SH1 from just south of Tīrau to just north of Putāruru will be closed at nights (7pm to 6am) for 2 weeks (Sunday to Thursday night works only).
• SH1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru (includes Desert Road) will close from early January until late February 2025.

Open but under temporary traffic management (which may include stop/go):

• The northern section of SH1 between Upper Ātiamuri and Wairakei.
• SH1 between Kinleith Road south of Tokoroa and Upper Ātiamuri 

As we hit this busy period on the project, through traffic from Tīrau to Taupō (and vice versa) may wish to consider staying on SH5 via Rotorua to avoid the sites mentioned above. We recommend checking the NZTA journey planner for more information on closures and travel times.

SH1 from Kinleith to upper Ātiamuri reopens

Another milestone for the project with most of SH1 between Tokoroa and upper Ātiamuri opened to traffic at noon today.

Unfortunately due to the amount of time lost to rain we were unable to complete the whole of this section, with about 5kms of road from Tokoroa to Kinleith remaining closed. This is expected to reopen on Wednesday next week.

While we had hoped to reopen the whole section from Tokoroa and upper Ātiamuri, opening this southern section means we can begin the next closure, from Putāruru to Tokoroa (see below), as we have a limited window of time to get this work done before the Christmas shutdown comes into place on Friday 20 December 2024.  

The detour around the section that remains closed is SH32, Old Taupō Road, Kinleith Road and vice versa. Businesses and residences between SH32 intersection and just north of Campbell Road are still accessible.

The detour route for HPMV remains the same, SH5 and SH32.

The newly reopened section includes 13km of rebuilt road in 4 separate locations. There may be traffic management including temporary speed limits in place so please take care on the new road.

SH1 between Putāruru and Tokoroa begins 5am Saturday 23 November

From 5am tomorrow morning (Saturday 23 November), SH1 will be closed from SH1/Princes Street, Putāruru to SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection for 4 weeks (weather permitting).

We’ll definitely be off the road by Friday 20 December as there is a moratorium on work happening during the Christmas holiday period from lunchtime on Friday 20 until midnight on Sunday 5 January 2025.

While this section is closed we'll be rebuilding or resealing approximately 21 lane kms of highway and clearing the shoulder along 23 kms. 

All north and south bound SH1 light vehicles will be detoured via Princes Street, Arapuni Street, Arapuni Road, Waotu Road, Old Taupō Road, SH32 - Tokoroa and vice versa. This will add approximately 15 mins and 11km to journey times (standard journey via SH1 Putaruru to Tokoroa is approximately 18 mins and 23km). There will be a temporary speed limit of 70km/h along the entirety of the detour route.

Heavy vehicles should note that Waotu Road is not HPMV approved, so trucks making local trips should stay on Arapuni Road and Old Taupō Road instead. 

The detour for HPMVs travelling from Tīrau to Taupō is SH5 and trucks should use this rather than local detours. 

All vehicles travelling between 7pm and 6am may want to consider taking SH5 via Rotorua as well, to avoid the night closure between Tīrau and Putāruru that begins on Sunday night (see the story below).

Tīrau to Putāruru night closures

At 7pm on Sunday night (24 November) we’ll be back to complete the final surface on the stretch of SH1 that we first closed back in September – from just south of Tīrau to just north of Putāruru.

This night-only closure is to lay the final asphalt surface to complete the 5.75km of road rebuild.

This asphalting will be done from Sunday 24 November until Thursday 5 December, working Sunday to Thursday nights only. The road will be closed from 7pm to 6am on those dates.  

The detour will be the same as it was in September, via SH28 and SH5.

Through traffic from the north heading to Taupō may want to consider continuing on SH5 via Rotorua to avoid the closure between Putāruru and Tokoroa mentioned above.

Please take it easy on detour routes

When it comes to road closures, besides the work on the state highway itself we need think about where we send traffic.

In some cases, we have to use local roads. State highways are generally built to a different standard to local roads as they are expected to carry more traffic, particularly trucks.

This means the detour route you may find yourself on may be narrower and winding, with extra care needed to keep everyone safe.

You may also notice that some bridges have temporary speed limits in place. This is to help preserve them as larger vehicles exert more force on the bridge structure, and the higher the speed the more force there is.

So if you find yourself on one of our detour routes please take care, relax and enjoy the drive down a road you may not have otherwise experienced.

ETA work nears the halfway mark

There's now 2 weeks left on the closure of the northern section of SH1 East Taupō Arterial (ETA).

New sections of kerb and channel work has been poured and the pavement crew are focusing on the road overlay.

Foam bitumen stabilisation, a key part of building a strong foundation for the road, is continuing and should be completed next week before the process of reinstating the road can begin.

A reminder that the detour route for the ETA closure is via Broadlands Road and Ohaaki Road to SH5.

This is the best way for state highway traffic to avoid the centre of Taupō, particularly with events coming up such as the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge next weekend and the equestrian eventing competition on at the National Equestrian Centre at Aratiatia this weekend.

Watch out for bikes around Taupō next weekend

A week tomorrow thousands of cyclists from around the country will be heading to Taupō to take part in the annual Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge on Saturday 30 November.

Anyone driving on SH32, SH41 and SH1 around the lake next Saturday should allow extra time for their journey, be patient and allow plenty of room when passing bikes.

With the East Taupō Arterial closed, traffic is detoured down Broadlands Road, which is crossed twice by the Gravel Grind, one of the events held as part of the Cycle Challenge over both sealed and unsealed surfaces.

When the Gravel Grind course crosses Broadlands Road, stop/go traffic control will be in place to give the crossing cyclists priority in both locations. Drivers are also advised to expect heavy traffic and a number of bikes in Taupō itself on event day.

Besides the extra bike traffic on Saturday drivers around the central North Island should be aware of the event traffic heading to Taupō on Friday and then returning home on Sunday.

Building stronger roads

Over the past few months you may have heard us talking about rebuilding better roads that require less future maintenance. Here’s the simple version of how we’re doing this.

On many sites we are building up the pavement - the supporting base of the road that the seal sits on.

This is often done by adding an overlay, a new layer on to the existing to raise the pavement level by between 150mm and 250mm.

We’re also using a method known as bitumen stabilisation, which makes the base layer of the pavement waterproof, helping it to last longer.

On our asphalt sites we are increasing the thickness of the structural asphalt used which will result in stronger roads.

Generally, any section of road is designed to last about 25 years, taking into account the expected increase in the amount of traffic, including trucks, over that time. There will still need to be some maintenance conducted on these roads, but by rebuilding better roads where we can this will help to reduce the amount of maintenance needed in the future.

SH1 Desert Road to close in early 2025

There was a lot of talk this week about the closure of SH1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru for around 8 weeks in January and February 2025.  

We are aware that this will be an inconvenience for those with summer holiday travel plans and we're looking at what we can do to reduce the impact of this work.

The alpine environment and potential for colder temperatures means we have to do this work in peak summer months. We need a minimum ground temperature of 13 degrees to carry out pavement works. 

The expected detour (from north to south) – SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1. This will likely add around 30 to 40 minutes to journeys and will take you through a beautiful part of the country.

More information

This work forms part of the government’s $2.07 billion investment into road and drainage renewal and maintenance across 2024-27 via the State Highway Pothole Prevention fund.

Please pass this on to others who may be using SH1 in the next few months and encourage them to sign up to this newsletter by using the subscribe button below.

For more information or any concerns on the SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance, please email us.

Please visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w