SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project update

More closures coming up on Waikato's SH1

7 November 2024

East Taupō Arterial closure starts on Monday

The East Taupō Arterial (ETA) section of SH1 will be closed from 5am Monday 11 November until Friday 6 December for maintenance. 

The closure is between the Wairakei roundabout (SH5) and Broadlands Road. SH5 to Napier is not affected by this work, you can still use that as normal from either approach, as well as the access south towards Taupō Airport and beyond. 

This section of road being closed is approximately 2.5km but you may hear us talk about ‘lane kms’.  Lane kilometres count the number of lanes on a road rather than just the distance between point A and B. We measure in this way to give you a more accurate picture of the work being delivered, as it incorporates things such as passing lanes. In the case of the ETA, it’s largely 2 lanes, with some sections of passing lanes – so around 5.8km lane km in total.

By closing SH1 completely, our crews can get in and fix as much of the road as possible at once and to a higher standard. Without having traffic to work around, the team can really focus on quality.  Block road closures reduce customer exposure to long periods of disruptive temporary traffic management at numerous sites.

Closing roads in sections also means we can attend to other maintenance work such as upgrading drainage, clearing vegetation, and improving signage and road markings.

Anyone who owns a boat will know that to keep things ship shape and ready for years of adventures, it’s important to keep on top of maintenance. It’s the same for a busy state highway network – the road will continue to have wear and tear and need some love. So even though we’re doing a lot of work now, it doesn’t mean we won’t need to be back in the future for further maintenance work. The objective is that any future work won’t need to be as intrusive or disruptive as this.

Detour for the East Taupō Arterial route

People familiar with these roads have noted that the detour route, down Broadlands Road and Ohaaki Road to SH5, is much longer than other routes around and through Taupō.

We looked at shorter detours, but these routes were less suitable for many safety reasons – they're narrow, road markings (especially while driving at night) need to be better for a major detour, shoulders or pull-over areas for passing are few, and they're very popular routes with tourists and cyclists.  

Detouring through Taupō itself is not appropriate either. Many have commented this used to be the route for SH1 right through the town “back in the day”. The network and vehicle demands have changted sincde then, there is far more traffic on the roads now, including heavier vehicles, and urban Taupō is no longer set up to cater for state highway traffic. 

Taupō will be very busy in the coming months, with heaps of awesome events that will increase the buzz in the town. Taupō already has some congestion issues which the Council is working to alleviate, and you may find this congestion increases, especially with the many events and the road works. Allow some extra time, and if you do find yourself delayed, or wanting to stop in beautiful Taupō, there are some great attractions and businesses in Taupō that you could visit.

There will be extra pressure on the highways and local roads, so please use the official detour routes and double check the route Google Maps is suggesting before you find yourself up the wrong road without a paddle. To understand more about how we choose our detour routes check out the story with our Journey Manager Frankie Evans, further down in this newsletter.

SH1 between Putāruru and Tokoroa – closures begin late November with detours confirmed

The work on the Putāruru to Tokoroa section is programmed to start towards the end of November and run until Friday 20 December, subject to the Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri section being completed as planned on Wednesday 20 November.

All things going to plan, from 5am Thursday 21 November 2024, SH1 will be closed from SH1/Princes Street, Putāruru to SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection. Work will take 4 weeks to complete (weather permitting).  

All north and south bound SH1 vehicles will be detoured via Princes Street, Arapuni Street, Arapuni Road, Waotu Road, Old Taupo 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 possibly be a temporary speed limit of 70km/h along the entirety of the detour route. 

Heavy vehicles are asked to take SH5/30.

The "hard closure" (the worksite) is approximately 13km long, from Vospers Road to Rollett Road. There will be a “soft closure” in Putāruru, between SH1/Princes Street intersection and Vospers Road, Lichfield. There is also a soft closure at the southern end, up to Rollett Road.  These soft closures still allow access, but are in place in order to send those on longer journeys down appropriate detours.

Southbound traffic will not be able to travel beyond Vospers/Ngatira Road. Northbound traffic will only be able to travel as far north as SH1 Rollett Road.

Within the hard closure, there will strict requirements before anyone can go into that area as there will be a multitude of machines and people working on the road at all times of the day and night. Pilot vehicles will be used and there may be delays going through the work site. This means the road is very restricted as to who can use it.

Some work will start to happen on this section next week, so you may notice some minor traffic management in place while shoulders are cleared, in preparation for the major work starting under the closure.

Please be patient and follow the instructions of the traffic manager on site. We are working to keep you safe.

Additional signage will be placed at the detour points advising that businesses beyond this point are still open. 

During the closure, the work that is happening includes road rebuild, road resealing and shoulder clearing.  

We will need to come back sometime next year to do additional work in the northern section between Domain and Vospers Roads; this will now occur in 2025.  We cannot do this work during this time as we could not get it all done before Christmas, when there is a moratorium on road works.  We will confirm the schedule for this work as soon as we can, at the moment we are doing a comprehensive review of work planned in 2025 to minimise disruption while maximising the work that we can get done. 

Current state of SH1 between Putāruru to Tokoroa (more below)

Come one come all – community drop-in session in Putāruru

On Thursday 14 November we are hosting community drop-in sessions at The Plaza in Putāruru. There are 2 sessions, from 1.00 - 3.00pm and 4.30 - 6.30pm. 

Members of the project team will be available to answer any questions you have about the work we are doing, and about the closures coming up. 

This isn’t a town hall style session with presentations or speeches – just a chance to pop in and talk to some of the team. 

If you can’t make it, and you still have a burning question, email us at SH1Waikato@nzta.govt.nz. 

We’re also looking to host a virtual drop-in session on Zoom, in the coming weeks, available to anyone interested in this project. More details will be shared once they are confirmed.

Closure between Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri set to re-open late November

Weather has been kind to us so far (quickly, touch wood), and crews are well into foam bitumen stabilisation works. There have been 3 foam bitumen crews working on this and chip sealing has now begun.  

We anticipate that the road will be open towards the end of  November under traffication (where the chip seal is embedded by normal vehicle use). As soon as this section finishes we will start the section between Putāruru and Tokoroa. If there are any delays in the Tokoroa work, this will have an impact on the dates for the Putāruru to Tokoroa section. 

See the photos below to see the progress the crews are making.

The art of detours and traffic management

In this week’s look behind the scenes, we look at the art (no science) of deciding detours.

To say that getting detours right for everyone is difficult would be a bit of an understatement. While some people may think some “bloke in Auckland” randomly squiggles a line on a map, the reality is that coming up with detour routes is done in conjunction with a lot of people who know the routes well. 

Frankie Evans, the NZTA Journey Manager for the project, has the tricky job of leading the process of working out the detour routes, managing the needs of many road users and balancing convenience, practicality, and safety. 

“Coming up with a detour isn’t as straight forward as many might imagine. We have to look at a range of factors, including the time a detour will add to people’s journeys, the suitability of the road for the additional volume of traffic, whether all parts of the road and bridges can cope with heavy vehicles, and safety,” says Frankie. 

“We work really closely with the freight industry, logging and dairy companies, and local councils to come up with the plan. These discussions will often lead to the detour being tweaked to make sure we minimise the disruption as much as possible.

"We also take into account what events or activities may be happening in the area, and ensure that there is not going to be other work on roads, bridges or nearby potential detours that would result in considerable further disruption. The local council may have a schedule of maintenance and projects that we need to take into consideration. These discussions will often lead to the detour being tweaked to make sure we minimise the disruption as much as possible. But the reality is, when you’re shutting the main highway disruption is inevitable.

“Some locals might know of roads that would short-cut official detours and wonder why we didn’t recommend them. The likelihood is that we would have looked at all options, but for a number of reasons decided that they weren’t suitable. It could be that they’re owned by the local council who don’t want a big volume of traffic diverted on roads that aren’t built for it, or that they’re privately owned forestry roads. 

"These short-cuts are nicknamed “rat-runs” and are of concern to us, as well as the people living down the small local roads who suddenly find themselves with noise issues and with concerns for children and stock with many entrances. Often there are small bridges, narrow sections and overhanging vegetation which may make these roads less suitable for larger vehicles.

“In most cases, we can’t prevent people choosing to rat-run down roads they know or following directions from mapping apps. All we can do is suggest the safest and most suitable detour route for people to follow. In some cases, if there are issues, we can make the road open only to residents but this is only done in exceptional situations. 

“I’d like to thank everyone who is involved in the planning of detours – your advice and intel is invaluable in making sure we’re able to do this critical maintenance work,” says Frankie

NZTA Journey Manager, Frankie Evans

Tīrau to Putāruru

We are coming back to lay the final asphalt surface on the stretch of SH1 from just south of Tīrau to just north of Putāruru. This was the first section we closed to rebuild the road back in September 2024 and we’re now good to go for putting the final seal on to finish this stretch. 

This final asphalt surfacing will be done under night-time road closures starting on Sunday 24 November and finishing on Thursday 5 December, working Sunday to Thursday nights only. That will be 10 shifts rostered on nights. The road will be closed from 7pm – 6am on those dates. 

Detours will be as before, via SH28 and SH5. We're looking forward to seeing the finished product - a well constructed road that is great to drive on!

Closure of Desert Road planned from early January 2025

This is one of the major sections of SH1 which will be closed. 

Because of the location and alpine nature of this site, the work has to be done in the best part of summer to reduce the risk of snow fall, as we can’t do a lot of the foam bitumen stabilisation work if the ground temperature is below 13 degrees Celsius – the lowest possible temperature for pavement works. 

More information will be available soon as to detours and what is involved, but the Desert Road will be closed from early January for approximately 2 months.

Taupō Airport roundabout to Tūrangi

Talking of our review of the schedule for next year, we originally indicated that we would be closing this section of road in March/April next year. 

There is a lot of rebuild work to do in this zone, and we are also mindful of holiday makers and residents who would like to enjoy their holidays this summer without us coming along with our noisy machines and disrupting the serenity.

We are therefore rescheduling this work until the spring of 2025.  

Stakeholder Advisory Group

Thanks to those who dropped us a line about the next stakeholder advisory group. 

Our stakeholder advisory group is a chance for our partners, stakeholder and community representatives to have input into the planning of our work programme, or troubleshoot any particular concerns that we need to be aware of. 

If you’d like to be a part of the next one, please email us. 

We are planning on holding the next session the week starting 24 November 2024. 

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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