SH1 Taupō projects

Project update

8 December 2022

Safety work to start on SH1 between Taupō Airport and Hātepe

We're about to get underway with some infrastructure changes aimed at improving safety on State Highway 1 between Taupō Airport and Hātepe.

In 2019, we asked for feedback on speed limits between Taupō and Turangi and new limits are now in effect on some sections along the route.

During consultation, we heard that the community preferred to keep existing speed limits between Taupō Airport and Hātepe.

As a result, we committed to investigating safety improvements on sections between Taupō Airport and Hātepe to reduce the likelihood of crashes causing deaths and serious injuries.

Currently, we are looking to design and deliver safety infrastructure improvements in two stages:

Stage 1 – Widening the road for wide centrelines from mid-2023. This includes: 

• Wide centrelines and creating locations to safely pull over along the route between Taupō Airport and Hātepe.

• Widening the road shoulders to give drivers more room and space to pull over in an emergency.

• Installing some roadside safety barriers where roadside hazards can’t be removed laying new line markings.

Stage 2 – Longer term, we will seek to further improve safety by: 

• Installing flexible median safety barriers to prevent head-on collisions.

• Turnaround bays and access points for local traffic.

Background to the project

Between 2012 and 2021, ten people died, and 34 people were seriously injured in crashes between Taupō Airport and Turangi.

The purpose of the improvements is to improve the safety of State Highway 1 between Taupō and Hātepe and give someone you love a second chance to come home safely.

What’s next

We are aiming to start construction of stage 1 in 2023. Ahead of this we will engage with landowners, residents and the community around the final design of the flexible median barriers and turnaround locations.

To find out more about this project visit www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh1-taupo-to-hatepe-safety-improvements/.

A busy maintenance season ahead

We're now into our busiest maintenance season ever. When planning your next trip please check our Journey Planner, which has real-time information on roadworks and other events on the state highway network: www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz

With almost 2500 lane kilometres of resealing and rebuilding to complete, it will be a busy summer on our roads. You can view our full nationwide programme of work here.

Before heading out on the roads we recommend planning ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey. There's a variety of ways to keep up to date with what's happening:

• Traffic updates: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

• Facebook: facebook.com/nztacni

• Twitter: twitter.com/WakaKotahiCNI

• Journey planner: journeys.nzta.govt.nz

• Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)

More information

For more information on the SH1 Taupō projects, contact us at Waikato.Projects@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/sh1-taupo