SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project update

The end is in sight

11 April 2025

The end of the road works season is in sight and work on State Highway 1 Tīrau to Waiouru will wrap-up next week. That means one more newsletter, next Thursday.

We do love hearing from you so please let us know if you have any burning questions, you want answered - send us an email SH1Waikato@nzta.govt.nz.

The only question we can’t answer, just yet, is the order we’ll carry out the works next season. While we’re off the roads we’ll be working on the programme and will be coming to talk to communities, businesses and freight to discuss our plans as soon as possible.

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Putāruru to Lichfield: Update

We have been putting the finishing touches on the Putāruru to Lichfield section this week. Last Friday (4 April), we opened the section for traffication - that’s where we use live traffic traveling through the site at slow speeds to bed in the chipseal. 

We have returned this week to add some extra seal in a small area which needed some additional attention.

As we trafficate and sweep sections we can uncover areas where the new chipseal has lifted. This can be from vehicles driving too fast through the site and ripping it up, or it can be where the chipseal hasn’t adhered to the bitumen fully when it was laid. Returning to touch up these sections before line marking means the underlying road surface will not be impacted before we apply the final smooth surface next season.

We will complete sweeping and line marking of this section after the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 event this weekend. We can’t sweep and line mark a section until the chipseal has properly bedded in. If we did line mark it, we’d lose all the line marking as the chipseal bedded in and loose chip moved around.

In this section the contractor Downer has rebuilt and repaired 2.16 lane kms and sealed 5.8 lane kms of road between the Putāruru Transfer Station and the intersection with SH1 and Pinedale Road.

Lichfield detour work

We visited the Lichfield detour with South Waikato District Council this week. The road did deteriorate during the detour with the additional traffic using it.

We plan for these types of eventualities though and we factor it into our projects and detours we need to use, particularly where we need to use local roads – those roads owned and maintained by local councils.

Contractors will be out next week will be completing some pothole repairs – mill and fill works – in the worst affected areas along Lichfield Road and Grey Street.

Some of these sites are in the middle of the road, which may need to be done under stop/stop traffic management. This is where traffic is stopped in both directions while the work is completed. At a safe time, traffic is then let through the site. 

Other sites will be completed under stop/go traffic management.

If you are using these roads next week, expect some delays. 

Thanks for your patience while we do this work, please be kind to our traffic controllers.

Ātiamuri to Wairakei: Update

We have also put the finishing touches on Ātiamuri to Wairakei this week. We completed all the sweeping and line marking of this section yesterday afternoon (Thursday 10 April) just in time for the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 event this weekend.

In this section the contractor Downer completed approximately 12.7 lane kms of road repairs, rebuilding and resealing. Higgins completed significant safety improvements, with over 11km of side and central safety barrier installed, as well as remedial works and final surfacing. MS Civil also completed additional maintenance work during the closure.

These safety upgrades mean the road is more forgiving if someone makes a mistake, with crashes less likely to result in death or serious injury.

Before and After

We do still have a big programme to deliver next season but check out the results we have already achieved in these before and after photos of the areas we have worked on this season.

Next season

We'll take a quick breath and then we'll be into planning for next season very soon.

There is still a significant programme to be delivered in the 2025/26 season. This includes: 

Final surfacing – likely night works under stop/go traffic management or night closure:

• Putāruru to Tokoroa
• Tokoroa to Ātiamuri 
• Ātiamuri to Wairakei 
• East Taupō Arterial 
• SH1 Desert Road

Maintenance and road rebuilding:

• Taupō to Tūrangi (details to be confimred)
• Tīrau Township (night works)
• Tokoroa Township (stop/go)

As soon as we have confirmed the timing and method for next season, we'll let you know. 

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.

Visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w

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