SH1 Desert Road closed for five nights from 1 Dec

Overnight closures on State Highway 1 the Desert Road will begin on Tuesday 1 December in order to resurface multiple areas between Waiouru and Rangipo. 

The road will be closed each night from 7pm until 5am with the works complete and the road reopening fully from 5am on Sunday 6 December. Outside these hours the road will be operate as normal.

Emergency services will have full access through the work site if required. 

As the spring weather is changeable the works may be delayed at short notice. Motorists are advised to check our journey planner website, www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz, for the latest update on state highway conditions. 

Detour information

• From Turangi, the southbound detour will be via State Highway 41 or State Highway 46, on to State Highway 47, State Highway 4 at National Park and then State Highway 49 to Waiouru. The northbound detour will be the same, in reverse.
• For a journey between Turangi and Waiouru the detour will add an extra 30 to 35 minutes over and above the normal 45-minute journey time via SH1. The total travel time is approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
• While the road closure will be in place from 7pm, Waka Kotahi encourages motorists to complete their travel well before then as the contractors will be setting up traffic management from 6pm and this may cause delays.

From 7pm on Sunday 6 December resurfacing will take place just south of the State Highway 1/49 intersection at Waiouru and on the Desert Road between Waiouru and Rangipo. 

These works are expected to take place over four nights between 7pm and 5am, with Stop/Go traffic management and a temporary speed limit of 30km/h in place to ensure the safety of both crew and road users.  

Waka Kotahi thanks motorists for their patience while we carry out this important maintenance.

SH1 Taupō to Turangi overnight closures coming up

The final part of the project to improve State Highway 1 at Te Pōporo/Bulli Point and Te Toki Point will take place in December. 

Full road closures between Taupō and Turangi will take place on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 December between 7pm and 5am. On Friday 11 December the road will be open under Stop/Go traffic management with a 30km/h temporary speed limit in place.

This work was started in October but unable to be completed because of bad weather.

During the road closures, access south of the Taupō Airport roundabout, or north of the intersection of SH1 and State Highway 41 will be for residents only, with a detour in place for all other traffic via SH41, State Highway 32 and Poihipi Road. The detour will add around 45 minutes to a journey betwen Turangi and Taupō.

Emergency services will have full access through the work site during the works.

While the road closure will be in place from 7pm we would encourage motorists to complete their travel well before then as the contractors will be setting up traffic management from 6pm and this may cause delays.

Outside these hours the road will be open for traffic in both directions as normal.

Read more

East Taupō Arterial update

The project to upgrade State Highway 1 East Taupō Arterial continues, with crews improving and widening the existing road just north of the Napier-Taupō road roundabout.

From here crews will work their way north over the coming weeks carrying out the widening and repair work. 

A temporary speed limit is in place and traffic management staff are onsite 24 hours a day to ensure motorists can pass safely through the work site. 

SH1 Detour in Putāruru on 3 Dec

State Highway 1 Tirau St, Putāruru, will be closed with a detour in place on Thursday 3 December from 7am to 5pm. 

This is to allow a number of finishing jobs to be completed on the project to make central Putāruru safer for vehicles and pedestrians.    

During the closure, southbound traffic will be detoured via Neal Street, Commerce Street and Market Street. Northbound traffic will be detoured via Kensington Street and Mackenzie Street.

A further overnight closure of Tirau St may take place on Sunday 6 December to help complete the project ahead of schedule. 

A reminder that until the end of this week foam bitumen stabilising work is taking place on State Highway 1 between Tirau and Putāruru.  

This involves mixing bitumen into the existing road structure to improve the strength of the road. This increases the longevity and waterproofing abilities of the road surface in a quick and easy manner, reducing disruption to road users.

Work is taking place between the hours of 7am and 7pm. During this time southbound traffic will be detoured via State Highway 5 and SH28 between Tirau and Putāruru.

Northbound traffic will continue to use State Highway 1, with a temporary speed limit of 30kmh in place around worksites.

While in the area, contractors will complete seal repairs, signage replacement, as well as vegetation and litter control, to minimise the overall impact on road users.

More information

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

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