SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance update

8 September 2025

Taupō to Tūrangi: Work continues at Waitahanui where we are widening the road to create 2 right turn bays. Enabling works requiring a stop/go are complete at Waitahanui and there are now lane switches and temporary speed limits in place. Work is expected to start at the Hatepe passing lanes mid-September, using nighttime stop/go. Work will be 5 nights a week between 7pm and 6am. There is no planned daytime stop/go for Hatepe at this point. The work is planned from Sunday to Thursday nights, finishing Friday at 6am.

Tīrau: Nighttime only road closures start this Sunday south of the State Highway 1 and Rose Street/Hillcrest Street intersection. Work will be between 7pm and 6am Sunday to Thursday. Traffic will be detoured via State Highway 27 (SH27), Patetere Street, Okoroire Road, Heatherington Road, State Highway 5 (SH5) and back to State Highway 1 (SH1). This adds approx. 6 mins and 10km to your journey.

All of this work is weather dependent.

Cool down, calm down and slow down - our road workers are just doing their job

Our road workers are the unsung heroes on our state highways. They work through all sorts of challenging situations keeping our communities connected and improving driving conditions.

They receive compliments, the odd scone and more than a few mana waves, but at times they bear the brunt of unacceptable hostility, just for doing their job.

It’s an issue we face every season. Here is a recent media release from the top of the south where contractors have been dealing with unsafe behaviour from motorists as they work to help the recovery from winter floods.  And here’s a sample from incidents reported on T2W’s recent work on the East Taupō Arterial:

• Member of the public verbally abused the Site Traffic Management Supervisor setting up the Temporary Traffic Management, then left.
• Multiple members of the public vehicles driving through the site purposely swerving and knocking over cones.
• Truck and trailer driver swerved towards pilot vehicle and was abusive as they did not like being piloted past workers and machinery at 10km/h.

T2W used 24/7 road closures on SH1 last season to complete our work, but this season the majority of our sites are open, so you can travel through them under temporary traffic management. This does present more risk for our road workers. Please follow the traffic management, it’s there to keep our workers and you safe, stick to the temporary speed limits and be kind to our guys and girls who are working hard to improve your drive on SH1. 

Remember Sky from last season? As she says... “I love everything about my job. I love that we have a chance to make a difference and keep people safe...it's all for the road users.” Be like Sky. Stay safe out there.

Other works - Slow down at SH5 roundabout site

Other work around Tīrau includes roundabout works underway east of Tīrau on SH5 - and it’s a tricky spot. We’re building on a downhill stretch of SH5 where it meets SH28-Harwoods Road. There’s a 30km/h speed restriction and other traffic management in place to help keep roadworkers and everyone else safe.

Thanks for slowing down – it really helps! Traffic will be using the new roundabout in March next year. Learn more about how we are making this intersection safer here.

Hydrovacing at Waitahanui, where we check for underground services. Enabling works at Waitahanui, taking out the existing kerb and channel

We will be starting at the Hatepe passing lanes next week completing investigation work. Lane switches and temporary speed limits will be in place. We will then move to nighttime stop/go once we start laying the asphalt. Night work will be 5 nights a week between 7pm and 6am. There is no planned daytime stop/go for Hatepe at this point. The work is planned from Sunday to Thursday nights, finishing Friday at 6am.  

The next daytime stop/go site will be at the intersection of SH1 and Kiko Road where we will be starting work in mid-October.

Other works - Taupō CVSC - Safety Centre taking shape

People using the SH1 and SH5 roundabout at Taupō will have noticed the Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre (CVSC) being built there is well advanced.

The administration building has been shifted to site, and most of the below-ground work at the centre and on the roads leading to it is in place.

This includes a 16.8-metre long and 5.2m wide weighbridge. The in-road weigh-in-motion scales on the 5 roads heading towards the safety centre have been installed. Work on the camera technology and Variable Message Signs (VMS) is progressing.  

How it all works:

CVSCs are sites where Police officers can carry out thorough inspections on commercial vehicles.

In-road scales and automatic number-plate readers screen passing commercial vehicles. If the vehicle is of interest to Police, the number-plate recognition cameras linked to the VMS boards will alert drivers to pull into the centre.

Police officers can then check on vehicle weight, road-user charges, certificate of fitness, logbook accuracy and driver impairment. The site will be operational in April 2026. More information.

T2W won’t be here forever - sign up for our Waikato road maintenance newsletter

We’re changing how we tell you about upcoming roadworks, focusing more on using emails and social media. 

Sign up to receive emails about upcoming maintenance on Waikato state highways.

Emails and social media are now the way most people prefer to hear about maintenance we’re doing, and they’re more cost-effective and efficient – for example, we can easily tell you about late changes to works happening, such as when planned roadworks are affected by the weather. 

Our emails will tell you about work happening on state highways in your region in the week ahead. Our website has a full list of maintenance emails for every region – if you regularly travel across regions, sign up for emails from the regions relevant to you.

In some cases, you'll also get printed letters from us about work happening in your area.

More information

For more information on the SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance, contact us at SH1Waikato@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w