SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance update

17 November 2025

Work coming up

Tokoroa to Ātiamuri: Work continues on Stage 1 between the SH1/SH32 intersection at Tokoroa to the SH1 Kinleith intersection, with an overnight closure in place. The detour is via SH32, Old Taupō Road, Kinleith Road and vice versa. This detour adds approximately 5km and 5 minutes to travel time. Stage 2 of work is scheduled to start Wednesday 26 November. This may be pushed out because of bad weather and will happen on the next available fine night. For Stage 2, SH1 between the SH1/SH32 intersection the SH1/SH30 intersection will be closed overnight between 7pm and 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights. The detour is via SH32, SH30 and back to SH1 at Ātiamuri and vice versa. This adds approximately 33.6km and 27 minutes to journey times.

Work underway

Taupō to Tūrangi: Waitahanui: Overnight stop/go is in place at Waitahanui for asphalting. Work is between 7pm and 6am. There are temporary speed limits in place during the day. Please prepare for some delays.

Hatepe Hill is now complete and drivers have been commenting on the smooth finish.

Taupō to Tūrangi update - we've finished Hatepe Hill!

We’ve finished our first site between Taupō and Tūrangi at the Hatepe Hill passing lanes. Feedback so far is that the road has never driven so smoothly through that site!

Check out that smooth ride below.

We're now asphalting at Waitahanui and the team is making good progress. We are still working through the programme for the remainder of the asphalting work which needs to be completed both at the SH1/Kiko Road intersection and at the southern end of Motuoapa.

Enabling works have been completed at both Kiko and Motuoapa and there are no temporary speed limits in place. You might still see some cones at Kiko for a shoulder closure. We will let you know the schedule for these areas as soon as we have the programme confirmed.

Why the cones and temporary speed limits remain when the crew isn’t there

Next time you’re driving through a quiet work site, think of it like wet paint: just because you can’t see the painter, doesn’t mean the surface is ready to touch.

Last season on T2W it was all road closures, and you couldn’t see anything behind the scenes until we shared photos and video.

This season it’s mainly asphalting work that we’re completing at night and using stop/go or overnight closures. We’re doing it this way to minimise disruption for road users, so they don’t have to navigate stop/go during the day when traffic volumes are much higher. It does mean that when the road is open during the day, the traffic management and temporary speed limits are still in place. 

We need the cones and the temporary speed limits due to the nature of the work we are doing, including milling, which creates an uneven surface that can be dangerous if driven on at higher speeds.  Leaving the traffic management in place also means the crew can come back on site the next evening without needing to reset the site.

Asphalting at Hatepe Hill week ending 9 November showing the different road levels between the asphalt and the lane yet to be completed.

Cindy our mobile asphalt plant hard at work

This is Cindy, the Mobile Asphalt Plant, in full swing pumping out asphalt for our sites between Taupō and Tūrangi.

We managed to lay 700 tonnes of asphalt at Waitahanui last Friday night where we worked the extra shift to make up for time due to bad weather. We laid a further 700 tonnes on Sunday night too. Go team! Check out Cindy in action in the video below.

For each type of road surface we need to deliver, Cindy is preprogrammed with a specific recipe. The recipes are all determined based on our specifications and take into consideration the ground conditions under the road, what type of base we’re building the road on, and the type of surface we need to deal with the traffic.

Once the recipe is chosen, Cindy gets to work mixing the ingredients together, heating it to around 180 degrees in the main drum. Once it’s ready, the hot asphalt is loaded into our trucks and taken directly to where it’s needed. The asphalt temperature is measured before it leaves Cindy and again before it’s applied to the road surface to ensure it’s at the ideal temperature.

Cindy can pump out up to 160 tonnes of asphalt per hour. We have laid more than 10,000 tonnes of asphalt so far this season. 

Tokoroa to Ātiamuri - stage 2 overnight closure coming soon

We’ve started our work on the 2 northern sites between Tokoroa and Ātiamuri but we have lost some shifts because of bad weather. The start date for the 2 southern sites has been pushed out to Wednesday 26 November (weather dependent). Check the local VMS boards and Journey Planner for the most up to date information.

During stage 2 traffic will be detoured off SH1 at Tokoroa and down SH32 and SH30 and back to SH1 at Ātiamuri. This adds approximately 33.6km and 27 minutes to journey times.

Residents living within the works area will have access to and from their homes during the overnight work, and we will use an access pass system. Residents will be given access passes ahead of work starting.

Access will be maintained at all times for emergency services. We have also worked with Kinleith Mill to manage access for mill workers.

Mercury Whakamaru Dam maintenance SH30 closure

Mercury Energy is completing their maintenance on the Whakamaru Dam starting today.

SH30 across the Whakamaru Dam will be closed during the day from today, Monday 17 November, to Friday 21 November, 8am to 7pm.

The detour from Whakamaru during these times is via SH32, Piohipi Road, Tirohanga Road, SH1 and vice versa. School buses will be able to get across the dam before 8am but will need to use the northbound detour to return to Whakamaru or Mangakino in the afternoons.

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