State Highway 1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project

Road works galore!

20 September 2024

As the weather warms up (fingers crossed), so does our most ambitious maintenance project ever – fitting 4 years worth of maintenance into 16 months on State Highway 1 in the central North Island.

Current work underway is: 

• Full closure from the roundabout just south of Tīrau (SH1/SH5) to the intersection of SH28 with SH1 just north of Putāruru until 4 October 2024.
• Daytime closure from Ātiamuri (SH1/30 intersection) to Wairakei (SH1/SH5 intersection) until 4 October 2024 - EXCEPT for today when it is open to traffic due to the bad weather.

Coming up:

• Night closures from SH29 Piarere to North Tīrau from 29 September for 3 weeks.
• Full closure from SH1/SH32 intersesction in Tokoroa to SH1/SH30 intersection near Ātiamuri from 7 October for 6 weeks. 

Read on to find out more details and an update on progress made. 

Progress being made despite that cold snap

SH1 between Tīrau and Putāruru

SH1 from the roundabout just south of Tīrau (SH1/SH5) through to the intersection of SH1/28 just north of Putāruru is into its second week of closure and the site is all action. 

The detours remain in place (see map below) and only add a few minutes to your journey.  Please drive carefully on the detours, they will be busier than normal due to the diversion while this work is going on.

The weather wasn't conducive to much work on Saturday and again this week when the temperatures really dropped. Temperature is one of the factors that must be right for some of the significant work to take place, otherwise we won’t get the right result.

The foam bitumen work will start next week, as long as the temperatures are right. It needs to be at least 13°C for the foam bitumen work to be successful as part of a road rebuild. Any lower and the aggregate (metal) will be too cold and the foaming won’t work as well. You can read more about the foam bitumen in an earlier newsletter.  

While it has been wet and cold, plenty of work has been done. Vegetation clearance has been undertaken, and shoulder clearing has progressed well.  The kerb and channel areas are ready for concrete pouring.

We are also planning to do road surface maintenance repairs in areas within the closure. 

A large number of trucks are bringing in the aggregate needed for the work, so the cones are needed for traffic control within the site, ensuring the pathways are clear for truck drivers and road crew to follow, without causing any issues for the other workers on the site.

Rain, rain, go away!

Akuata Rapaki working in the rain at the intersection of SH1 & SH5. The men and women working on the sites appreciate your waves and good manners as they do their jobs.

Action photos during SH1 Tīrau - Putāruru closure

Detours for Ātiamuri - Wairakei closure

SH1 Ātiamuri to Wairakei closure

NEWSFLASH:   This site is open to traffic today because of the bad weather preventing the team from doing the work planned. There will be stop/go traffic management in place so you may experience some delays. 

SH1 is (normlly) closed during the day in both directions from Ātiamuri (SH1/SH30 intersection) to Wairakei (SH1/SH5 intersection) until Friday 4 October. Closures start from 8am and the road is open again at 6pm, Monday to Saturday. As well as being open at night, the road will be open on Sundays. 

These plans can and have been disrupted with weather. The variable message signs are able to be updated quickly to reflect the situation. They are a good way to find out the information as it happens. There is one near Poihipi Road, Taupō and also at the other end near Atiamuri. 

This work started on Monday this week, and we apologise to those who may have been caught out with the road closed signs being up a little earlier than advertised. The crew was very keen to crack into the work!  New procedures for getting the necesary signs up have been implemented and additional signage is being used to make it clear where the detours are. 

The detour for light vehicles (ie all vehicles you can drive on a Class 1 licence) is via SH30, SH32 and Poihipi Road down to Wairakei Drive. This will add approximately 40km and 27 minutes extra to journeys. For all heavy vehicles, the detour is via SH30 and SH5 which is an additional 62kms. This detour (SH5/SH30) is currently averaging 1hr 9min travel time. 

Residents, businesses, essential vehicles and emergency services will have access at all times. 

Visitors and services wanting to go to the Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park continue to have access, as do those doggies and their owners wanting to get to the Taupō Pet Lodge. Just talk to the crews at the closure points.

If you have any queries or concerns, please send us an email.

Milling the old road in preparation for being replaced with a new road (photos above and below)

Taking opportunities during road closures

This part of SH1 has been undergoing work for some time as part of a network improvement project. The work involved a lot of road widening, and installing both flexible median and roadside safety barriers. The road widening work was significant, as there needed to be work done on the banks at the side of the road to make them less likely to slip, improve the waterflow and drainage.

We are doing as much as we can on this network while the road is closed now, and when it will be closed again later this year (expected to be November/December). This includes installing barriers and finishing the road widening work (see photos below). Not all of this can be completed during the closures, so there will be some traffic management and temporary speed limits on the road after it is open on 4 October. It is expected all work will be completed early in the new year.

Both the network improvement work and the accelerated maintenance (foam stabilisation, cement stabilisation and chip sealing) are being delivered by Higgins. 

SH1 Piarere to Tīrau night closures

From 7pm on Sunday 29 September 2024, SH1 will be closed at nights between Piarere and just north of Tīrau (SH1/SH27 intersection).

This will be in place until 6am on Friday 18 October.

The night closures won't happen every night - they are from 7pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights. The road will be open from 6am each Friday morning until 7pm Sunday nights.

Residents, businesses and emergency services will have access available at all times.

The detour is via SH29 and SH27 as shown in the map below. The total extra kms is 12.9 kms with an extra 10 minutes of travel time. Totman Road (a local road) will be closed to through-traffic during the works and will have residents only access. 

Effect of road closures on roadworkers

The Higgins crew has welcomed the closure of the road, while they do their work on SH1 near Ātiamuri. 

In the past few years, there have been too many road workers killed while doing their jobs and this is in the minds of many of the crew.

The general feeling was that they feel and are so much safer not having to contend with normal traffic while getting on with their jobs, saying they often experience and see vehicles travelling through roadworks at pace, and even ploughing through temporary stop signs.

For some time temporary traffic management in New Zealand has been undertaken using a prescriptive approach. As we move towards a new risk-based approach, the principles of this new way of working can be seen across the T2W corridor.

While road closures are disruptive for road users, businesses and property owners in the short term, there are a number of benefits for crews on site, and for the longer term use of the road. It also tends to reduce the number of cones and signs road users experience, especially throughout T2W where a lot of the detours use the state highway network.

Closing the road allows workers to work more efficiently in an environment with fewer hazards. This increases their productivity while also improving their health and wellbeing, enabling everyone to go home safely and open the road up earlier.

When you see roadworkers out on the road, travel safely through their worksites, follow signage and any instructions you receive (for your own safety too), and maybe even give them a wave to say thanks for their tremendous work.

Road crews want to be safe and their families and mates certainly want them home safely after work.

Photo below: Khan Todd, a valued member of the Max Ramsay Ltd's kerbing and concrete crew, one of the many sub-contractors working on our roads. Max, Khan's boss, says that Khan gives his best every day and always wears a smile (except when he is concentrating here!)

SH1 Tokoroa to Ātiamuri closure Monday 7 October

Works and a full block closure will start at 5am Monday 7 October 2024 and will take 6 weeks to complete (weather permitting). SH1 will be closed from the SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection to the SH1/SH30 intersection north of Ātiamuri.

Full block closures and detours are needed to carry out road rebuilding work. This involves milling out the existing road surface and replacing it with new material and foam stabilised bitumen. Additional works including shoulder widening, drainage improvement, sign repairs, resealing and line marking will take place during the closure.  Additional maintenance activities, where required, will be undertaken.

All north and south bound vehicles will be detoured 24/7. SH1 traffic heading to Taupō and further south will be detoured via SH32 and SH30 and vice versa.  It is estimated that the detour will add around 34 minutes, and 47.4km to the journey.

We will soon be in contact with residents, businesses, clubs and schools in the area to discuss how the closure will work for them and how they can safely navigate the closure and work. 

SH1 road closures needed to fix this!

Alternative routes to SH1

For those travelling further distances, such as from south of Waiouru all the way up to a destination north of Tīrau (or vice versa), there is an alternative route. 

Not only is it a very scenic route, it will also take a very similar journey time, and may even be quicker while the various detours are in place at the moment. 

From Hamilton, take SH3 to Te Kūiti, and then SH4 to Taumarunui and National Park, then SH49 to Ohakune and on to Waiouru (same route if you are heading north reversed).

Information for freight

A special page has been set up on our website for freight, and we will put the most up to date information there which is relevant to all those in the freight industry. Currently there are some links to an HPMV map and HPMV information.

We have been holding regular meetings with many of the freight industry leaders, and these have been very useful to us as we develop the plans for this project.

We are expecting to have good news for freight about SH4 shortly, and this will be added to our website next week and included in our next e-newsletter.

One point to reiterate is that everyone (trucks and cars) must stick to the confirmed and official detours. There are good reasons for not using shortcuts (also known as "rat runs" in transport talk). For instance, in a forthcoming night closure from Piarere to Tīrau, we will be closing Totman Road to through-traffic during the works. There is a structure on this route that is not suitable for HPMV, and an unprotected rail crossing, both of which mean this route is not a safe option, especially during night closures.

Helicopters at work

Here's a look at work by Northpower using a helicopter to drag power lines over the Waikato Expressway and Racecourse Road in Cambridge this past Saturday – it's not every day you'll see a helicopter tethered to a power line. Shout out to the pilot for the excellent flying skills!

This is part of work to upgrade the country's national electricity grid – thanks for your patience while the road was closed so Northpower could work safely.

We're closing SH 1 again this Saturday (21 September) between 12pm and 4pm from the northern interchange (Cambridge Road) and SH1B interchange (Hautapu) while Northpower completes this work.

Indicative dates of future SH1 closures

We are finalising plans for further sections of SH1 to be fully closed right down to Waiouru. For the townships, we intend to use nightworks only to lessen disruption.

Underway this month:

• SH5 Tīrau to SH28 Putāruru: 9 September – 4 October 2024
• SH1 Ātiamuri Bridge to Wairakei Roundabout: 16 September - 4 October 2024 (daytime closure only, between 8am - 6pm, Monday to Saturday)
• SH29 Piarere to North Tīrau: 29 September 2024 for 3 weeks (night closure only).

Coming up in the future:

• SH32 Tokoroa to SH30 Ātiamuri: 7 October – early November 2024
• SH28 Putāruru to SH32 Tokoroa: Late November – 23 December 2024
• SH30 Ātiamuri to SH5 Wairakei part 2: November – December 2024. It is expected this closure will not be in place during the International Ironman event in Taupō 14-15 December 2024.  

2025 potential plans: 

• SH41 Tūrangi to SH49 Waiouru: January - February 2025
• SH1/SH5 Roundabout Taupō to Tūrangi: March - April 2025
• Tīrau township to SH1/SH5 roundabout: Spring 2025
• Taupō urban: Spring 2025

More detailed information on dates, durations and detours will be shared as soon as it is available.

Please note there will be additional work required in these sections a few months after the initial closures. This is to lay the final asphalt surface coat on where the road has been rebuilt.

The rebuilt road needs time with normal traffic using it in order to settle in.  Applying the final asphalt surface before this has happened will result in a poorly finished surface. The work required to apply the final coat will only take a short time and some may possiby be done at night.

It's a tough call

We recognise and acknowledge there will be inconvenience and disruption to people while this work is carried out, especially locals and businesses on SH1 and the detour routes. We are and will continue to engage with residents and business owners and will give as much notice as possible of pending closures.

Businesses alongside areas we are working will be impacted by construction and maintenance works, such as the closure impeding access to a business, and thereby reducing their income over that period. Compensation for the impact of our works is determined by the Public Works Act 1981 (PWA). Section 68 of the PWA provides that businesses are entitled to compensation for “business loss” only where they are required to relocate because land has been acquired. Therefore, businesses who are impacted by works, but are not required to relocate because we acquired their land, are not entitled to any compensation for their business losses.

We acknowledge these works will have significant impacts on businesses. Where possible, customers and suppliers of businesses within the closures will still have access.  

Road maintenance always comes with some disruption to people. On the positive side, there will be relatively short periods of inconvenience, and then a considerably longer period when there is far less roadworks.

More information

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 at SH1Waikato@nzta.govt.nz

Please visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w