Indicative visualisation of the Moonshine Road Roundabout

Kia Ora

Welcome to the latest update from the State Highway 58 Safety Improvements team.

Work continues on SH58 to improve the safety of our communities. 

Read on to find out more!

Since our last update: 

Improvements between SH2 and Mount Cecil Road are complete.

Mount Cecil Road to Harris Road is still in construction and will continue into 2023. Construction will stop over the summer holidays between 18 December – 9 January inclusive.

We’ve applied for approvals to bring forward improvements between Harris Road and east of Moonshine Road and are waiting for final approval. We expect to start work on this section in late 2023.

We are applying now for approvals for the section from east of Moonshine Road to the Transmission Gully SH1 interchange.

We continue to speak with partners, property owners, residents, residents' associations, and local school bus operators. 

Moonshine Road to Transmission Gully Interchange

Safety Improvements to State Highway 58 have been moving from East to West from State Highway 2 towards State Highway 1 Transmission Gully motorway.

We are now applying for resource consents for the final section of the work from Moonshine Road to Transmission Gully. This large and complex section of the project will include:

• Two new roundabouts at the Moonshine Road and the Murphys Road/Flightys Road intersections
   
• Shared paths around the roundabouts
   
• Widening the road, adding wider sealed shoulders and side barriers
   
• Installing median barriers for the entire length of the road
   
• New culverts to manage water flows

Flightys Road and Murphys Road roundabout

At Flightys / Murphys Road there is currently a bus stop on each side of SH58 on the existing road layout.

The new design has a dedicated bus bay off the road, alongside the new roundabout. This allows for up to three buses to park and transfer students between buses. The area, separated from the main road, means multiple children can transfer safely. Currently these transfers occur at the large bus stop area at Moonshine Road.

Within the bus bay, there is space for up to 9-10 cars to park to drop off and collect students. New bus shelters will be installed.

Moonshine Road roundabout

At Moonshine Road the bus stops are currently all on the northern side of SH58. The new design has bus stops with bus shelters on both sides of SH58 on the approaches to the roundabout. There is also room for 3-4 cars to be parked on the eastern side of Moonshine Road.

We are investigating an additional facility on the eastern side of Moonshine Road.

Safety at the new roundabouts

At both roundabouts there will be improved lighting, clear signage, and pedestrian refuges in the middle of the road to improve the safety of people crossing the road at these locations.

There will be shared paths at the roundabouts and extending short distances along SH58. These paths provide an alternative off-road option for cyclists through the roundabouts, as well as a path for people walking to access the bus stops.

Median barriers will be installed and there will be low level planting in the middle of the roundabout, so drivers can easily see across the roundabout

Alternative turn-arounds

Road safety barriers give you a second chance, so a simple mistake on the road doesn’t cost a life. Barriers stop your vehicle before it hits something harder – like a tree, a power pole or an oncoming vehicle. 

Installing a median safety barrier means that some right turns will be removed and some of the roads that connect to SH58 will become left-in/left-out only. The new roundabouts at Murphys/Flightys Roads, and Moonshine Road will provide turning opportunities. 

While some people living and working along SH58 will have very little change to their access, others will have a few minutes added to their journeys. 

You can view plans of these turn-around points and examples of how some journeys may change in our project flyer, linked here.

More information

For more information on the SH58 improvements project, contact us at sh58safety@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/sh58-improvements