SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project update

Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri section closure underway

11 October 2024

Steamy scenes on SH1 near Horahora Road

Night works on SH1 between Piarere and Tīrau

SH1 remains closed 5 nights a week while maintenance work continues between Piarere and just north of Tīrau (SH1/SH27 intersection). Despite a few nights where work wasn't been able to be done because of the terrible weather, the team are pushing on to get the job finished. We had originally hoped to be done by 18 October but we may need an additional day or two. 

The closures are from 7pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights. The road re-opens from 6am each Friday morning until 7pm Sunday nights. Residents, businesses and emergency services will have access at all times. Please approach the traffic control team at the closure if you need to gain entry. 

The detour is via SH29 and SH27 as shown in the map below. It is 12.9 kms or an extra 10 minutes of travel time.

While this detour is in place at nights, do not use Totman Road as a shortcut. Google may suggest this is the best option, but Totman Road is only open to residents.  

Working 24/7?

We have had comments on social media asking why the crews are not working 24 hours a day, 7 nights a week on all the closed sections of SH1, or why we don't open the road at nights.

Nights are an ideal opportunity to do the behind-the-scenes work needed. This includes planning and logistical work, such as refuelling, and getting the appropriate machinery and materials to the site. There is often work to put in the traffic management equipment in place, including within the sites, to keep the workers safe when they start work as soon as there is sufficient light. 

The time taken to prepare the site to re-open for traffic at nights is considerable and would mean ongoing disruption for far longer. There is a large amount of road rebuilding needed and our goal is to get this work done as quickly as we can.

SH1 now closed Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri

Despite a wild and wet Monday morning, the project team implemented the next SH1 closure from the south end of Tokoroa to Kinleith / upper Ātiamuri, and have hit the ground running.

This week is the biggest section of work to date, and the longest required closure so far. 

There are 4 main work sites where we will be rebuilding the road.  This involves milling out the existing road surface and replacing it with foam stabilised bitumen, which improves the strength of granular materials while retaining flexibility.

The benefits of using foam bitumen are numerous, including a high-quality finish, high moisture resistance, environmental friendliness, reduced emissions, increased strength, and enhanced sustainability through reusing most of the existing material.

• Site 1 - Near Campbell Road - 2.,88km
• Site 2 - Overbridge (north of Kinleith) - 3.,41km
• Site 3 - Barron (south of Kinleith) - 5.68km
• Site 4 - McCraken (north of SH30) - 4.54km

In addition to the main rebuild sites, the team are using the opportunity provided by the closure to carry out other maintenance work including:

• 190m of pavement sealing in several spots – this is a small focused minor repair where the old surface is removed, and a new surface is laid. 
• 760m of shoulder work to ensure proper water flow
• cleaning of 9 culverts and replacing any worn dome metal grates which cover the culverts
• repairing 423m of surface cracks
• clearing loose material along the road corridor
• refreshing necessary sign repairs and line markings.

The team are happy with the progress made so far this week. They are underway on 3 of the 4 main rebuild sites (the southern ones), and will start prepping for the 4th site in the coming days.

Tokoroa is still very much open for business during the road closures, including those businesses located just south of SH32 such as Robert Harris and Subway. Access is being maintained for emergency vehicles and residents.

Additional signage has been placed at the detour point advising that  businesses beyond this point are still open.  We need to advise the detour earlier to those on longer journeys so they can use the appropriate state highways.

School starts back next week, and that means there will be more traffic on the road. Those heading to Amisfield School are asked to please allow extra time to navigate the works area and follow the signed detour route. We have also been working with school bus companies to ensure everyone is clear on how the closures will affect them. 

The work in this closure is expected to take 6 weeks to complete, weather permitting. We will communicate the re-opening date as the work progresses, and we have more certainty.

Lovely morning to be closing SH1

Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri detours

The SH30/SH32 route is suitable for both light and heavy traffic. Due to some narrow areas along the corridor coupled with few overtaking opportunities, we suggest those towing trailors, boats or floats, horse trucks, freight and heavy vehicles to consider their routes carefully ahead of time and use SH5 through Rotorua if heading further afield than Tokoroa.

Road users cannot use private roads.  This includes roads such as Tram Road in Kinleith Forest which is a private road for forestry vehicles only.

Whichever route you take, please drive carefully, to the conditions and take care.

Detours in place for next 6 weeks

SH1 before work started near Tokoroa

Here's some photos showing why we need to get this road rebuilding and maintenance done.

Shout out

We wanted to give a shout out to the forestry companies in the area who have been working with us closely to make this closure work as well as it can for everyone. 

The dairy industry has also been very proactive. Some dairy companies have been able to change most pick up times to nights which will make it easier for them to gain access to the farms and it will not delay the work on the site.   

We are also working closely with Oji Fibre Solutions to get things sorted out with as little disruption as possible for their contractors who will be coming in while the mill is closed for maintenance in November. 

Next SH1 closure from Putāruru to Tokoroa

The next closure is expected to start in late November from Putāruru to Tokoroa. 

The closure will be put in at the SH1/SH28 intersection and the SH1/SH32 intersection in Tokoroa. The work is expected to take around four weeks, weather permitting.

During this period, northbound and southbound traffic will be detoured 24/7. Detour routes will be confirmed soon.

Residents and businesses within the closure points will still have access. We are finalising the specific work sites within the closure and will provide more details soon.

In the meantime, if you are a resident or business within this zone or you have any concerns, please contact our stakeholder team so we can understand your household and/or business needs for better planning.

Indicative dates of future SH1 closures

Plans are being worked on for further sections of SH1 to be fully closed right down to Waiouru. For the townships, we intend to use night works only to minimise disruption.

Underway this month:

• SH29 Piarere to North Tīrau: 29 September 2024 for 3 weeks (night closure only).
• SH32 Tokoroa to SH30 Ātiamuri: 7 October 2024 for approximately 6 weeks

Coming up:

• 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.

Road markings being applied on SH1 Tīrau to Putāruru

First closure opened on time

SH1 between Tīrau and Putāruru is open to traffic and the temporary traffic management has finished. 

The road needed to be treated gently with the traffic playing a part in the road rebuild process. Vehicles help to get the stone chip to settle in before the final asphalt surface is applied. Road cones play a big part in this and they are frequently moved to ensure every part of the road is driven on. 

There is a time lapse video showing how this process works. 

People have travelled cautiously over the newly built road and generally sticking to the speed limits. Speeding vehicles not only put others at risk of flying metal chips, damaged paintwork and broken windscreens, they also can do considerable damage to the delicate new road.

The cones have been picked up, the extra chip swept off, the road markings applied and the tempoary speed limits taken away in time for the weekend. 

The final surfacing will take a short time to complete and may possibly be done at night. Applying the final asphalt surface too early before the road has been trafficated will result in a poorly finished surface.We will advise when we will come back to apply the final surface, expected to be in a few weeks. 

This process will be used on other sites in the future too.

The photo below shows the road all finished and back in normal use.

Team effort

There's a wide range of people working on the various sites. Some of them out there in all weather, others in their offices behind  computer screens. Some of them work for NZTA, some of them work for contractors and sub-contractors.

The Downer team and their subbies on the ground working on the Tīrau to Putāruru section have delivered on time, and while the final test will be the long-term result in terms of road quality, signs are looking good at this point.

The team were hand-picked to be part of this project for their capability and the way they work as a team.

Chris Seath, Downer's project director for T2W, said that people’s attitude was one of the most important consideration when selecting people to work on the project.

"This team is solution focused and determined to see it done once and done right. It’s the culture of the team that is paramount - we need people we can trust will do the right thing even when nobody is looking."

In the Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri section, there are more than 60 people working on the site while the road is closed.  They will also be working through Labour Weekend.

Hats off to the Downer crew

Ātiamuri to Wairakei

While SH1 is open now between Ātiamuri and Wairakei, there is still considerable work going on as part of the highway improvement project which involves significant road widening and installation of additional safety barriers.  Some stop/go traffic management is in place as well as temporary speed limits, but there are strict provisos that all delays to people travelling are monitored and if they are too long, work will stop to let traffic through.

The weather has been particularly challenging in this area, with consistent downpours causing issues for the team.  Another closure to rebuild the road at the southern end of this zone is expected to occur in late November. As soon as we have some definite dates, we will advise you.

Renewal accrual in the Waikato this summer

The Waikato region is benefiting from the national funding injection of over $2 billion for pothole prevention and maintenance, with a significant volume of road renewals planned in this region over the next 3 summers.

In total, over 180 lane kilometres of road will either be rebuilt or resealed, with a substantial portion of this planned to take place over the next 6 months.

Roger Brady, Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations at NZTA explains that while this is great news for everyone, it is necessary to "crack a few roading eggs to make the perfect network omelette."

“The Waikato state highway network is extensive and heavily used every day by a variety of road users, including freight operators, commuters and tourists. To complete the volume of road renewals in our region there will be disruption across the network.

“We’re looking at how we can minimise disruption by thinking differently and challenging ourselves and our suppliers to be as efficient as possible. This includes using methods such as road closures to allow suppliers to get in and complete work in a quicker and safer way, and with fewer road cones.

“We’re using the increase in funding to rebuild more roads, which will improve the overall condition of the state highway network,” says Mr Brady. “This means smoother journeys for everyone – but we need to make the most of the warmer, drier weather to get the right result.

“The renewal season is a game of 2 halves – we’ve started early to make the most of the weather now, and we’ll be pushing through until Christmas, completing as much as we can. After a short break over the holiday period crews will be back at it until autumn sets in.”

“Highlights of the programme include significant resealing around the Coromandel Peninsula, a number of asphalt resurfacing sites at the southern end of Hamilton along with the major rebuild programme on SH1 between Tīrau and Waiouru.

“With so much work taking place it is inevitable people will come across worksites and traffic management. We thank you for your patience in advance. When you see roadworkers out on the road, travel safely through their worksites, follow signage and any instructions you receive, and give them a wave to say thanks for their tremendous work.”

Here's a useful map on this link showing the sites. 

More information

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For more information or any concerns on the SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance, please email us.

Please visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w