SH2 Wairarapa highway improvements

14 July 2022

July 2022 update

Welcome to our 3rd update on the SH2 Masterton to Carterton Safety Improvement Project. If you know anyone who might be interested in these updates, they can sign up on this webpage here.

With services relocated in this new trench, crews work to cover it and reseal the road before reopening the site to traffic

Wet winter work

We're experiencing more wet and rainy days and even though this has some impact on our programme, we're pushing ahead, and continuously planning and working around the elements to keep the project on track.

Most of the site investigations, as well as the first section of trenching work across State Highway 2 is now completed, however, other service relocations are still underway.

We’re growing our local workforce, with work now scheduled to take place both during the day and at night, as we're starting to see a surge of tasks leading up to the main construction work. You may already have noticed some increased activity around the Wiltons Road area.

Widening of SH2 in specific areas are planned to start during the next few weeks, weather permitting, and most of this work will be taking place at night to minimise disruption to road users. Traffic management will be in place to ensure the safety of our workers and people using the road.

Preliminary work on the southern turnaround will start once this widening work is complete.

Main construction in a nutshell

The overall project will span from the Ngaumutawa Road/SH2 intersection through to just north of Carterton. The high-level project outline is shown above.

Now that we’re nearing the end of preliminary work like trenching and service relocations, the main construction work is scheduled to start during August. The first thing you’ll notice is work getting under way on the construction of the roundabout at the Wiltons Road/SH2 intersection.

This is the first of the project tasks which will have an impact on traffic on both SH2 and Wiltons Road. Once we’re under way with this work, there will be extensive traffic management in place, so please pay attention as the road layout will be different to what you’re used to. Allow extra time for your journey and be mindful of crews working in the area.

Once complete, this roundabout will make the intersection much safer, both for traffic travelling straight through on SH2, and for vehicles using Wiltons Road. We’ll talk more about the roundabout and its design in the August issue of this newsletter.

Construction will then proceed with the roundabout at the Norfolk Road/SH2 intersection, and finally, a roundabout at the Ngaumutawa Road/SH2 intersection (the heavy traffic bypass). 

The work will include widening of sections of State Highway 2 to allow for the installation of central median barriers, and for the installation of barriers down the side of the highway.

The southern turnaround facility at the end of the median barriers will allow for southbound traffic to turn back north. South of there, towards Carterton, the project will mainly focus on widening the highway to allow for a wider centreline.

As the project progresses, we’ll share detail on upcoming work via this newsletter.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone using SH2 for your patience, care and understanding while driving past our work sites. 

If you own a property along SH2 between Masterton and Carterton that is tenanted or leased out, please forward this newsletter on to your tenants, or request them to sign up for updates on this webpage here.

More information

For more information on the SH2 Masterton to Carterton project, visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/sh2-wairarapa.

If you have any specific queries about current roadworks on this section you can contact us on 0800 353 824.