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SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project updateWe've opened part of Desert Road today! |
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21 February 2025 |
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In this week's issue:
• Desert Road update: The northern section opened today! Upcoming closures 2 closures between Tīrau and Taupō:
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Desert Road: The northern section opened today!Despite the wet weather earlier this week, the northern section of State Highway 1 between Tūrangi to Rangipō reopened for traffic at noon today. This partial opening will allow people in light vehicles to use SH1 to the SH1/SH46 intersection and access SH46 to connect to SH47. Note that SH46 isn't heavy vehicle (HPMV) approved - a permit is required. The official detour remains the same, via SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1 in Waiouru (and vice versa) and adds around 30 – 40 minutes to journeys. The newly rebuilt section will be under traffic management (including a temporary speed limit) for a few days. Once the chip is adequately bedded in, the excess chip will be swept off, road markings completed, and the traffic management removed. Please drive to the conditions and the temporary speed limit – speeding could cause damage to your vehicle, and to others. The opening of this section is well ahead of time, and the rest of the maintenance work underway is progressing well and still on track to be completed mid-March. The Mangatoetoenui Bridge is expected to open on Friday 28 February for first responders, over dimension loads and anyone else that might need special access across what will still be a worksite. |
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It's a big jobTīrau to Waiouru is one of the biggest maintenance projects undertaken in New Zealand to date. Across 220km of SH1, split up into 8 sections, we’re not just carrying out much needed road maintenance, we’re also completing total road renewals. Over the last few years, these sections of SH1, a critical route for New Zealand, have deteriorated with an increase in potholes, and many sections in the worst condition of all highways in Waikato. That’s why we’re using full road closures to get the work done in the shortest time possible. If we did it under stop/go it could be up to an additional 4 years of work and stop/go traffic management. We know the road closures aren’t popular and are temporarily hard on businesses, residents and all the people that have to travel through our detours but please bear with us, we’re getting it done as fast as we can. For those living in the local areas and traveling through, the businesses near or within the closures are still open and our crews will facilitate access to them, so please continue to support them. |
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Heavy vehicle detours: Keep truckingFor HMPV’s it’s worth remembering if you’re heading from Auckland or Hamilton south, and vice versa, you can use State Highways 3, 4 and 49. This route has been made suitable for all heavy vehicles for the duration of this T2W project. This route adds very little time to journeys and having reliable, predictable journey times is important to everyone, especially freight. SH5 via Rotorua is also available. Check Journey Planner We suggest you check Journey planner before setting off to work out the best travel options. It is nearing the end of road works season and a lot of maintenance teams (both on local roads and state highways) are pushing to get the road maintenance needed done before winter. |
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SH1 closed Putāruru to Lichfield from 3 MarchPutāruru to Lichfield works kick off at 5am, Monday 3 March, with a detour 24/7. SH1 will be closed from SH1/Princes Street, Putāruru to the Vospers Road/SH1 Lichfield intersection. The work will take approximately 4 weeks to complete (weather dependent). The 'hard closure' point is south of the Transfer Station. Entry to the Transfer Station from Putāruru remains unchanged, but travelers from the south must take the detour. VTNZ, Redwood Cafe, Train World and the Timber Museum are still open. Visitors, customers and service providers can access properties within the closure. They will need to speak to the traffic controller and let them know what business they're visiting. We do strongly recommend using the local detour route as any traffic entering through the work site will experience significant delays. We are encouraging all heavy vehicles (including all over-dimension, HPMV and 50 tonne maximum) to use SH5 via Rotorua. The local detour for light vehicles (ie all vehicles you can drive on a Class 1 licence) is:
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Lichfield School detourWe know the work we’re doing is hugely disruptive and the detours are taking traffic on roads less traveled around the Waikato. One of those roads is past Lichfield School so we’ve put in place a 30km/h speed limit past the school 24/7. We are also using a 1-way traffic system to get everyone to and from the school, to enhance safety for vehicles joining the traffic flow. The school bus will travel its usual route for pickup and drop-off points. The Lichfield Road car park is closed during work, so parents and teachers need to use the Kells Lane car park. The only vehicle authorised to use the Lichfield Road car park is the bus. The rest of the detour route between Lichfield and Putāruru will have a temporary speed restriction of 70km/h. |
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SH1 closed Ātiamuri to Wairakei from 3 MarchIt’s a big job on SH1 Ātiamuri to Wairakei with 6 different major work sites and both Downers and Higgins working in the zone. From 5am, Monday 3 March, SH1 will be closed from the SH1/SH30 intersection to the SH1/SH5 intersection (Wairakei Roundabout). Work will take approximately 5 weeks to complete (weather dependent). Visitors, customers and service providers can access properties within the closure. They will need to speak to the traffic controller and let them know what business they're visiting. We strongly recommend using the detour route to avoid severe delays through the work site. Visitors and services wanting to go to the Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park continue to have access, as do those pets and their owners wanting to get to the Taupō Pet Lodge. Just talk to the crew at the closure points. All north and southbound vehicles will be detoured 24/7. The detour for light vehicles (i.e. all vehicles you can drive on a Class 1 licence) is:
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Why do we keep coming back?We know people just want the work to be finished and us to be gone and we’ve been fielding quite a few questions about why we keep coming back. We’re coming back to Putāruru to Lichfield to do the northern section, between Domain and Pinedale Roads. We couldn’t do this work during the first closure as we wanted to avoid having major disruption on SH1 during Christmas. We will also be back in the southern section in early April doing the final surfacing, but that work will be under stop/go traffic management and probably at night. It might seem like we’re back in the Ātiamuri to Wairakei section but what you saw there last year was a major safety improvement project, combined with road renewal and maintenance which was undertaken at the same time. Contractor Higgins was doing the safety work which had started back in 2022, well before the Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance project was even thought about and coordinating all this amount of work proved challenging. We had initially planned to do Ātiamuri to Wairakei as part of our maintenance project in November and December 2024, but we bumped it to manage the risk and accommodate the busy Christmas holiday period and the large Taupō Ironman 70.3 World Championship event. It also meant we could do the required maintenance on the East Taupō Arterial earlier. Tīrau to Waiouru contractor Downer has teamed up with Higgins for this closure and while Downer gets on with road renewals, Higgins will finish off their work. |
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SH1 Taupō to Tūrangi planningWe’re hearing concerns from the community about our planned works on SH1 between Taupō and Tūrangi. We will use staged road closures that allow us to carry out work that goes beyond basic maintenance, including intense road rebuilding. We are still in the planning stages of how work between Taupō and Tūrangi will be carried out. The concerns we’re hearing are valid and thanks for raising them. We will be coming to the community to discuss how we do this work and understand how the timing of work will impact people living and traveling through this area and businesses located in the area. We are focused on how we minimise the impact. Details of when we will be coming to talk to the community about this work will be shared in future newsletters. If you do feel there is something we may need to consider now, you can email us. |
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More information |
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This work forms part of the government’s $2.07 billion investment into road and drainage renewal and maintenance across 2024-27 via the State Highway Pothole Prevention fund. 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. Visit our website nzta.govt.nz/t2w Check out Journey Planner before you leave for your travels - it will show you the best routes! |
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