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SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance update

2 December 2025

In this week’s issueGetting closer to finishing Waitahanui Work underway on the southern sites between Tokoroa and ĀtiamuriSH3 Taranaki closure in January 2025 is nearly over

	Work underwayTokoroa to Ātiamuri: Stage 2 of work is underway. SH1 will be closed overnight between the SH1/SH32 intersection the SH1/SH30 intersection. Hours of work are 7pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights. This adds approximately 33.6km and 27 minutes to journey times.Taupō to Tūrangi: Overnight stop/go is in place at Waitahanui for asphalting. Work is between 7pm and 6am. There are temporary speed limits in place during the day. Please prepare for some delays.

	Weather impacting the schedule for Taupō to TūrangiWe’re inching closer to completing our asphalting works at Waitahanui. At this stage (weather dependent) we’re expecting to complete this on Sunday 14 December.The weather has not played nicely so far this season, which means we have lost shifts and this has pushed the programme out.We have completed our enabling work at the Kiko Road intersection with SH1 and at the southern end of Motuoapa. We had intended to complete asphalt at these sites before Christmas, but the lost shifts mean work on these sites will now be moved into the New Year.We are currently planning to return to Motuoapa in March 2026 and are considering the best time to do work at the Kiko Road intersection, factoring additional holiday makers and traffic in the area.As soon as we have confirmed our plans, we’ll let you know. Crews hard at work at Waitahanui.

	A smooth road aheadSeason 2 of T2W has been all about asphalting and completing the final surface on the areas where we worked in season 1. This video shows the crew asphalting at Waitahanui between Taupō and Tūrangi.So far this season, the T2W project has laid more than 30,300 tonnes of asphalt stretching across 20.131 lane kilometres (a lane kilometre counts each traffic lane on a road).We have approximately 53,000 tonnes of asphalt still to lay – that’s approximately 58 lane kilometres.Overall, we’ve completed about 70% of the entire T2W project!Check out the the video on YouTube.

	Tokoroa to Ātiamuri We started work on the southern 2 sites on Thursday last week and expect to finish this section on Wednesday 10 December, weather dependent. If we get any wet weather, this will push the dates out further.Check out these great pictures of the crew getting the mahi done.

Delivering the hot stuff to site.    Laying the asphalt on the northern section of Tokoroa to Ātiamuri.

	Tokoroa to Ātiamuri – detourDuring stage 2, traffic will be detoured off SH1 at Tokoroa and down SH32 and SH30 and back to SH1 at Ātiamuri. This adds approximately 33.6km and 27 minutes to journey times.Work will be from 7pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights.Residents living within the works area will have access to and from their homes during the overnight work. We will use an access pass system and these will be given to residents ahead of work starting.Access will be maintained at all times for emergency services. We have also worked with Kinleith Mill to manage access for mill workers.