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![]() | SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project update Progress, progress, progress | ![]() |
![]() | 24 January 2025 | ![]() |
![]() | Progress on the Desert Road We’re 12 days into the closure of SH1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru (including the Desert Road) and it’s been all go in the Central Plateau. We’ve cleared a pretty big patch of vegetation—about 58,758 square metres! There’s also 900 metres of brand-new subsoil drains in place. We’ve taken care of some drainage issues too, fixing up and adding around 7 catchpits and domes (they stop the stormwater drains from clogging up). Pre-hoeing (loosening the existing road) has been done over about 48,823 square metres of the old road. We’ve also been busy with cement stabilizing the sub-base (one of the lower layers of the pavement) across 7,500 square metres. And we’ve brought in additional chip seal (also called overlay) — around 4,000 tonnes to the site, and about 45,000 tonnes to 3 stockpile areas. We’ve prepped about 300 metres and so far poured 100 metres of new kerb and channel. We’ve also moved about 500 meteres of fencing and widened the shoulder of 800 metres of the road. While the team has been busy with the road rebuilding north of Mangatoetoenui Bridge, another crew has been busy with general maintenance down at the Waiouru end of SH1, which has included: 15 drainage culverts cleared and cleaned 300sqm of gritting on bleeding seal 1,460sqm of pavement sealing to fix potholes and rutting 11,670sqm of resurfacing to patch repairs and cracked sealing 700sqm of mill and fill (digging up sections of road and laying hot asphalt to repair the pavement) That’s just a taste of what has been going on – there’s plenty more to come in the coming weeks. | ![]() |
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![]() | Warning to those trying to access SH46 We have noted a large increase in road users attempting access into the first hard closure / worksite from the Tūrangi side which is causing congestion and significant delays for the crew on site. There is the “soft closure” for people wanting to access the tourism attractions such as the Tongariro National Trout Centre before the first hard closure. We have also been providing access to people who we thought had a genuine need to access the area. We have been seeing too many people saying they want access to SH1 then turning down SH46 – using this as a shortcut instead of going around SH41 and SH47. It won’t save you time, it will take far longer because of the stop / go needed. To access the worksite, this stop / go is in place so that the site can be readied for the queueing vehicles to be able to safely go through. Having unnecessary vehicles in this queue creates congestion, slowing access for our workers and also trucks carting essential materials and machinery to site. This is putting unnecessary pressure on the whole work programme and there is already a tight schedule ahead to get all work done during the 8-week closure. There is also increased traffic on SH46 – a road which usually has a few hundred vehicles per day. This is causing issues for those who live in the area. It’s worth noting it is quicker to access the Tongariro Crossing carpark on SH46 from SH47 rather than sit in queues on SH1 waiting for access to the worksite and then turn down SH46. There are significant delays for anyone entering the Desert Road worksites, of at least 30 minutes at times. There are traffic management workers at the closure point on SH1. They will let people through who have legitimate reasons for accessing the site. If there continue to be issues, we will have no choice but to further restrict access during the closure. | ![]() |
![]() | Detour routes: The detour for the Turangi to Waiouru closure takes people (from north to south) via SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1 in Waiouru. The detour is generally functioning well and there have not been any noticeable delays. The detour is taking people through Waimarino National Park and Ohakune, and many people are taking the opportunity to stop, have a rest, grab some food and a coffee and have a look around this amazing part of the country. We urge people to continue to take care on this route as there is more traffic than normal and it is unfamiliar to many people. Take particular care when driving through towns, as there are pedestrians, including kids crossing the road to get to the local pool. | ![]() |
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![]() | Bridge replacement update The replacement of the Maungatoetoenui Bridge deck is making progress, with demolition of the deck of the old bridge already underway. Now the bridge is out of action, SH1 is severed and those wanting to access through SH1 , including emergency vehicles and over-dimension loads, physically can’t get across until the new bridge deck is in place. This means the detour must be taken to get access to SH1 south of the bridge. Earlier in the week, a 600-tonne crane was trucked down to the site, and the main beams arrive shortly. | ![]() |
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![]() | Tīrau to Putāruru final surfacing underway The story of this summer across the country has been the weather, and we haven’t been able to escape it either. This may affect the completion date but productivity has been solid so far, with 900 tonnes of asphalt going into the site over the last 2 nights, and the last night of work is expected to be Tuesday 4 February at this stage (as advertised). This work is being done at night, from 7pm to 6am. Due to Auckland Anniversary this weekend, there’ll be no work on Saturday 25 January to Monday 27 January so the road will be open as normal, meaning less inconvenience for all the holiday travellers. The crew will be back on the tools from 7pm Tuesday 28 January. When the road is closed, there will be a short detour using State Highway 5 and State Highway 28. This only adds an extra 4.6km and approximately 8 minutes to journey times. Once the road is reopened, it will be an absolute treat to drive on. We can’t wait to get traffic back on this stretch of SH1 to enjoy the benefits of all this hard work. | ![]() |
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![]() | Future closures We’re working through the planning for the rest of the programme and working with local councils on the detours for the remainder of the construction season. There are 2 big events in Taupō we need to work around; the Ironman on Saturday 1 March and the V8 Supercars Friday 11 to Sunday 13 April. As soon as definite dates are known for the future work we will share them but we can indicate the 2 next closures of SH1 will be: Putāruru to Tokoroa – early March to early April This will be a full closure for road rebuilding from Domain Road to Pinedale Road in early March for around 3 to 4 weeks. We are working to see if we can put in on a shorter detour for light vehicles than previously used and reduce this timeframe as well as looking at other options to make this closure work better for road users. This could include stop/go rather than full closure in some areas. Night closures will be put in place to do the final surfacing of the road we rebuilt late last year. This is between Vospers Road and Rollett Road, and is programmed to start in early April for around 2 weeks. Ātiamuri to Wairakei – starting Monday 3 March for approximately 4-5 weeks Full closure for Downer to do 6.924km of road rebuilding and 3.724km of chip seal surfacing. Please also note there will be stop/go between Maroa Road and Tram Road planned to begin after Waitangi weekend for 2 to 3 weeks for Higgins to complete the safety improvement works. More information The final work sites and detours are still being worked through and may look a bit different to the first lot of closures, so keep an eye on this newsletter and our website for the latest information. Like our last set of closures, our team are out and about talking to residents and businesses who will be impacted by these closures. Feel free to email the team if you have any specific needs or concerns about the upcoming work. | ![]() |
![]() | Working with our freight partners On Tuesday 21 January, our project team held another forum with our freight partners. These opportunities to get together and hear directly from road users who rely on the network we’re working on is invaluable. We’re able to hear firsthand where the challenges are, how to tweak our programme to minimise disruptions where we can and share information of upcoming closures. At this week’s freight forum, we were lucky to have Clive Manley, Chief Executive of the Ruapehu District Council, join us to discuss the needs of the freight industry in the Ruapehu district. This was a great discussion, and everyone got something useful out of it. We’d like to again acknowledge our freight partners for continuing to work with us to work through this massive maintenance project. | ![]() |
![]() | We’re not the only show in town The end of summer is not that far away (sorry if that’s news to you), and road crews across the motu are working hard to finish this season’s maintenance programme. As a project we are working closely with our colleagues to coordinate our work, but having work across multiple state highways is unavoidable. If you are travelling across the central Waikato or central North Island, other work you might come across includes: SH29 Kaimai Range Sunday 9 February to the morning of Friday 14 February (5 nights between 8pm and 4.30am) Sunday 16 February to the morning of Friday 21 February (5 nights between 8pm and 4.30am) Check out more information about this work on our website. SH5 between Tīrau and Rotorua From Tuesday 14 January for 8 weeks Those travelling between Rotorua and Tīrau on SH5 will encounter 2 major road rebuilds and are advised to allow extra time when planning their journeys through this section of highway. The first is an approximate 2 kilometre stretch of SH5 just west of Oturoa Road Mamaku, with the second just east of Tapapa. Both are expected to take 3 months to complete and will have stop/go traffic management and temporary speed restrictions in place during this time. Check out more information about this work on our website. Plan your journey and be prepared for potential delays, by checking out the NZTA Journey Planner before you leave. |