State Highway 2 over the Remutaka Hill is the only direct road connecting Wellington/Hutt Valley to the Wairarapa and beyond. Keeping the Remutaka Hill, safe and open for the people who use it, involves ongoing maintenance work, and regular safety improvements.
A wide range of people travel over the hill, including commuters, local and national businesses, transport companies, tourists exploring the region or connecting to other regions such as Hawke’s Bay or the South Island. On average, around 7000 vehicles travel over the hill each day.
The steep and unforgiving nature of the Remutaka Hill can make it a challenging road to travel over. It can also be susceptible to extreme weather conditions. Remutaka Hill is one of our country’s most high-risk sections of highway.
Keeping the Remutaka Hill, safe and open for the people who use it, involves a lot of ongoing maintenance work. We also regularly undertake safety improvement programmes, such as installing side barriers, motorcycle under barriers and new signage. We’ve also recently changed the road layout on State Highway 2 over Remutaka Hill Road, replacing the passing lanes with slow vehicle lanes.
The new slow vehicle lanes may change the way you drive over the hill, particularly when overtaking. Here’s some information on using slow vehicle lanes appropriately.
