SH1 was closed from the SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection to the SH1/SH30 intersection north of Ātiamuri (known to most as the Kinleith area). The closure started at 5am Monday 7 October 2024.
This site is one of the larger and more complex ones, spanning 17km and encompassing four separate work areas, ranging from 2.9km to 5.7km in length.
SH1 between Tokoroa and upper Ātiamuri partially re-opened at noon on Thursday 21 November 2024. The southern section of this zone, from Kinleith Road to upper Ātiamuri, was opened under traffic management. This is now open normally.
The northern section between Campbell Road and Kinleith fully reopened 27 November 2024.
The partial reopening meant the length of the detours was able to be reduced.
The next closure for the final surfacing is currently scheduled for November 2025. This will most likely be undertaken during night closures. Further details will be shared as soon as these are available.
Emergency services had full access through all parts of the site at all times.
All through traffic, ie SH1 traffic heading to and further south weredetoured via SH32 and SH30 (also known as Maraetai Road in Tokoroa, Whakamaru Road and Ongaroto Road in Ātiamuri) and vice versa. This added approximately 16 minutes (23km) to journey times.
Local freight (say those travelling from Taupō to Tokoroa/Kinleith Mill) utilised SH30/32, and freight travelling further north eg Port of Tauranga, Hamilton used SH5/30 instead.
At the Tokoroa end, our main worksite started on SH1 near Campbell Road. We could not put the road closure there as we needed to detour those on longer journeys down appropriate state highways.
There was a "hard closure" near Campbell Road which meant there was strict requirements before anyone went into that area as there was a multitude of machines and people working on the road. Pilot vehicles were used and there were some delays going through each of the work sites.
This also meant that the road between the SH1/SH32 (Maraetai Road) and the hard closure (near Campbell Road) was available for residents, businesses, sports clubs, the school and their customers, members, pupils and employees to use for their access.
Additional signage was placed at the detour point advising businesses beyond this point were still open. We needed to advise the detour earlier to those on longer journeys so they could utilise the appropriate state highways.
