SH1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru (including the Desert Road) will close for approximately 2 months from Monday 13 January. This is a week later than we originally scheduled to reduce the impact on people’s summer holiday journeys.
While the road is closed, we’ll be rebuilding or repairing almost 16 lane kilometres and replacing the deck on the Mangatoetoenui Bridge which is around 23km south of Rangipō.
This is one of the most challenging sections of this huge maintenance programme that we’re delivering. The alpine environment and potential for a cold snap means we need to do this closure in the peak summer months as we need a minimum ground temperature of 13 degrees to carry out pavement works.
We have had a lot of feedback from people asking why we have to start this work in January and why we don't do it in February and March.
Looking at the Desert Road Weather Station data for January, February, March 2024 the average ground temperatures were below 13 degrees for up to half the available working days in March, whereas in contrast in January and February there were only 1 to 2 days where average ground temperatures dropped below this threshold.
We need the ground temperature to remain above 13 degrees for sealing to be successful.
We also need to allow time between laying a new chipseal surface and the start of ground frosts to ensure it has been well embedded.
Going back to the weather station data, we can see that overnight minimum temperatures are starting to drop below zero across the Desert Road in March meaning the possibility of ground frosts, something which rarely occurs in January February.
Of course every season is different but we can only plan what is considered typical and clearly in regard to the temperature limits that we need to work with, March carries far more risk than January and February.
Closing the road for this length of time isn’t something we are doing lightly. By having complete closures we can complete our work more efficiently and safety. We can combine work required for instance, in this closure we are also replacing the deck of the Mangatoetoe-nui Bridge at the same time as doing the roadworks. We can use more invasive construction methodology, which would not be possible under stop/go traffic management – meaning SH1 will be quickly brought up to a higher standard.
The detour will be (from north to south) – SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1. The detour will add about 35 – 40 minutes to people’s journeys.
South of the SH1/SH47 intersection (the “soft closure point” – shown in orange on the map) to the beginning of our first worksite (south of the Tongariro National Trout Centre) remains open to everyone.
Additional signage will be placed at the detour points advising businesses beyond this point are still open. We need to advise the detour earlier to those on longer journeys so they can use the appropriate state highways.
Southbound traffic will not be able to travel further south beyond Tongariro National Trout Centre.
The “hard closure” (black area on map) is from Tongariro National Trout Centre to the Desert Road gates near Waiouru. Within this hard closure, there will strict requirements before anyone can go into that area as there will be a multitude of machines and people working on the road at all times of the day and night.
This means the road is very restricted as to who can use it and those needing access to these sites will need to adhere to traffic management and be prepared for delays through the area.
SH46 will be open to give access to residents and businesses and those undertaking recreational activities in that area, but there will be no throughfare to or from SH1.
![View larger map [PNG, 1.5 MB]](/assets/projects/sh1-tirau-to-waiouru-maintenance/img/turanga-to-waiouru-desert-road-closure-detour-map.png){kind=link}