State Highway 2 in the Wairarapa requires significant investment to ensure the state highway is functioning to a high standard. The NZTA Wellington Transport Alliance (WTA) will undertake an extensive programme of works in the Wairarapa region over the next three years to fix sections of the state highway network most in need of investment.
View larger Wairarapa works map [PDF, 365 KB]
These works will be disruptive , so we will work with communities to ensure everyone is aware, prepared, and understands the impacts of the works. We are rebuilding sections of the road from the base up, meaning the road will need less ongoing maintenance and repairs, and will provide the best long-term solution.
Each site will take several weeks to complete and will cause some short-term disruption to residents and businesses. This includes vehicle access to property restrictions, carparking restrictions, detour routes, and general construction noise and dust.
In 2024 and 2025, WTA rebuilt Chapel Street, Masterton; SH2/SH53 intersection in Featherston, and High Street North, Carterton. While these works disrupted the community in the short-term; the road is now in much better condition.
Progress work of SH2/Chapel Street, Masterton, Wairarapa.
As the roads reach the end of their pavement life, many of the Wairarapa region’s roads are in poor structural condition and require comprehensive work to fix. State Highways usually have a surface lifespan of seven to ten years and require rebuilding approximately every 25 years. Now we need to complete a deep rebuild of the sections with the poorest conditions along SH2, as regular resurfacing cannot fix the deep-seated pavement deterioration issues.
A road rebuild means the road needs to be excavated deep into the road surface, unlike a typical resurfacing job. In some sites we will need to excavate to 900mm, so the road can be completely reconstructed. The ground conditions below the road surface in the Wairarapa are unique, as some areas contain clay and silt. Combined with the presence of underground utility services, the ground conditions make roadworks challenging.
This way of rebuilding the road from the base up will involve replacing all or most of the structural road layers, which makes the work intensive, but it will improve the overall network conditions through more intensive treatments, which will increase pavement quality.
The sections of SH2 Wairarapa in Greytown, Carterton and Masterton requiring road reconstruction are currently prone to surface cracking and potholes.
We will need to run works both day and night, so we can minimise disruption and complete the works faster. The chosen treatment will speed up the construction and minimise the disruption to the community. Residents and businesses within the works area will face a lot of disruption, such as access and parking restrictions, and noise from heavy machinery.
There is no easier or less impactful way to complete these works because we must dig up the road so deep and reconstruct it from the ground up. It takes several days to complete each section of the road. It is not safe for vehicles to drive over a dug-out road, so we must close it entirely while we work on it.
Example of how deep we need to go down to fix the road.
These works will result in a significantly improved state highway requiring fewer repairs and less maintenance. Additionally, the roads will be more resilient and less susceptible to potholes. We will only need occasional resurfacing work for the next 25 years.
We are working with local councils and service providers to complete other projects at the same time as the road reconstruction. This will lead to less disruption for the community in the long term, and save costs on temporary traffic management by utilising full road closures.More information
Impacted residents and businesses will be contacted directly prior to and throughout rebuild works. The community can stay up-to-date with state highway works via social media, or by signing up for weekly roadworks updates. You can also email us.
Email: customer@wta.nzta.govt.nz
Connect with us via social media
