Plan ahead for ramp closures on SH1C Te Rapa section Waikato Expressway

Drivers are advised to plan ahead for ramp closures as the project to resurface the Te Rapa section of SH1C Waikato Expressway moves to the next stage.

Plan ahead for ramp closures on SH1C Te Rapa section Waikato Expressway

Drivers are advised to plan ahead for ramp closures as the project to resurface the Te Rapa section of SH1C Waikato Expressway moves to the next stage.

Night closures on the Te Rapa section are expected to finish this week, with an additional night scheduled for this Friday 10 May to ensure the work is complete.

From Monday the northbound on and off ramp at Koura Drive will be closed for up to two weeks to allow for resurfacing on the ramps and the northbound lanes. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction and shifted on to the southbound lanes with speed restrictions in place.

When the ramps are closed northbound traffic wanting to exit at Koura Drive will stay on the Expressway and use the Horotiu Interchange to rejoin the Expressway and access Koura Drive using the southbound offramp. This will add around five minutes to a trip.

Traffic wanting to access the Expressway from Koura Drive will be advised to use the southbound onramp and turn around using the SH1C roundabout at Crawford St/Avalon Drive. This will add around 10 minutes to a journey.

All six kilometres of the Te Rapa section from the Te Wetini Dr/Wairere Dr overbridge near Wintec through to the Horotiu Interchange is having the existing road surface overlaid with a new layer of structural asphalt. 

The first stage of the project involved night closures to surface the single-laned southern part of the section. The next stages of the project are:

• From next week until the project is complete at the end of June crews will be working in the dual-lane section with traffic remaining at a single lane in each direction.

• Following the closure of the Koura Drive northbound ramps work on SH1C will move further north, with a two-week closure of the Horotiu Interchange northbound offramp.

• Work will then switch to the southbound lanes, with the Horotiu Interchange southbound onramp closed for two weeks.

• The final stage of the project: closure of the Koura Drive southbound on and offramps for two weeks.

Anyone planning to drive on the Te Rapa section over the next few months is advised to check Journey Planner for the latest traffic and travel information.

Journey Planner(external link)

The project is on track to be complete by the end of June.