State highways across Waikato & Bay of Plenty region will be hives of activity this spring and summer, with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency gearing up for the country’s largest-ever road renewal season.
Between late September 2022 and April 2023, more than 700 lane kilometres* of state highway will be resealed or rebuilt throughout Waikato-Bay of Plenty – more than 13% of the region’s state highway network.
“Winter is always tough on our roads, and the damage caused by the particularly heavy rain we’ve seen this winter means we have a big job ahead of us in spring and summer.
“In terms of scale, the roadworks we’ll be completing across Waikato and Bay of Plenty will be the most significant rebuilding programme in the whole of New Zealand. It’ll include more than 30 lane kilometres of resealing on the Desert Road, over 40 lane kilometres on SH25 around the Coromandel Peninsula, and over 60km on SH2 and SH35 south and east of Ōpōtiki. It’s an immense job, and we’re up to it.”
The level of roadworks being planned will mean travellers should expect regular and ongoing disruption across the region, says Rob Campbell, Regional Manager Maintenance & Operations.
“Because our contractors will be delivering work during the warmer, drier months of the year, it’ll mean some level of disruption across the state highway network throughout summer. However, plans will be in place to complete this work as efficiently and effectively as possible, minimising the overall impact on people using the roads.
“Our contractors started work on isolated patches of the state highway network on 1 September, repairing the underlying road structure, ahead of resealing later in the season.
“Due to the level of activity across the network we highly recommend checking the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner before starting your journey.”
Journey Planner(external link)
Nationally, Waka Kotahi is planning to reseal or re-build approximately 2450 lane kilometres of the state highway network, equivalent to 10% of the state highway network.
*Lane kilometres are used to show the full scale of work being completed, and is more accurate than lineal metres, as some sections of road being renewed will have passing lanes or dual carriageway.
