UPDATE: Ātiamuri to Wairakei and Putāruru to Lichfield works.
SH1 between Ātiamuri and Wairakei is opening this afternoon. The section will be under temporary traffic management and a temporary speed limit to allow the chipseal to bed in. The section will then be swept, and line marked, and temporary speed limits will be removed.
Sweeping and line marking is scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday 9 April and Thursday morning 10 April, with some stop/go traffic management, weather dependent, so the section can be fully opened in time for the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 event.
SH1 between Putāruru and Lichfield is open with temporary traffic management and a temporary speed limit in place. The contractor is expecting to sweep and line mark this section tomorrow 9 April before reopening it fully.
This updates the information below:
4 April:
The closure in Putāruru as part of the State Highway 1 Tīrau to Waiouru Accelerated Maintenance project is due to be lifted this weekend.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations for Waikato and Bay of Plenty, Roger Brady, thanks the community and road users for supporting us through these closures.
“This site has been disruptive for residents, businesses, communities and road users. We’d like to thank everyone for being patient and respectful of our road crews.
“The weather front moving across the North Island and the amount of rain forecast means the Ātiamuri section can’t be reopened and completed this weekend as originally scheduled, and we are aiming for Wednesday 9 April reopening.
“We are very close to being finished for the season, once this current inclement weather passes,” says Mr Brady.
SH1 between Putāruru and Lichfield is expected to be reopened tomorrow morning (Saturday 5 April). This section will be reopened under temporary traffic management, to allow traffication (where traffic helps to bed down new seal) road sweeping and line marking. The temporary speed limit will be removed once sweeping and line is completed.
In just over a month, NZTA contractor Downer has rebuilt and repaired 2.16 lane km and sealed 5.8 lane kms of road between the Putāruru Transfer Station and the intersection with SH1 and Pinedale Road.
The closure between Ātiamuri to Wairakei is expected to be lifted on Wednesday 9 April, and the section opened under temporary traffic management.
This section will need a nighttime closure for sweeping and line marking. This work will be done overnight following the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 event, which is happening between Friday 11 and Sunday 13 April.
There is 9km of line marking to complete between Ātiamuri to Wairakei. The length of line marking and central and side barriers in this area mean a nighttime closure is the most efficient way of doing this work.
Downer has repaired and rebuilt approximately 9 lane kms of road and sealed 3.7 lane kms on NZTA’s behalf. Higgins has also been working in the same closure and has completed 6.9km of side and median safety barrier, new seal and remedial work on 4.5km of safety barrier.
