Wairarapa roadworks

Why we are doing this work

The Wairarapa region state highways require significant investment to ensure they are 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. These include sections in Greytown, Carterton and Masterton, as shown in the map below.

View/download a printable map of the SH2 Wairarapa works [PDF, 370 KB]

These works may cause some disruption to communities, but we have and will continue to ensure the community is aware of the works programme, timings and detour options. We are rebuilding 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. It may cause some short-term disruption to residents and businesses within the works sites. We will keep the community up to date when these works are underway.

WTA recently reconstructed both Chapel Street, Masterton, and High Street North, Carterton. While these works were disruptive to the community; the road is now in much better condition.

Impacted residents and businesses will be contacted by mail prior to the works. Prior to and during the works, residents can stay up to date via social media, our weekly roadworks bulletin, electronic Variable Message Signage, together with our digital marketing campaign.

Connect with us via social media

Sign up to our weekly roadworks bulletin(external link)

Progress work of SH2/Chapel Street, Masterton, Wairarapa.

Background

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 SH 2, as regular resurfacing will no longer fix the deep-seated pavement deterioration issues.

Sections of the road will need to be excavated much deeper than a typical resurfacing job. At some sites we will need to dig down 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.

What to expect

We will need to run works both day and night, so we can minimise disruption and complete the works faster. This type of 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 not an 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.

Indicative works schedule

Other Wairarapa works

Masterton to Carterton

We are planning to complete a major road resurfacing project between Masterton and Carterton. This will commence once investigations are complete, the programme is confirmed, and the conditions are warmer and drier. We want to ensure Wairarapa drivers have a safe, resilient highway. We will keep you updated as this programme progresses.

In the meantime, we are continuing to maintain the road surface as required. We are planning to complete a significant chipseal programme during the summer period and we will continue to communicate to the community about any upcoming road works or road closures.

Remutaka Hill

The safest and most efficient way to maintain the Remutaka Hill road is to have nighttime closures. This avoids more frequent disruptions and helps keep our crews safe.

The schedule for upcoming closures is on our Remutaka webpage:

SH2 Remutaka Hill road night closures