New Zealand State Highway network
The
New Zealand State Highway network is a network of roads covering the
North and
South Islands. Just under 100 roads have a "State Highway" designation:
Transit New Zealand administers them. The speed limit for most of the State Highway network is 100
km/h, with reductions in built-up areas or for safety reasons.
The highways were originally designated using a two-tier system, National (SH 1-8) and Provincial, with national highways having a higher standard and funding priorities. Now all are State Highways, and the network consists of SH 1 running the length of both main islands, SH 2-5 and 10-58 in the North Island, and SH 6-8 and 60-99 in the South Island. National and former Provincial highways are numbered approximately north to south. Former Provincial highways are almost grouped by province in the South Island, with SH 7x in Canterbury, SH 8x Otago, and SH 9x Southland.
State Highways are marked by red shield-shaped signs with white numbering (shields for the former Provincial Highways were blue). Road maps usually use this convention.
From 2004 information, the busiest stretch of SH 1 was just south of the Auckland Central Motorway Junction, with over 190,000 cars (either way) each day. The least busy parts of the network (excluding off-ramps and on-ramps) are parts of SH 43 north-east of
Whangamomona, with fewer than 150 cars (counting both directions) in a day. Some of the lesser trafficked highways still contain some unsealed sections.
In the early days of New Zealand roading, all roads were managed by local road boards. The idea of a national network of highways did not emerge until the early twentieth century, when a series of pieces of legislation were passed to allow for the designation of Main Highways (in 1922) and State Highways (in 1936). This saw the National Roads Board, as an arm of the Ministry of Works, responsible for the state highway network.
Since 1989, State Highways have been the responsibility of
Transit New Zealand, a Crown entity. From 1996, the funding of the state highway network was removed from the operational functions, by the creation of Transfund New Zealand, which has since been merged with part of the Land Transport Safety Authority to create
Land Transport New Zealand. This is intended to ensure that funding of State Highways is considered on a similar basis to funding for local roads and regional council subsidised public transport.
Every five years Transit New Zealand embarks on a state highway review, which considered whether the existing network should be expanded or reduced, according to traffic flows, changes in industry, tourism and development. Highway routes around
Tauranga and in the
Napier/
Hastings region have undergone major changes in recent years.
State Highways are marked with posts at irregular intervals giving the distance in kilometres from the start of the highway. Until recently, all bridges on the network had at each end a small plaque showing the distance from the start of the highway, usually in the form of a number in kilometres, an oblique stroke, and a further number in kilometres, accurate to the nearest 10 metres. A plaque marked 237/14.12, for example, indicated that the bridge was 14.12 km past a set distance post, that post being 237 km from the start of the highway.
These plaques have recently (in about 2004) been replaced by a new system which gives each bridge a single number showing the distance from the start of the highway in hundreds of metres. Under the new system the bridge above would have a plaque with its name and the number 2511, as it is 251.1 km from the start of the highway. Motorway on- and off-ramps are numbered using the same system.
In this way, travellers can accurately assess their location, and road authorities can identify each bridge uniquely.
Main Article
State Highway 1State Highway 1 can be considered as a single highway running the length of both main islands, broken in the middle by the ferry connection at
Cook Strait. It connects the five largest urban areas and includes the country's busiest stretch of road.
National
*
SH 1 Cape Reinga to
Bluff, 2047
km*
SH 1A SH 1 at Silverdale to
Orewa (SH 1 Northern Motorway extension), 5½ km
*
SH 1B SH 1 at
Taupiri to SH 1 at
Cambridge via Gordonton (eastern bypass of
Hamilton), 45 km
*
SH 2 SH 1 at Pokeno junction (45 km south of Auckland) to SH 1 at Ngauranga Interchange (5 km from
Wellington) via the east coast (
Tauranga,
Gisborne,
Napier,
Hastings,
Woodville,
Masterton and the
Hutt Valley), 968 km
*
SH 2A SH 2 at Tauranga to Tauranga Harbour Bridge, 5 km
*
SH 3 SH 1 at Hamilton to SH 2 at Woodville via the west coast (
New Plymouth,
Wanganui,
Palmerston North), 489 km
*
SH 3A SH 3 near
Waitara to SH 3 at
Inglewood (New Plymouth bypass), 16 km
*
SH 4 SH 3 at Eight Mile Junction (11 km south of
Te Kuiti) to SH 3 at Wanganui via
Taumarunui and
Raetihi, 236 km
*
SH 5 SH 1 at
Tirau to SH 2 at
Napier via
Rotorua and Taupo, 247 km
*
SH 6 SH 1 at
Blenheim to SH 1 at
Invercargill via the west coast (
Nelson,
Westport,
Greymouth,
Hokitika,
Wanaka,
Queenstown), 1162 km
*
SH 6A SH 6 at
Frankton to Queenstown, 7 km
*
SH 7 SH 1 at
Waipara (60 km north of Christchurch) to SH 6 at
Greymouth via the
Lewis Pass, 272 km
*
SH 7A SH 7 at Waiau Bridge to
Hanmer Springs, 9 km.
*
SH 8 SH 1 at
Timaru to SH 1 at
Milton via the
Mackenzie Basin and
Central Otago (
Twizel,
Cromwell,
Alexandra), 457 km
*
SH 8A Tarras to
Luggate (north of
Lake Dunstan), 21 km
*
SH 8B SH 8 at Deadmans Point to SH6 at
Cromwell (Crosses Lake Dunstan), 3 km
*There is no SH 9
North Island
*
SH 10 SH 1 at Pakaraka (14 km north of Kawakawa) to
Awanui , 104 km
*
SH 11 SH 1 at
Kawakawa to SH10 at Puketona Junction, extended in 2005, 30 km
*
SH 12 SH 1 at Ohaeawai (79 km south of
Kaitaia) to SH 1 at Brynderwyn (28 km north of
Wellsford), via
Kaikohe and
Dargaville, 218 km
*
SH 14 SH 1 at
Whangarei to Dargaville, 55 km
*
SH 15A SH1 at Ruakaka to Marsden Point, 9 km
*
SH 16 Port of Auckland to SH 1 at Wellsford via
Helensville (including the Northwestern Motorway in Auckland), 108 km
*
SH 17 SH 1 at Silverdale to SH 1 at
Albany (old SH 1 route superseded by motorway), 18 km
*
SH 18 SH 1 at Upper Harbour Highway interchange to SH 16 at
Massey (
Upper Harbour Drive and
Hobsonville Road - redesignated from Riverhead Road further north), 14 km (Motorway section from
Albany Highway to Massey, running parallel to the existing state highway, under construction)
*
SH 20 Hillsborough to SH 1
Manukau interchange (Southwestern Motorway), 18 km. Will eventually bypass Manukau city centre and link to Northwestern Motorway (projected completion
2012)
*
SH 20A SH 20 south of Walmsley Road interchange to
Auckland International Airport, 5 km
*
SH 20B SH 20 at Puhinui Road interchange to
Auckland International Airport, 4 km
*
SH 21 SH 1 5 km south of Hamilton to SH 3 5 km south of Hamilton, via Hamilton Airport and Mystery Creek, 7 km
*
SH 22 SH 1 at
Drury to
Pukekohe, 13 km (the continuation south to SH 23 near
Raglan has had its State Highway designation removed)
*
SH 23 SH 1 at Hamilton to
Raglan, 43 km
*
SH 24 Matamata to SH 29 near Te Poi, 13 km
*
SH 25 SH 2 3 km north of Mangatarata to
Waihi, via
Thames,
Coromandel,
Whitianga and
Whangamata, 234 km
*
SH 25A SH 25 at Kopu (6 km south of Thames) to SH 25 at
Hikuai (shortcut across
Coromandel Peninsula), 29 km
*
SH 26 Hamilton to SH 25 at Kopu, (6 km south of Thames) via
Morrinsville,
Te Aroha and
Paeroa, 96 km
*
SH 27 SH 2 at Mangatarata to SH 1 at
Tirau via
Matamata, 92 km
*
SH 28 SH 1 at
Putaruru to SH 29 near Te Poi, 21 km
*
SH 29 SH 1 12 km north of Tirau to
Mount Maunganui via
Tauranga, 65 km
*
SH 30 SH 3 at
Te Kuiti to
Whakatane via
Mangakino and
Rotorua, 219 km
*
SH 30A SH 5 to SH 30 in urban Rotorua, 4 km
*
SH 31 SH 3 at
Otorohanga to
Kawhia, 56 km, 14km of which is a joint designation with SH 39.
*
SH 32 SH 1 at
Tokoroa to SH 41 at Kuratau Junction (western side of Lake Taupo), 96 km
*
SH 33 SH 2 at Paengaroa (9 km south-east of
Te Puke) to SH 30 at Te Ngae, 36 km
*
SH 34 SH 2 near
Edgecumbe to SH 30 via
Kawerau, 25 km
*
SH 35 SH 2 at
Opotiki to
Gisborne, via East Cape, 334 km
*
SH 36 SH 2 at
Tauranga to SH 5 at
Rotorua, via Tauranga Direct Road (new designation, December 2004), 48 km
*
SH 37 SH 3 at Hangatiki to
Waitomo Caves, 7 km
*
SH 38 SH 5 near Waiotapu to SH 2 at
Wairoa via
Te Urewera National Park and
Lake Waikaremoana, 121 km (middle section unsealed, and not designated a State Highway)
*
SH 39 SH 1 at
Ngaruawahia to SH 3 at Otorohanga. The western bypass of Hamilton, 57 km. The last 14km from junction of the Kawhia road to Otorohanga is a joint designation with SH 31.
*
SH 41 SH 4 at Manunui to SH 1 at
Turangi, 59 km
*
SH 43 SH 3 at
Stratford to SH 4 at
Taumarunui(
The Forgotten World Highway), 149 km, approx 40 km unsealed
*
SH 44 SH 3 at New Plymouth to Port Taranaki (new designation, 2004), 5 km
*
SH 45 SH 3 at New Plymouth to SH 3 at
Hawera via
Opunake (
The Surf Highway), 105 km
*
SH 46 SH 1 at
Rangipo to SH 47 near Papakai, 19 km
*
SH 47 SH 4 at
National Park to SH 41 3 km north of
Turangi, 46 km
*
SH 48 SH 47 9 km from National Park to
Whakapapa skifield, 7 km
*
SH 49 SH 4 at Tohunga Junction to SH 1 at
Waiouru via
Ohakune, 36 km
*
SH 50 SH 2 at
Napier to SH 2 near Takapau (inland route), 94 km
*
SH 50A SH 50 10 km from
Napier to Pakipaki, 7 km from
Hastings via Flaxmere. Commonly called the Hawke's Bay Expressway, 17 km
*
SH 53 SH 2 at
Featherston to
Martinborough, 18 km (This breaks markedly with the general north-south pattern of the numbering, being some 200 km south of SH 54 and having the southernmost endpoints of North Island State Highways other than SH 1 and 2)
*
SH 54 SH 3 near
Palmerston North to SH 1 at Vinegar Hill via
Feilding, 57 km
*
SH 56 SH 57 at Makerua to Palmerston North, 23 km
*
SH 57 SH 1 2 km south of
Levin to SH 3 at Ashhurst (the western end of the
Manawatu Gorge), via
Shannon, 64 km
*
SH 58 SH 1 at Paremata (near
Porirua) to SH 2 at Haywards, 15 km
South Island
 |
A typical New Zealand State Highway junction sign: State Highways 1 and 85 meet in Palmerston, Otago |
*
SH 60 Collingwood to SH 6 near
Richmond via
Motueka and
Takaka, 116 km
*
SH 62 SH1 at Spring Creek to SH6 2km North of Renwick, 13km
*
SH 63 Renwick to SH 6 at Kawatiri Junction via
Wairau Valley, 117 km
*
SH 65 SH 7 at Springs Junction to SH 6 11 km west of
Murchison, 71 km
*
SH 67 Westport to 4 km past Summerlea, 52 km. Continues for a further 44 km to
Karamea without State Highway designation.
*
SH 67A SH 67 at
Westport to
Cape Foulwind, 9 km
*
SH 69 Inangahua Junction to
Reefton, 33 km
*
SH 71 SH 1 at
Kaiapoi to
Rangiora via Lineside Rd, 6 km
*
SH 73 SH 74 at the Tunnel Rd/Port Hills Rd interchange, Christchurch to SH 6 at
Kumara Junction via
Arthur's Pass and Porters Pass, 231 km
*
SH 73A Carmen/Main South Rds, Christchurch to Blenheim/Curtletts Rds (Originally part of SH1, then SH 73 until January 2004), 6 km
*
SH 74 SH 1 at
Belfast to
Lyttelton via Lyttelton Road Tunnel. As of January 2004 the route now follows the eastern part of the Christchurch Ring Road, 22 km
*
SH 74A SH73 at Brougham/Gardiners, Christchurch to SH 74 at Palinurus/Dyers via Gardiners and Palinurus Rds. Part of the Christchurch Ring Road, 2 km
*
SH 75 SH 73 near Hillmorton,
Christchurch to
Akaroa, 77 km
*
SH 77 SH 1 at
Ashburton to SH 73 at
Darfield via
Glentunnel and
Methven, 94 km
*
SH 78 SH 1 at
Timaru (
Port Loop Road), 0.8 km (This is the shortest NZ state highway and is completely within Timaru)
*
SH 79 SH 1 at
Rangitata to SH 8 at
Fairlie via
Geraldine, 61 km
*
SH 80 SH 8 at
Pukaki Dam to
Mount Cook Village, 55 km
*
SH 82 SH 1 near Hook to
Kurow via
Waimate (north bank of
Waitaki River), 71 km
*
SH 83 SH1 at Pukeuri Junction to SH 6 at
Omarama via
Kurow, 109 km
*
SH 84 SH 6 to
Wanaka, 3 km
*
SH 85 SH 1 at
Palmerston to
Alexandra via
Ranfurly (
The Pigroot), 164 km
*
SH 86 SH1 south of Dunedin to Dunedin Airport, 5 km
*
SH 87 SH 1 at
Mosgiel to SH 85 at Kyeburn via
Middlemarch and
Taieri valley, 114 km
*
SH 88 SH 1 at
Dunedin to
Port Chalmers, 13 km
*
SH 90 Raes Junction to SH 1 3 km east of
Gore via
Tapanui, 59 km
*
SH 93 SH 1 at Clinton to SH 1 at Mataura (Gore southern bypass), 43 km
*
SH 94 SH 1 at
Gore to
Milford Sound via
Lumsden and
Te Anau, 254 km
*
SH 95 SH 94 at
Te Anau to
Manapouri, 20 km
*
SH 96 SH 1 at
Mataura to Ohai via
Winton, 90 km
*
SH 97 SH6 at Five Rivers to SH 94 at Mossburn, 21 km
*
SH 98 SH 6 at Lorneville to SH 1 near Dacre, 22 km
*
SH 99 SH 6 at Lorneville to SH 6 and road to
Te Anau near Clifden, via
Riverton and
Tuatapere, 93 km
The following state highways have been officially revoked by Transit New Zealand. After revocation, the roads revert to their original names (e.g. Crown Range Road) or are referred to as a route (e.g. Route 52).
*
SH 15 Formerly SH 1 at Whangarei to port of Whangarei, 4 km
*
SH 40 Formerly SH 3 at Ahititi to SH 4 at Maungatupoto via Ohura, 90 km
*
SH 47A Formerly SH 1 at
Rangipo to SH 47 near Papakai, 19 km. This route is now known as State Highway 46.
*
SH 49A Formerly SH 49 at
Ohakune to SH 4 at Raehiti, 9 km
*
SH 52 Formerly SH 2 at
Waipukurau to SH 2 at
Masterton via
Pongaroa, 215 km
*
SH 57A Formerly part of SH 57 from SH 3 at the west end the of Manawatu Gorge to Palmerston North, 18 km
*
SH 61 Formerly
Motueka to SH 6 at Kohatu Junction, 58 km
*
SH 70 Formerly SH1 4 km south of
Kaikoura to SH7 at Red Post Junction (2 km North of
Culverden) via
Waiau, 97 km
*
SH 72 Formerly the inland Canterbury route from SH 1 near Rangiora to SH 1 at
Temuka via the
Waimakariri and
Rakaia Gorges (SH 77 now covers part of this route). This route is now known as the Inland Scenic Route.
*
SH 89 Formerly from SH 6 near
Arrowtown to Wanaka via the
Crown Range, 53 km
*
SH 91 Formerly SH 1 at
Balclutha to
Kaitangata, a route which later became part of SH 92, 13 km
*
SH 92 Formerly SH 1 at
Balclutha to SH 1 at
Invercargill via
the Catlins.
*
List of towns in New Zealand*
List of main streets of New Zealand cities*
Great South Road, New Zealand*
List of roads and highways, for notable or famous roads worldwide
*
Transit NZ
