New Zealand State Highway Network Article Index for
New Zealand 		Website Links For
New Zealand 		 

Information About

New Zealand State Highway Network
  CATEGORIES ABOUT NEW ZEALAND STATE HIGHWAY NETWORK
   
geography of new zealand
   
roads in new zealand
   
transport in new zealand
   
highway-related lists
   
new zealand-related lists
   
state highway network
   
APPAREL
BABY
BEAUTY
BOOKS
CAR TOYS
CELL PHONES
DVD'S
ELECTRONICS
GOURMET FOOD
GROCERIES
HEALTH & PERSONAL
HOME & GARDEN
JEWELRY
MUSIC
MUSIC INSTRUMENTS
OFFICE PRODUCTS
SOFTWARE
SPORTING GOODS
TOOLS & HARDWARE
TOYS
VIDEO GAMES
SHOPPING HOME
MORE SHOPPING...



The ''' administers them. The speed limit for most State Highways is 100 Km/h , with reductions when a State Highway passes through a built-up area.

The highways were originally designated on 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 Provincial highways are numbered approximately North to South. In this fashion, provincial highways are almost grouped by province in the South Island, such that SH 7x is Canterbury, SH 8x is Otago, and SH 9x is Southland.

State Highways are marked on the side of the road 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 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 , which get fewer than 150 cars (counting both directions) in a day. Some of the lesser trafficked highways still contain some unsealed sections.


HISTORY OF THE STATE HIGHWAYS


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 then State Highways (in 1936).

Since the 1980 s State Highways have been the responsibility of Transit New Zealand , a state-owned corporation. Since Transit NZ funds only State Highways, city or district councils have sometimes negotiated reallocation of highway routes within their boundaries in order to let Transit part-fund major upgrades to the regional roading network. For example, SH 1 historically ran through the centre of Christchurch, but is now the Christchurch bypass route, while SH 73 and 74 have been extended further into the city to cover major arterial routes.

Highway routes around Tauranga and in the Napier / Hastings region have undergone major changes in recent years.


DISTANCE MARKERS


in Otago , 667.0 kilometres by road from Picton ]]
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 either end, small plaques 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, would indicate that the bridge is 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 used as an example above would show 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.


STATE HIGHWAY 1

Main Article State Highway 1
State 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.


LIST OF NEW ZEALAND STATE HIGHWAYS


National



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 15 Formerly SH 1 at Whangarei to port of Whangarei, 4 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 near Pauanui (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 40 Formerly SH 3 at Ahititi to SH 4 at Maungatupoto via Ohura, 90 km

  • 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 49A Formerly SH 49 at Ohakune to SH 4 at Raehiti, 9 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 52 Formerly SH 2 at Waipukurau to SH 2 Masterton via Pongaroa , 215 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 57A Formerly part of SH 57 from SH 3 at the west end the of Manawatu Gorge to Palmerston North, 18 km

  • SH 58 SH 1 at Paremata (near Porirua ) to SH 2 at Haywards, 15 km



South Island

, Otago]]


SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS