State Highway 1 Tokoroa to Ātiamuri to partially reopen this week

Closing the SH1 Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri section has enabled three days' work to be completed in one day.

A section of State Highway 1 between Tokoroa and upper Ātiamuri will partially reopen at noon tomorrow after weeks of being fully closed for roadworks.

The section was originally scheduled to reopen at 5am but today’s bad weather led to a seven-hour delay.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) regional manager of maintenance and operations for Waikato and Bay of Plenty, Roger Brady, said this partial opening was the best solution for those using SH1 in that area.

“We lost four days of work since we started work in this area on October 6 – all because of rain,” Brady said in a press release, adding that this is a large site spanning 17 kilometres, with four separate work areas.

“We have completed 13km of road makeover, allowing us to open the southern end of this work zone between Kinleith and upper Ātiamuri, which we are sure many locals will welcome.”

Brady said the project needed to “press on” so roadworks on the next section, between Putāruru and Tokoroa, can get under way as there is limited time before the Christmas pause to operations comes into effect on December 20.

Part of State Highway 1 near Tokoroa will partially reopen on Friday, after weeks of being fully closed for roadworks. Photo / John van de Ven

“The partial reopening means we can reduce the length of the detours and journey times.”

Brady said the new detour will now be SH32, Old Taupō Rd, Kinleith Rd and vice versa.

“Businesses and residences between SH32 intersection and just north of Campbell Rd will still be accessible with the soft closure there.”

Brady said the section of SH1 between Tokoroa and Kinlieth has had an “extensive makeover”.

“[The work] involved milling out the existing road surface and replacing it with new material and adding a foam-stabilised bitumen basecourse layer.”

Brady said that section was expected to open next week.

“Unfortunately, roadworks are totally dependent on having good weather, and we just need a little more time. We think this workaround is a good outcome that most locals will appreciate,” Brady said.

The partial section of road reopening will be under traffic management for a few days so the surface can be driven on to help bed in the rebuild work.

The final asphalt surface will be applied under night-time road closures starting on January 7.

The partial reopening means that at 5am on Saturday, the next SH1 section scheduled for maintenance between Putāruru and Tokoroa will close.

The closure will be in place from SH1/Princes St, Putāruru, to the SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection.

All north and southbound SH1 light vehicles will be detoured via Princes St, Arapuni St, Arapuni Rd, Waotu Rd, Old Taupō Rd, SH32 Tokoroa and vice versa.

“This will add approximately 15 minutes and 11km to journey times,” Brady said.

“There will be a temporary speed limit of 70km/h along the entirety of the detour route. Heavy vehicles are asked to take SH5/30.”

Southbound traffic will not be able to travel beyond Vospers/Ngatira roads. Northbound traffic will be able to travel as far north as SH1 Rollett Rd.