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Desert Road closed for 2 months from Monday 13 January

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

After the Christmas hiatus, road maintenance is back with a major closure of State Highway 1. The Desert Road, between Tūrangi and Waiouru, will close from 5am on Monday 13 January for approximately 2 months.

As well as reconstructing 16 lane km (3 sites) of road, improving drainage, and clearing about 15km of shoulders, the deck of the Mangatoetoenui Bridge will be replaced.

“The bridge, built in 1966, has a timber deck that is now in poor condition and in need of replacement,” says Roger Brady, Waikato Bay of Plenty Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations for NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).

“This job alone would require the road to have been closed for about a month, so being able to do this at the same time as the other maintenance work due is a real win. It does mean there will be a period of up to 4 weeks from 22 January when SH1 is severed, during the time when the bridge has no deck at all.”

The new deck for the Mangatoetoenui Bridge has been designed and is being built in Napier, ready to be shipped once the SH1 closure begins on Monday 13 January. It consists of steel girders and a concrete slab, which will be transported in 2 sections and then ‘stitched’ together once on site. Once the new deck is in place, the Mangatoetoenui Bridge is expected to last another 50 years before it needs replacing.

“In our planning for this closure in January, the average ground temperatures were analysed, as we need this temperature to be a minimum of 13 degrees for the work to be the quality required.

Overnight minimum temperatures start to drop below zero across the Desert Road from March onwards meaning the possibility of ground frosts. Already the area has experienced snow flurries in January, and while these are rare in the summer months, there is more chance of lower temperatures from March onwards,” says Mr Brady.

The detour (from north to south) is via SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1 in Waiouru. It is the usual recommended detour route whenever the Desert Road is closed and adds around 30 – 40 minutes to journeys. To encourage safe driving on the detours, the speed limit near and through Ohakune will be reduced to 50km/h while the detour is in place. Additional billboards and signage will be in place, and NZ Police have indicated they will have an increased presence on the detour roads.

South of the SH1/SH47 intersection (the “soft closure point” – shown in orange on the map) to the beginning of our first worksite (south of the Tongariro National Trout Centre) remains open for visitors to access the Trout Centre but not SH46. The detour needs to be advised earlier for those on longer journeys so they can use the appropriate state highways. 

The “hard closure” (black area on map) is from Tongariro National Trout Centre to the Desert Road gates near Waiouru. Within this hard closure where all the work is being done, there will be access for those travelling from the north booked with Kaimanawa Alpine Adventures, DOC sites and access roads such as Waipakahi Road or Tukino Access Road, except when the bridge deck is being replaced.

Those driving from the south (Waiouru) will have limited access up to the Mangatoetoenui Bridge. Traffic control staff will be posted at the 3 closure points (Tūrangi, Rangipo, Waiouru). Drivers will need to talk with the traffic controller at the closure point about where they want to access.

There will be further works required to put on the final surface later in the year. This work will, wherever possible, be done at night. The scheduling is still being worked through for when this final surfacing will be done.

This closure is part of a huge maintenance project which started in September 2024 near Tīrau. By doing this work under road closures, more invasive construction methodology can be used which would not be possible under stop/go traffic management. It means SH1 will be quickly brought up to a higher standard.

There is still much more to do before December 2025, flagged as the project finish date. Here are some statistics collected on what’s been done on SH1 in central and southern Waikato since September:

  • Lane kms rebuilt: 45.9km (or 234,773m2)
  • Re-seals completed: 52,828m2
  • Foam bitumen sealing completed: 177,140m2
  • Structural asphalt concrete: 7,870m2
  • Tonnes of metal used: Approximately 114,000
  • Truckloads of metal: Up to 145 loads per site per day
  • Kms of line marking completed:  More than 240km
  • Number of workforce hours to date (road crews): 54,053
  • Number of lost-time injuries: Zero
  • Number of contracting firms utilised: Up to 12 working at once.

This maintenance work forms part of the government’s $2.07 billion investment into road and drainage renewal and maintenance across 2024-27 via the State Highway Pothole Prevention fund.

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