The closures began on February 15 and are in place Sunday to Thursday nights, between 7pm and 6am.

NZTA says the overnight-only closures, between Tūrangi and Waiouru, have been carefully programmed to enable the last phase of the Tīrau to Waiouru Accelerated Maintenance project (T2W), while avoiding long-term disruption.

Closures on this section of SH1 are needed to complete final surfacing in the area known as the 3 Sisters because the narrow, winding road can’t safely accommodate asphalting machinery and stop/go traffic management. Three consecutive southern sites spanning a total of 3.5km are affected: Mangamate, Oturere Hill and Mangatoetoenui.

While the closures are scheduled between Sunday and Thursday each week, the contractor may add some additional Friday nights if the weather is bad. The scheduled Monday March 9 completion date is also weather dependent.

Changes to the schedule will be advised in advance with updates available on NZTA’s Journey Planner and Facebook pages, as well as electronic message boards in the area.

“Minimising disruption for road users, residents and businesses is always front of mind for NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), so we don’t close roads unless it’s essential to ensure safety and to get the job done,” says Roger Brady, NZTA Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations in Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

“In this case, it’s short-term ‘pain’ for long-term gain, and we appreciate everyone’s patience while we improve this vital roading network.”

During the overnight closures, the recommended detour is via SH41, SH47, SH4, SH49 and back to SH1 in Waiouru, and vice versa. Those travelling on this alternative route will need to bear in mind that it adds approximately 35 minutes to journeys.

As well as this T2W rebuilding work being completed under closures, there’s a significant amount of general road maintenance happening at various sites on the Desert Road during the summer works season. This will require daytime stop/go traffic management. The schedule is being coordinated to reduce delays as much as possible.

Enabled by the Government’s $2.07 billion Pothole Prevention fund, T2W has condensed four seasons of work into two, reducing future disruption on these sections of SH1.

“Having begun in September 2024, it’s now a matter of months before contractors working for NZTA will have completed the project’s entire 60km – 27% of SH1’s total 220km length.

“Weather and ground conditions generally being best during summer, the past few months have been a busy time for both road users and our crews. We’re working hard to ensure it’s not long now until this important project is completed and we can all get back to business as usual along SH1,” says Mr Brady.