Overnight closures are being planned for State Highway 1/Desert Rd, starting next week.

The closures are for the final stage of the Tīrau to Waiouru Accelerated Maintenance project.

In a statement, New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said closures were 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.

All closures are scheduled to take place overnight between Sunday, February 15, and Monday, March 9, (weather dependent).

“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,” NZTA Waikato and Bay of Plenty maintenance and operations regional manager Roger Brady said.

“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 about 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 Rd during the summer works season.

NZTA said this would require daytime stop/go traffic management. The schedule was 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 percent of SH1’s total 220km length," Brady said.

“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.”