Night-time travellers need to take detours during 12-hour SH1 closure

All traffic will be using the curved Cambridge Road bridge after February 11 as work continues on the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway. Photo / Waka Kotahi

A 12-hour overnight closure of State Highway 1 at Tamahere south of Hamilton will happen on Friday, February 11, to create workspace for the 22km Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway, which is expected to be completed mid-year.

The road closures will begin from 6pm on Friday, February 11, while barriers are moved and line marking done.

A full closure of the road is required to move traffic on to the new curved Cambridge Rd bridge at the Southern Interchange of the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway.

All traffic will be moved on to the new bridge, which will eventually be the southbound on-ramp, for about six weeks before northbound traffic will return to using the on-ramp into the city.

The closure points are at the SH1-SH26 roundabout at Hillcrest and SH1-SH21 interchange at Tamahere. The highway will reopen about 6am on Saturday, February 12.

Waka Kotahi says night-time travellers, especially freight, are encouraged to plan ahead and make use of alternative routes such as State Highway 1B, State Highway 2-State Highway 27, State Highway 3, State Highway 39 and SH21. These will be highlighted with reminder signs at the outer connections before February 11.

Detours will be in place around the closure. Residents will have access at all times, including into Tamahere via Newell Rd at the city end and SH21-Airport Rd to the south.

In case of poor weather or other unforeseen circumstances, work may need to be postponed. People are encouraged to visit the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Journey Planner website (journeys.nzta.govt.nz) before they travel for up-to-date information on the road closure and works.

All traffic will be using the curved Cambridge Rd bridge after February 11 as work continues on the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway.

Ōhinewai lighting upgrade safety works continue

Meanwhile, Waka Kotahi NZ is urging motorists to take extra care when using the northbound lane on State Highway 1 (SH1) south of Rangiriri interchange to south of the Ōhinewai interchange (including off and on-ramps), as the lane is without expressway lighting through to March while work continues on upgrading the state highway.

To make this section of SH1 safer and more consistent with the rest of the SH1 Waikato Expressway, Waka Kotahi is installing roadside barriers to prevent people from running off the road. The roadside lights need to be repositioned to provide room for the new barriers to be installed.

Until March, crews will be on-site removing existing lights and installing new ones along the southbound section.

While two-way traffic will be maintained, lane restrictions and shoulder closures will be in place while this work is underway between 7.00am and 7.00pm each day.

Motorists are urged to take care while driving through the site, and to comply with the temporary speed limit of 70km/h.