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New Zealand State Highway network

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The New Zealand State Highway Shield.
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The New Zealand State Highway Shield.

The New Zealand State Highway network is a network of roads covering the North and South Islands. Just under 100 roads have a "State Highway" designation: Transit New Zealand administers them. The speed limit for most of the State Highway network is 100 km/h, with reductions in built-up areas or for safety reasons.

The highways were originally designated using a two-tier system, National (SH 1-8) and Provincial, with national highways having a higher standard and funding priorities. Now all are State Highways, and the network consists of SH 1 running the length of both main islands, SH 2-5 and 10-58 in the North Island, and SH 6-8 and 60-99 in the South Island. National and former Provincial highways are numbered approximately North to South. Former Provincial highways are almost grouped by province in the South Island, with SH 7x in Canterbury, SH 8x Otago, and SH 9x Southland.

State Highways are marked by red shield-shaped signs with white numbering (shields for the former Provincial Highways were blue). Road maps usually use this convention.

From 2004 information, the busiest stretch of SH 1 was just south of the Auckland Central Motorway Junction, with over 190,000 cars (either way) each day. The least busy parts of the network (excluding off-ramps and on-ramps) are parts of SH 43 north-east of Whangamomona, with fewer than 150 cars (counting both directions) in a day. Some of the lesser trafficked highways still contain some unsealed sections.

Contents

History of the State Highways

In the early days of New Zealand roading, all roads were managed by local road boards. The idea of a national network of highways did not emerge until the early twentieth century, when a series of pieces of legislation were passed to allow for the designation of Main Highways (in 1922) and State Highways (in 1936).

Since the 1980s, State Highways have been the responsibility of Transit New Zealand, a state-owned entity. Since Transit NZ funds only State Highways, city or district councils have sometimes negotiated reallocation of highway routes within their boundaries in order to let Transit part-fund major upgrades to the regional roading network. For example, SH 1 historically ran through the centre of Christchurch, but is now the Christchurch bypass route, while SH 73 and 74 have been extended further into the city to cover major arterial routes.

Highway routes around Tauranga and in the Napier/Hastings region have undergone major changes in recent years.

Distance Markers

State Highway 1 crosses the Waikouaiti River in Otago, 667.0 kilometres from Picton
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State Highway 1 crosses the Waikouaiti River in Otago, 667.0 kilometres from Picton

State Highways are marked with posts at irregular intervals giving the distance in kilometres from the start of the highway. Until recently, all bridges on the network had at each end a small plaque showing the distance from the start of the highway, usually in the form of a number in kilometres, an oblique stroke, and a further number in kilometres, accurate to the nearest 10 metres. A plaque marked 237/14.12, for example, indicated that the bridge was 14.12 km past a set distance post, that post being 237 km from the start of the highway.

These plaques have recently (in about 2004) been replaced by a new system which gives each bridge a single number showing the distance from the start of the highway in hundreds of metres. Under the new system the bridge above would have a plaque with its name and the number 2511, as it is 251.1 km from the start of the highway. Motorway on- and off-ramps are numbered using the same system.

In this way, travellers can accurately assess their location, and road authorities can identify each bridge uniquely.

State Highway 1

State Highway 1
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State Highway 1
Main Article State Highway 1 State Highway 1 can be considered as a single highway running the length of both main islands, broken in the middle by the ferry connection at Cook Strait. It connects the five largest urban areas and includes the country's busiest stretch of road.

List of Current New Zealand State Highways

National

North Island

South Island

A typical New Zealand State Highway junction sign: State Highways 1 and 85 meet in Palmerston, Otago
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A typical New Zealand State Highway junction sign: State Highways 1 and 85 meet in Palmerston, Otago

List of Former New Zealand State Highways

The following state highways have been officially revoked by Transit New Zealand. After revocation, the roads revert to their orignial names (e.g. Crown Range Road) or are referred to as a route (e.g. Route 52).

See also

External links

 

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