The New Zealand State Highway network consists of just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands, administered by Transit New Zealand. The open-road speed limit is generally 100 km/h, with reductions in built-up areas and 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, 10-58 in the North Island, and SH 6-8, 60-99 in the South Island, numbered approximately north to south. Former provincial highways in the South Island are mostly grouped by province, 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 number state highways in this fashion. From 2006 information, the busiest stretch of SH 1 was just south of the Auckland Central Motorway Junction, with over 200,000 vehicles (either way) each day. The least busy parts of the network (excluding off-ramps and on-ramps) are on SH 43 north-east of Whangamomona, with fewer than 120 vehicles (counting both directions) in a day [1]. Some of the lesser trafficked highways still include unsealed sections.
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History of State Highways
In the early days all roads were managed by local roads boards. The idea of a national network of highways did not emerge until the early twentieth century, when a series of pieces of legislation was passed to allow for the designation of main highways (in 1922) and state highways (in 1936). This saw the National Roads Board, an arm of the Ministry of Works, responsible for the state highway network. Since 1989, state highways have been the responsibility of Transit New Zealand, a Crown entity. In 1996 the funding of the network was removed from the operational functions with the creation of Transfund New Zealand, which has since merged with the Land Transport Safety Authority to create Land Transport New Zealand. This is intended to ensure that funding of state highways is considered on a similar basis to funding for local roads and regional council subsidised public transport.
Every five years Transit New Zealand embarks on a state highway review, which considered whether the existing network should be expanded or reduced, according to traffic flows, changes in industry, tourism and development. Highways around Tauranga and in the Napier/Hastings region have undergone major changes in recent years.
Distance markers
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. In about 2004 these plaques were 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 be numbered 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. Usually, houses with RAPID numbering can also be used to determine the position. For example, house number 31530 is 315.3 km from the start of the highway. However, this only works if the road is addressed as a State Highway (e.g., 97863 State Highway 2, RD 1, Wellington).
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.
Touring Routes
Many sections of State Highway provided by Transit New Zealand are marketed as tourist highways, sometimes jointly with local roading providers. Transit maintains traffic signs on and near State Highways to help promote these routes.[2] These include:
- Twin Coast Discovery Highway - ring route around the Auckland and Northland regions
- Pacific Coast Highway - route going around the north-east coast of the North Island, joining Auckland and Napier
- Thermal Explorer Highway - route going from Auckland to Napier through the geothermally active centre of the North Island.
- Great New Zealand Wine Trail - Route through New Zealand's wine-making region, from Napier to Blenheim, via Hastings, Woodville, Masterton, Martinborough, Wellington, and Picton. Requires a ferry crossing across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton.
- Alpine Pacific Triangle - a triangular loop including sections of SH 1, 7 and 70 linking the popular destinations of Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura and Waipara.
- Foothills Scenic Route - formerly SH 72, this road goes from Amberley (or Woodend) to Winchester (near Timaru). This road goes between the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps
- Great Alpine Highway - Highway 73 going from Christchurch in Canterbury over the Southern Alps via Arthurs Pass to Kumara Junction on the West Coast. Will start in the near future.
- Southern Scenic Route - Route going along the southern coast of the South Island from Dunedin via the Catlins, Invercargill and Riverton to Te Anau.
See also
- List of New Zealand State Highways
- List of main streets of New Zealand cities
- List of roads and highways, for notable or famous roads worldwide
External links
References
- ^ State Highway Traffic Data Booklet 2002-2006 (PDF). Transit NZ (2007-05). Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
- ^ Touring Route Signing Policy (PDF). Transit NZ (1999-10-19). Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
