State Highway 2 over the Remutaka Hill road closes for regular maintenance work on various nights between January and November each year. The schedule is available on this page. The highway may have to close at other times for emergency works, weather or accidents.
|
Number of nights closed |
Start 9pm |
Finish 4am |
|
1 |
11 January 2026 |
12 January 2026 |
|
5 |
15 February 2026 |
20 February 2026 |
|
5 |
15 March 2026 |
20 March 2026 |
|
1 |
19 April 2026 |
20 April 2026 |
|
5 |
3 May 2026 |
8 May 2026 |
|
5 |
10 May 2026 |
15 May 2026 |
|
1 |
14 June 2026 |
15 June 2026 |
Escorted crossings are available during the closures which you can book in advance. Bookings must be made by 4pm the Friday prior for Sunday nights, and by 4pm the day of for weeknight crossings.
Bookings guarantee drivers a place on the crossing. You may turn up without a booking, but you risk being turned away. If you have a genuine emergency on the night, the hill manager will decide how best to help you.
The escorted crossings are for light vehicles only. To keep our contractors safe, heavy vehicles cannot be accommodated.
Full access is always available for emergency vehicles with flashing lights.
Remutaka Hill closure - Escort booking form(external link)
January escorted crossings:
February and March escorted crossings:
We can only accommodate two escorted crossings per closure due to resurfacing works. These are:
Email us with any booking questions or to book an escorted crossing from February onwards:
The only detour is via State Highways 1, 57 and 3. As this is very long detour, we advise vehicles to travel early if possible or book an escorted crossing. There will be detour signs in place during this time.
Travelling from the Hawkes Bay
Vehicles travelling from the Hawkes Bay region needing to head south of the Remutaka Hill should detour at Woodville and travel via Ashurst to get to State Highways 3, 57 and 1.
The SH2 Remutaka Hill road is the main artery linking the Wellington and Wairarapa regions, with an average of 7,205 vehicles using the road daily.
Of these, around 299 use the road between 9pm and 4am. With the nearest detour route over 100km away, effective maintenance of the road is critical for both the Wellington and Wairarapa communities.
The safest and most efficient way to maintain the road, is to close it. This avoids more frequent disruptions and helps keep our crews safe.
There is a lot of work that takes place during the Remutaka Hill road closures. Taking full advantage of the road closure, we schedule as much work as possible to avoid other disruptions while the road is open.
Rockfall protection work is carried out to protect the road from slips which can cause major disruption. This work involves clearing vegetation and loose rocks and then installing netting which is designed to catch loose material as it falls.
CloseMaintenance work we complete on the hill is one of the most important things we do to keep the hill safe. We schedule as much maintenance work as possible during each closure. At any time during the closure there could be up to 100 crew members doing a variety of activities. This includes:
Learn about the importance of regular SH2 Remutaka Hill road maintenance night closures by watching this video:
Crew operating a milling machine along the Remutaka Hill.
Crew installing an under barrier which are designed to protect motorcyclists if they crash.
