Information about planned maintenance work and projects to improve the state highways in the Taranaki region.
For information on current road works visit the Journey Planner website.
Journey Planner(external link)
Please drive carefully through work sites, keep to the temporary speed limits and be respectful of our crews who are working hard to maintain the roads.
On Friday 3 June, State Highway 4 was closed between the intersections of State Highway 43 and Okahukura Bridge Road, after a collapsed culvert created a large hole on the side of the road. The road has since been reinstated to one lane under traffic light stop/go with delays of approximately 5-10 minutes.
The rest of State Highway 4 north of Taumarunui has also been impacted by the severe weather, with a number of slips and potholes on the highway.
On Tuesday 14 June, the heavy rainfall also caused a large under slip on State Highway 3, south of Awakau Road in the Awakino Gorge, causing damage to the road pavement as well as nearby guardrails, fences and drainage. The area is currently under traffic light stop/go with delays of approximately 5-10 minutes and Downer crews are monitoring the site 24/7 to ensure the safety of road users.
Waka Kotahi and Downer are working to confirm long term solutions to address the collapsed culvert on SH4 and the under slip on SH3. Solutions are likely to be complex and will require several months to implement due to the high level of damage at both sites.
State Highway 43 was also hit with heavy rainfall and high winds recently, causing flooding and slips near the Tahora Saddle, Tāngarākau Gorge and River Road.
Crews are working to clear the slips and debris from this area of the network.
Multiple areas remain under stop/go while awaiting geotechnical assessment. Road users can expect delays of approximately 10-15 minutes until further notice.
Maintenance crews are working hard to repair damage to SH3 as a result of heavy rainfall over June and July. Regular patrols of the network to repair potholes are ongoing during both night and day shifts, so please keep an eye out for our crews and drive to the conditions.
Work to replace four retaining walls along SH43 that were damaged by severe weather events has now commenced.
The retaining walls located at Strathmore and Pohokura have now been completed.
Work at the two retaining walls at Whangamomona will be replaced by the end of September 2022.
The sites will be completed one at a time, with each being run under stop/go with delays of no more than 5-10 minutes.
Work to replace the stock effluent plant is scheduled for completion by the end of July, with the tank having been installed and crews now completing the final landscaping works.
Major infrastructure works to make SH3 safer between Waitara and Bell Block will get underway early in the new year.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency contractors will begin installing stormwater infrastructure to support a new roundabout and underpass at the SH3/Princess Street intersection that will be built later in the year.
Northbound light vehicles will be detoured through Waitara while the work is underway.
With support from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is undertaking a project to seal 12km of unsealed road through the Tangarakau Gorge. Other improvements for the route are also underway with support from with support from the from the regional package of the NZ Upgrade Programme.
Improvements are underway on SH3 from Awakino Gorge to Mt Messenger to improve safety, resilience and route availability. This 58km section of SH3 is Taranaki’s main route north, it runs through rough terrain and is winding and narrow.
