New Zealand State Highway 2

State Highway 2
Route information
Maintained by New Zealand Transport Agency
Length:	968 km (601 mi)
Tourist routes:	Pacific Coast Highway Classic New Zealand Wine Trail
Major junctions
North end:	SH 1 Waikato Expressway near Pokeno
	SH 5 near Bay View SH 3 in Woodville
South end:	SH 1 Wellington Urban Motorway at Ngauranga Interchange
Location
Primary destinations:	Paeroa, Waihi, Tauranga, Te Puke, Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier, Hastings, Waipukurau, Dannevirke, Masterton, Carterton, Featherston, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt
Highway system
New Zealand State Highways Motorways and Expressways • List • Unused ← SH 1 SH 3 →

State Highway 2 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. With the exception of State Highway 1, which runs the length of both of the country's main islands, SH 2 is the longest highway in the North Island. The highway runs north-south via the country's east coast, connecting Auckland and Wellington via the Hawkes Bay cities of Napier and Hastings, Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty including Tauranga.

For most of its length SH 2 is a two-lane single carriageway, with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas.

Route

Looking north on State Highway 2 (High Street South) in Carterton, just 80 km (50 mi) from SH 2's terminus near Wellington.

This is the route that SH 2 takes in 2008.

The highway deviates from SH 1 just north of Pokeno, some 49 km south of central Auckland. It initially heads east, crossing the Hauraki Plains before running the length of the Karangahake Gorge, a break in the hills between the Coromandel Peninsula and Kaimai Ranges. From the mining town of Waihi it runs southeast, skirting the edge of Tauranga Harbour, which it crosses on the Tauranga Harbour Bridge. The highway continues to follow the coast for a further 60 km, until it reaches the village of Matata.

From Matata the highway heads slightly inland, crossing through the Rangitaiki plain to the south of Whakatane, loops south to Taneatua, through the Waimana gorge then back north to briefly return to the coast near Opotiki. After Opotiki the highway turns inland, ascending southeast along the valley of the Waioeka River, and from there winding up to the 725-metre Traffords Hill Summit. From here it descends into the watershed of the Waipaoa River following that river's valley from Te Karaka to Makaraka, just outside Gisborne, to which it is connected by a short stretch of SH 35.

From this point the highway turns south , passing the Wharerata Forest and the isthmus of the Mahia Peninsula, before turning west to follow the coast of Hawke Bay. Close to the mouth of the Waihua River the highway heads briefly inland, passing the Mohaka Forest and Lake Tutira before rejoining the coast not far from the junction with SH 5 at Bay View. The highway continues south to the twin bay cities, crossing Napier and turning inland to enter Hastings. From central Hastings, the highway briefly loses its national highway status for seven kilometres, regaining that status at Pakipaki.

The highway continues to head inland from Pakipaki, initially southwest to Waipukurau, then briefly west to follow tributaries of the Tukituki River upstream. Close to Norsewood the highway again turns southwest, a direction it maintains for much of the remainder of its journey, crossing undulating country that forms the upper catchment of the Manawatu River. In Woodville, the highway meets SH 3, which links SH 2 with the city of Palmerston North via the Manawatu Gorge. SH2 continues south into the Wairarapa, travelling through the town of Eketahuna and into the town of Masterton.

The last 100 kilometres of highway takes it through several small Wairarapa towns (Carterton, Greytown, and Featherston), and then via a winding and steep section over the Rimutaka Range (summit 555 metres) into the Hutt Valley. The highway travels along the edge of Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt and Petone before skirting the upper part of Wellington Harbour before terminating at the junction with SH 1 at the Ngauranga Interchange, five kilometres of central Wellington.

Although the Ngauranga Interchange is the official end of State Highway 2, it is signed northbound as far back as the Mount Victoria Tunnel, 8 km before it begins.

Spur sections

State Highway 2 has two short spurs: State Highway 2A and State Highway 2B. State Highway 2A runs for 3.8 km from SH2 through Tauranga as 15th Avenue and Turret Road to the junction with SH29 at Maungatapu. State Highway 2B runs for 4.1 km from SH 2 at Napier Airport to SH 50 at Taradale. This forms the northern part of the Hawke's Bay Expressway.

History

Stage Highway 2 used to travel where State Highway 2A travels today in Tauranga, along 15th Ave, into Turret Road, and across the harbour to Maungatapu, where it joined to State Highway 29, and then headed across the Maungatapu Bridge to Te Maunga. This was changed in 2009 when a second harbour bridge opened next to the current one, providing 4 lanes of traffic and an overpass from the harbour bridges to the existing Takatimu Drive expressway

State Highway 2 used to extend into Whakatane, but recently this section was moved inland to pass through Edgecumbe and Awakeri, with State Highway 30 extended to Whakatane to cover the former route occupied by State Highway 2.

State Highway 2 used to run between Hastings and Pakipaki, but recently has been revoked.

State Highway 2's southern terminus has also changed. It used to form the southern part of the Wellington Urban Motorway when State Highway 1 finished at the Aotea Quay off-ramp. In 1996, State Highway 1 replaced this section.

At Mangatawhiri the section of State Highway 2 had a poor crash record. A seven-kilometre Mangatawhiri Deviation was built to improve safety by bypassing a section. East and west bound passing lanes provide safe passing opportunities. Grade separated intersections improved safety for traffic wanting to cross or join the highway in December 2008.

The Rimutaka Hill Road, transversing the Rimutaka Ranges between Featherston and Upper Hutt, also has had a poor crash record, with many tight 25 and 35km/h corners, and a lack of safety barriers to prevent vehicles dropping down off the road. The original winding route between Kaitoke and Te Marua was significantly realigned between 2002 and 2006. The tightest and narrowest corner on the road, named Muldoon's Corner after the former Prime Minister's financial stance ("tight and to the right"), was bypassed with a new wider 55km/h corner in June 2011.^[1]

River Road, between Maoribank and Silverstream in Upper Hutt, was opened in 1987 to bypass central Upper Hutt. The new route was a two-laned single carriageway 100km/h road on the Hutt River's banks, crossing the river at Moonshine, and replaced the 50km/h route via Fergusson Drive. Since then, sections of the road have been widended to three lanes and had median barriers installed.

Future

Currently there are several projects to improve stafety of State Highway 2. They include:

• Kopuku Realignment: this section of highway is under investigation to improve to 4 lane highway between the Mangatawhiri and Maramarua Deviations. The project is primarily a realignment project aimed at improving road safety and providing passing opportunities.

• Maramarua Deviation: a bypass of Maramarua township on SH2, east of the SH1/2 Pokeno turnoff, to improve road safety, provide passing opportunities and reduce holiday peak congestion in Maramarua township. Expected completion of the project detail design will be completed by end 2008/ start of 2009.

• Katikati Bypass: an investigation is currently being unertaken into the long-standing designation for the bypass to ensure that it will meet the future needs of Katikati, and is consistent with Transit's overall strategy for long-term management of SH2.

• Tauranga Eastern Motorway: a proposed Motorway in the Bay of Plenty region. It will replace a section of State Highway 2, covering almost 23 km from Te Maunga junction to Paengaroa, and will improve access from the east (Te Puke, Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne) and south from Rotorua and Taupo. It is the main route for trucks heading to the Port of Tauranga from Rotorua and the eastern Bay of Plenty, and connects the economically important central plateau forestry industry with the port for export.

• Dowse to Petone Upgrade Project: A grade-separated interchange with raised roundabout over SH2 at Dowse Drive with a connection to Hutt Road and Dowse Drive; an overbridge to replace the traffic lights at Korokoro connecting Petone and Korokoro; upgrading the section of SH2 between Korokoro and the Petone overbridges in the short term by providing a raised central curbed median to separate north and southbound lanes. It is expected to be completed by 2010.

Traffic

The busiest section of State Highway 2 exists just north of the Ngauranga Interchange in Wellington, which was measured at km 977.6 to have an AADT of 67,000 vehicles.^[2] The quietest section of road is nead Otoko in the Gisborne District, which was measured at km 389.5 to have an AADT of just 1000 vehicles.

Major intersections

Territorial authority	Location	km	Destinations	Notes
Franklin District	Pokeno	0	SH 1 north (Waikato Expressway) Auckland	SH 2 begins
			SH 1 south (Waikato Expressway) Hamilton
Waikato District	District contains no major junctions
Hauraki District	Mangatarata	34	SH 25 Thames, Coromandel Peninsula
		37	SH 27 Matamata, Tirau
	Paeroa		Waihou River
		72	SH 26 north (Arney Street) Coromandel Peninsula, Thames	SH 2/SH 26 concurrency begins
		73	SH 26 south (Te Aroha Road) Hamilton	SH 2/SH 26 concurrency ends
	Waihi	93	SH 25/Pacific Coast Highway Whangamata, Tairua	SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins
Western Bay of Plenty District	District west of Tauranga contains no major junctions
Tauranga City	Cambridge Heights	149	Waihi Road Otumoetai
	Tauranga City	151	SH 2A (Tamatea Arikinui Drive) Tauranga South, Greerton , Welcome Bay, Maungatapu
		153	Elizabeth St City Centre
		154	Chapel St Otumoetai City Centre	Grade Separated Junction
		155	Port of Tauranga	Grade Separated Junction
	Mount Maunganui	157	Totara St Mount Maunganui
		160	Maunganui Road (North) Mount Maunganui Omanu Beach	Also known as the Hewletts Flyover
	Te Maunga	164	SH 29 Welcome Bay Tauranga South Hamilton, New Zealand
Western Bay of Plenty District	Paengaroa	189	SH 33 Rotorua
Whakatane District	Matata	223	Pacific Coast Highway (Arawa Street) Whakatane
	Hawkens Junction	232	SH 34 (Awaiti South Road) Kawerau, Rotorua	SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends
	Edgecumbe		Rangitaiki River
	Awakeri	242	SH 30 west Rotorua	SH 2/SH 30 concurrency begins
		243	SH 30 east Whakatane	SH 2/SH 30 concurrency ends
Opotiki District	Kerurutahi	285	Pacific Coast Highway (Wainui Road) Whakatane	SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins
	Opotiki	304	SH 35/Pacific Coast Highway (St John Street) Te Kaha, Te Araroa	SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends
Gisborne District	Makaraka	443	Pacific Coast Highway (Main Road) Gisborne, Te Araroa	SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins
	Matawhero	444	SH 35 (Awapuni Road) Gisborne
Wairoa District	North Clyde	533	SH 38 (Mahia Avenue) Frasertown, Lake Waikaremoana
Hastings District	District north of Napier contains no major junctions
Napier City	Bay View	638	SH 5/Thermal Explorer Highway (Eskdale Drive) Taupo
	Westshore	647	SH 2B (Hawkes Bay Expressway) Hastings
	Napier Central	649	SH 50 north (Hyderabad Road) Port	SH 2/SH 50 concurrency begins
		650	SH 50 south (Taradale Road) Taradale, Hastings, Wellington	SH 2/SH 50 concurrency ends
			Pacific Coast Highway and SH2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends Classic New Zealand Wine Trail and SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency begins
Hastings District	Karamu	669	SH 2 temporarily ends
	Pakipaki	678	SH 2 resumes
			SH 50A (Hawkes Bay Expressway) Napier
Central Hawke's Bay District	Takapau	743	SH 50 Tikokino, Ongaonga
Tararua District			Manawatu River
	Woodville	802	SH 3 (Vogel Street) Palmerston North
	Ngawapurua	808	Manawatu River
Masterton District	District contains no major junctions
Carterton District
South Wairarapa District	Greytown	909	Classic NZ Wine Trail (Moroa Plains Road) Martinborough	SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency ends
	Featherston	921	SH 53/Classic NZ Wine Trail (Revans Street) Martinborough	SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency begins
Upper Hutt City	District contains no major junctions
Hutt City	Manor Park	962	SH 58 (Haywards Hill Road) Pauatahanui, Porirua
Wellington City	Ngauranga	979	SH 1 north/Classic NZ Wine Trail south (Hutt Road) Ngauranga, Porirua, Picton Ferry	SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency ends Traffic for The Interislander ferry to Picton and the South Island exits here.
			SH 1 south (Wellington Urban Motorway) City Centre, Airport	SH 2 ends

See also

• List of New Zealand State Highways
• List of roads and highways, for notable or famous roads worldwide

References

1. ^ "Tight corner on Rimutaka Hill Road consigned to history". New Zealand. 27 June 2011. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/about/media/releases/1272/news.html. Retrieved 9 July 2011. 
2. ^ [1]