When State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyn Hills is closed for a $61million repair programme in coming months, the detour route for all HPMV traffic will add 71km to the journey between Auckland and Whangarei.

The Brynderwyn closure is scheduled to begin on Monday February 26 and in recent weeks work has been progressing on the various detour routes to be used.

Steve Mutton, Director Regional Relationships NZTA says that crews have been preparing SH12 and SH14 for heavy vehicles while working closely with the Northland Transportation Alliance on local detour routes for light vehicles including Cove Road and Paparoa Oakleigh Road.

NZTA says high productivity motor vehicles (HPMV) must use SH12 and SH14 (via Dargaville), which is also the suggested detour route for heavy vehicles.

Shorter, local detour routes via Cove Road or Paparoa Oakleigh Road are recommended for light vehicles.

“We recognise these detours will take longer, especially for freight, which is why we will be working as quickly as possible to carry out this important work,” Mutton says.

“We encourage people to use it as an opportunity to explore Northland and have an adventure while travelling along the scenic routes.”

SH1 Brynderwyn Hills will be closed from 12:01am Monday 26 February until 11:59pm Wednesday 27 March, opening for six days over the Easter period from 12:01am 28 March to 11:59pm 2 April.

The road will then close again at 12:01am on Wednesday 3 April until 11:59pm Sunday 12 May to complete the remaining work that requires a full closure. Work will be done as quickly as possible.

Ahead of the road closure on Monday 26 February, there will be some night works in the Brynderwyn Hills. SH1 is still open but will operate under stop/go traffic management. 

NZTA estimates the HPMV and recommended heavy vehicle detour route increases the journey from Auckland to Whangarei from 156km to 227km. The estimated journey time (for cars) increases from 2h 06min to 3h 03min.

The Cove Rd detour is not suitable for truck and trailer units and the Paparoa Oakleigh Rd detour is also the suggested route for light vehicles