State Highway 1 traffic in north Waikato will be passing through Rangiriri at 110km/h by Easter.

The 4.8km section of the Waikato Expressway had extensive work in the months before Christmas last year, and a final surface will be applied in March now those repairs have bedded in.

“We could not apply the final chip-seal surface until those repairs had been trafficked on and settled, which is why the site has been operating under a reduced speed limit,” says NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Infrastructure Delivery, Jo Wilton.

Contractors plan to lay the final surface from 6 March – weather permitting. Northbound lanes will be done first and take 2-3 days. During this time, the northbound on and off-ramps to the Rangiriri and Te Kauwhata interchanges will be closed and detours will be required.

Then from 17 March (and it could be earlier) the southbound lanes will be sealed, with on and off-ramps south closed and detours in place for 2-3 days. 

“While the final surface is being laid SH1 will remain open for through traffic, single lane in each direction, and with a speed restriction However those communities using the interchanges – like Rangiriri, Te Kauwhata and Glen Murray – will need to factor in detours to either the Hampton Downs or Ōhinewai interchanges and return,” Ms Wilton says.

“The detours will only be in place for the 2-3 days when sealing is happening in each direction, and the rest of the time the ramps will be open as traffic is moved through the site to bed in the new seal.”