State Highway 29 over the Kaimai Range is scheduled to be partially closed overnight from today Sunday November 21 for up to three weeks for essential maintenance work.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency advises that the duration of work will be from 8pm to 5.30am from Sunday to Friday and will be from the intersections with State Highway 24 and State Highway 28 at Te Poi on the Waikato side, through to the intersection of SH29 and Cambridge Road on the Bay of Plenty side.

During the periods when SH29 is closed there will be two three-and-a-half hour windows to allow for traffic to pass through in one direction only. The timetable for the works are:

• 8pm to 9pm - SH29 will be fully closed to all traffic while the site is being set up.
• 9pm to 12.30am - SH29 will be open to traffic travelling from the east (Bay of Plenty) to the west (Waikato).
• 12.30am to 1am - A full road closure will be in place to allow for the change of traffic direction.
• 1am to 4.30am - SH29 will be open to traffic travelling from the west (Waikato) to the east (Bay of Plenty).
• 4.30am to 5:30am - Final closure to allow for the site to be made safe for the resumption of two way traffic during the day.

Resident access will be maintained at all times during the works, however residents will need to liaise with the traffic control teams onsite.

Waikato System Manager Cara Lauder says the partial closure allows the vital maintenance work to take place while still allowing traffic, particularly trucks, to plan their journey across the Kaimai Range.

'Completing the road maintenance work safely is our priority. However we know that regular users such as freight want certainty to plan their journey. This partial closure will allow us to get important surfacing work done, while still enabling freight to get to and from Tauranga.”

Waka Kotahi has opted for one long window for traffic in each direction rather than more frequent but shorter windows to avoid lengthy queues of vehicles waiting for their turn to cross the Kaimai Range. By having a longer window drivers, especially those in trucks, can plan their journey with greater certainty that when they arrive the road will be open.

During the day the road will reopen to two lanes and there will be reduced speeds through areas that have been recently resealed.

The detours for this closure are significant. Road users are advised to plan their travel according to when the road will be open or use alternative routes.

Any drivers planning to use the east-bound or west-bound travel window during the closures are advised to allow extra time for their journey.

The work is scheduled to be complete by December 12. Work will happen every night during the week except for Saturdays.

Cara says SH29 over the Kaimai Range is difficult terrain, exposed to many weather events and has high traffic volumes.

'All of these factors create additional challenges for our regular maintenance programme and we'd like to thank those who travel over the Kaimai Range regularly for their patience.”

Road users are encouraged to visit the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner website for up to date information.

Journey Planner website

Plan ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey. Keep up to date with:

• COVID-19 services update: nzta.govt.nz/COVID19
• Traffic updates: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic(external link)
• Facebook: facebook.com/WakaKotahiHBG(external link)
• Twitter: twitter.com/WakaKotahiCNI(external link)
• Journey planner: journeys.nzta.govt.nz(external link)
• Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency works to create transport solutions for all New Zealanders – from helping new drivers earn their licences, to leading safety campaigns to investing in public transport, state highways and local roads.