Plan ahead for next 30 Remutaka Hill road closures

The year has well begun and so have the Remutaka Hill road closures, so be prepared for 30 more this year _ already one night closedown has passed by. 

NZTA, or Waka Kotahi, has confirmed that there will be 30 overnight closures between March 10  and June 21 this year. 

This is a larger number than usual, in fact, an additional 13 extra nights of access closures.

The first night’s closedown on Remutaka Hill road was for maintenance on Sunday 14 January.

This was followed by the Tauwharenikau Bridge, closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, from January 23 to 7 February, for bridge concrete and bearing repairs. 

This necessitated a detour along the Number 1 Line. It opened during weekends and on Waitangi Day. 

Work by KiwiRail began on Featherston’s Fitzherbert Street railway crossing between 20 and 22 January – a capacity upgrade designed to support more passenger services for Wairarapa commuters in coming years.

At the same time safety upgrades were made to the pedestrian crossing at Fitzherbert St. These will continue until early March.

Work was also completed on SH53 near Bidwill’s Cutting between 22 and 23 January.

Remutaka Hill Road is recognised as a challenging project.. 

The land is steep, the hillside drops away to ravines some considerable distance below the road. It is unforgiving. It is exceedingly narrow in parts.

But as the main artery between Wellington and the Wairarapa it carries a vast load of traffic. With an average of 7,380 vehicles using the road daily, the planned closures will compromise travel plans. 

The nearest detour route is over 100 kilometres away via the Pahiatua Track through Tararua, which adds another 3 hours to any journey.

In both March and May, NZTA plans to close the hill for 10 nights each month, with closures from 9.00 p.m. to 4.00 a.m. April and June will see five nights of closures.

NZTA said substantial work is planned which will combine extra safety improvement works as well as maintenance. 

Additional side barriers will be installed at high-risk locations and motorcycle under-barriers will be extended. Motorcyclists have made up more than half the people who have lost their lives or been seriously injured in the past five years.

Side barriers will help prevent cars from leaving the road and causing greater injury to the occupants. Road signage and road markings are to be improved.

Escorted crossings are available during closure nights, but they must be booked in advance.

Bookings can be made online at “Remutaka Hill Closure Escort Booking” form. This applies to light vehicles only, and is not easy to locate: 

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/lower-north-island-planned-state-highway-roadworks/

Full access is always made available to emergency vehicles.

State Highway 2, Remutaka Hill, planned night closures January – June 2024

Nights closed Start 9 p.m, _ Finish 4 a.m.

Closure Schedule:

10 March – 15 March

17 March – 22 March

14 April   – 19 April

19 May    – 24 May

26 May    – 31 May

16 June    – 21 June

ends

Caption: Twin bridges is the start of the hill road challenge.