33-746: State Highway 6 ( SH 6 ) is a major New Zealand state highway . It extends from the Marlborough region in the northeastern corner of the South Island across the top of the island, then down the length of the island, initially along the West Coast and then across the Southern Alps through inland Otago and finally across the Southland Plains to the island's south coast. Distances are measured from north to south. The highway
66-537: A history of being disrupted and closed at this point due to instability and rock falls from the bluff. The first road around the bluff was constructed in 1866, opening access to the Wakatipu goldfields. Significant slips occurred at the bluff on 1940-02-20, and blocking SH6 in June 1975. On 17 September 2000, a large-scale rock fall buried the highway at the bluff, and several motorists narrowly avoided being killed. The fall
99-538: A saddle in the mountains that lie between Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea . The highway continues along the western shore of Hāwea, then south along the Cardrona River to Albert Town , close to the tourist centre of Wānaka . Ten kilometres from Wānaka, the highway is met by SH 8A, a spur of SH 8 skirting the shore of Lake Dunstan . SH 6 continues south along the western shore of the Lake, paralleling SH 8 which lies on
132-614: A series of pieces of legislation was passed to allow for the designation of main highways (starting with the Main Highways Act 1922 , followed by gazetting of roads ) and state highways (in 1936). This saw the National Roads Board, an arm of the Ministry of Works, responsible for the state highway network. From 1989 to 2008, state highways were the responsibility of Transit New Zealand , a Crown entity. In 1996
165-448: A set distance post, that post being 237 km (147 mi) from the start of the highway. In about 2004 these plaques were replaced by a new system, which gives each bridge a single number showing the distance from the start of the highway in hundreds of metres. Under the new system the bridge above would be numbered 2511, as it is 251 km (156 mi) km from the start of the highway. Motorway on- and off-ramps are numbered using
198-433: Is based on the likelihood of a single driver experiencing an accident while travelling the link in question. As of 2008, the three least safe sections of the network based on individual risk were State Highway 62 from Spring Creek to Renwick (Marlborough), State Highway 37 to Waitomo Caves and State Highway 94 from Te Anau to Milford Sound . The collective risk is based on the total number of crashes that occurred on
231-638: Is the longest single highway in the country, though it is shorter than the combined totals of the two highways that comprise SH 1 , SHs 1N and 1S. For most of its length SH6 is a two-lane single carriageway, except for 5.4 km of dual carriageway in Invercargill, and passing lanes in Invercargill and Nelson, with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas. Roundabouts are common in major towns, with traffic signals only found in Invercargill, Queenstown, Richmond, and Tāhunanui with signals also controlling Iron Bridge in
264-694: Is using speed reductions, wire rope barriers , wide centrelines, rumble strips , better warning signs and shoulder widening. State Highway 1 can be considered as a single highway running the length of both main islands, broken in the middle by the ferry connection at Cook Strait . It connects six of the seven largest urban areas and includes the country's busiest stretch of road. Many sections of state highway provided are marketed as tourist highways , sometimes jointly with local roading providers. Transit maintains traffic signs on and near state highways to help promote these routes. These include: Bruce Bay Too Many Requests If you report this error to
297-661: The Haast River , the highway turns eastward and inland up the river's valley, climbing past the Gates of Haast and crossing the 563-metre Haast Pass , the southernmost of the three main road passes across the Southern Alps. From here, the highway again turns south, following the Makarora River valley to the northern tip of Lake Wānaka . The highway skirts the eastern coast of the lake before crossing The Neck ,
330-591: The New Zealand Automobile Association . The system, based on similar programs overseas, categorises New Zealand state highways according to the safety of discrete 'links' (sections of the network, with a total of 10,856 km of highways separated into 172 links ranging in length from 2.4 km (1 mi) to 318 km (198 mi)). These are graded according to their 'individual risk' and their 'collective risk' based on historical crash data and traffic volumes. The individual risk
363-537: The North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency . The highways were originally designated using a two-tier system, national (SH 1 to 8) and provincial, with national highways having a higher standard and funding priorities. Now all are state highways, and the network consists of SH 1 running the length of both islands, SH 2 to 5 and 10 to 59 in
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#1732791646119396-536: The NLTP total) in safety, including $ 960m for policing, $ 132m for road safety promotion and $ 103m for rural SH safety. The Safe Roads Alliance is carrying out rural work on SH 1 (Waikato Expressway, Te Teko-Awakeri), SH 1B (Taupiri-Gordonton), SH 3 (Ohaupo-Te Awamutu, Waitomo-Te Kuiti), SH 11 (Airfield-Lily Pond), SH 12 (Dargaville-Tokatoka), SH 16 (Brigham Creek-Waimauku), SH 23 (Hamilton-Raglan), SH 27 (SH 26-SH 24) and SH 34 (SH 30 to Kawerau). The Alliance
429-566: The NZ Transport Agency. Every five years the NZ Transport Agency will embark on a state highway review to consider whether the existing network should be expanded or reduced, according to traffic flows, changes in industry, tourism and development. From 2009 many new road schemes were classed as Roads of National Significance and, from 2020, as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme . Since 2013,
462-776: The NZTA has used the One Network Road Classification (ONRC) system to classify state highways and local roads. There are five categories for state highways, with an additional sixth category (Access) used only by local roads. The categories are as follows: From 2006 information, the busiest stretch of SH 1 was just south of the Auckland Central Motorway Junction , on/near the Newmarket Viaduct , with over 200,000 vehicles (either way) each day. The least busy parts of
495-633: The North Island, and SH 6 to 8 and 60 to 99 in the South Island, numbered approximately north to south. State highways are marked by red shield-shaped signs with white numbering (shields for the former provincial highways were blue). Road maps usually number state highways in this fashion. Of the total state highway network, New Zealand currently has 363 km (226 mi) of motorways and expressways with grade-separated access and they carry ten percent of all New Zealand traffic. The majority of
528-550: The coast of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere . The highway travels through the city of Nelson and nearby town of Richmond , continuing southwest across the plains of the Wairoa and Motueka Rivers . From these plains, the road ascends rapidly to the 634-metre Hope Saddle . From here, the highway heads generally westward, along the valley of the Buller River and its tributaries. Beyond Murchison , this valley narrows to become
561-498: The coast's larger towns, Greymouth and Hokitika . From Hokitika, the highway moves away from the coast, though still generally keeps within five kilometres of the sea. The highway continues south past Ross and Harihari , moving through state forests as it crosses several fast-moving rivers. Seventy kilometres south of Harihari, the highway skirts Lake Mapourika and reaches the tourist settlement of Franz Josef Glacier . The glacier itself, one of two within easy walking distance of
594-421: The distance in kilometres from the start of the highway. Until recently, all bridges on the network had at each end a small plaque showing the distance from the start of the highway, usually in the form of a number in kilometres, an oblique stroke, and a further number in kilometres, accurate to the nearest 10 metres. A plaque marked 237/14.12, for example, indicated that the bridge was 14.12 km (9 mi) past
627-616: The eastern shore. Close to Cromwell , a second spur, SH 8B, connects the two highways. From here, SH6 turns west, following the narrow and twisting Kawarau Gorge , emerging close to the wine-producing area of Gibbston . At the western end of the Kawarau Gorge, midway between Cromwell and Queenstown, the highway passes the Nevis Bluff, a steep schist rock outcrop rising 100 m above the Kawarau River . The highway has
660-528: The funding of the network was removed from the operational functions with the creation of Transfund New Zealand, which then merged with the Land Transport Safety Authority to create Land Transport New Zealand . That was done to ensure that funding of state highways was considered on a similar basis to funding for local roads and regional council subsidised public transport. In August 2008, Transit and Land Transport NZ merged to become
693-739: The highway turns north, crossing the Wairau River and following the Kaituna River valley to meet Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere at Havelock . From Havelock, the highway heads inland up the valley of the Pelorus River . At Pelorus Bridge the highway again turns north through Rai Valley , and crosses into Nelson region at the Rai Saddle. The highway then tends southwest as it crosses over the Whangamoa Saddle approaching
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#1732791646119726-498: The highway, lies nearby in the Southern Alps , which here come very close to the Tasman coast. The second glacier, Fox Glacier is located some 20 kilometres further south. The highway again briefly touches the coast at Bruce Bay before heading inland past Lake Paringa , before reemerging on the Tasman coast at Knights Point . The 30 km stretch of highway from here south to Haast is noted for its rugged scenery. After crossing
759-545: The lake, skirting the foot of The Remarkables and the Hector Mountains . This stretch of the highway is in part tortuously winding, and rises and falls over a stretch known as "The Devil's Staircase". The highway leaves the lake's shore at Kingston , continuing south to Garston , where, the highway briefly follows the course of the infant Mataura River before heading across the Jollies Hill Pass to
792-474: The landowners. Land within the boundaries of highway districts became subject to a rate of not more than 1/- an acre, or of 3d in the £ of its estimated sale value and that was to be equalled by a grant from the Province. By 1913 the government was collecting £21,000 in duty on cars, but spending £40,000 on roads. The idea of a national network of highways did not emerge until the early twentieth century, when
825-644: The link, which pushes safer but very highly travelled sections of the network to the top of the statistical category. As of 2008, the three least safe sections of the network based on collective risk were all on State Highway 2, on the sections from Napier to Hastings , Mount Maunganui to Paengaroa and Bay View to Napier. Both categories of assessment are to be used as an advisory tool for both drivers to inform them of dangerous road sections as well as to allow traffic controlling authorities to prioritise maintenance and safety improvements. The 2015–18 National Land Transport Programme aimed to invest $ 3.2bn (23% of
858-708: The network (excluding off-ramps and on-ramps) are on SH 43 north-east of Whangamōmona , with fewer than 120 vehicles (counting both directions) in a day. The only remaining unsealed sections of state highway are 12 km (7.5 mi) of SH 43 and 20 km (12 mi) of SH 38 , though 38% of other roads remain unsealed. Every year the New Zealand Transport Agency produces a booklet titled AADT Data , average annualised daily traffic, that gives traffic volumes on all state highways from their automated vehicle recording system. State highways are marked with posts at irregular intervals giving
891-559: The same system. In this way, travellers can accurately assess their location, and road authorities can identify each bridge uniquely. Sometimes, houses with RAPID numbering can also be used to determine the position. For example, house number 1530 is 15.3 km (10 mi) from the start of the highway. In early 2008, Transit New Zealand unveiled KiwiRAP (the New Zealand Road Assessment Programme) in cooperation with other government agencies and
924-412: The scenic Buller Gorge , and the highway twists its way high above the waters of the river. The highway leaves the river as its valley broadens, turning south six kilometres from Westport , where the river reaches the sea. From here, the highway keeps close to the Tasman coast from Charleston for over 100 kilometres, turning inland only briefly near Runanga . This 100-kilometre stretch includes two of
957-466: The state highway network is made up of single-carriageway roads with one lane each way and at-grade access. In the early days all roads were managed by local road boards. Initially they were set up by the Provinces. For example, Auckland Province passed a Highways Act in 1862 allowing their Superintendent to define given areas of settlement as Highways Districts, each with a board of trustees elected by
990-662: The tourist centre of Queenstown . SH 6 in Nelson City previously went through Stoke between Annesbrook Drive and the Richmond Deviation via Main Road. In 2003, SH 6 shifted to the newly constructed Whakatu Drive, bypassing much of the residential areas. New Zealand state highway network The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand . Nearly 100 roads in
1023-621: The upper Buller Gorge, Fern Arch in the lower Buller Gorge near Westport, and the Albert Town Bridge over the Clutha River near Albert Town . NZTA classified the highway as an arterial route, except for two sections between Blenheim (SH 1) and Richmond (SH 60) and between Cromwell (SH 8B) and Five Rivers (SH 97) where SH 6 is classified as a regional strategic route. The highway leaves State Highway 1 at Blenheim , initially travelling west through Woodboune to Renwick. At Renwick
State Highway 6 (New Zealand) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-437: The upper reaches of the Ōreti River near Lowther . The highway continues to follow the Ōreti south, through Lumsden , then across the Southland Plains , past the town of Winton before reaching its terminus at a junction with SH 1 in central Invercargill . SH6 has one spur, designated [REDACTED] State Highway 6A (also part of the [REDACTED] Southern Scenic Route ). This 6.9 km highway links Frankton with
1089-412: Was caught on video and showed a volume of 10,000 m³ for the main fall; the resulting dust cloud was seen 5 km away. Transit New Zealand conducted stabilisation drilling and blasting at the bluff twice in 2006 and again in 2007. From the Nevis Bluff, the highway continues west, reaching Frankton , close to the shore of Lake Wakatipu . The highway turns south to follow the southeastern shore of
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