Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth
LATEST UPDATES
Southern Connection – Road layout changes
**KING’S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND TRAVEL** The Johnstones Hill Tunnels can be a bottleneck for traffic, especially at weekends or on public holidays so motorists are advised to expect significant delays at peak times and should allow additional time for their journeys or consider an alternate route such as SH16. Our team will be doing what they can to coordinate traffic management across the site to minimise delays as much as possible.
Northbound travellers continue to exit at the Pūhoi northbound off-ramp before being directed along a short section of Pūhoi Road and back onto the existing SH1. A temporary speed limit of 30km/h and traffic management is in place through the work site.
This change will remain in place until the safer, more resilient and reliable route fully opens before the end of the second quarter.
NX2 would like motorists to take extra care when travelling through the site and asks them to please adhere to the temporary speed restrictions for their own safety, and that of our road workers and other road users.
For full details of what is coming up in the Southern Connection please click here
Road closures – Southern Connection
Overnight closures are needed to carry out the thermoplastic line marking. This area was recently paved with the final OGPA asphalt, and thermoplastic lining (a long-life road marking material) can only be put down a minimum of four weeks after the paving has taken place.
To facilitate these works, SH1 northbound (Silverdale to Pūhoi) and southbound (Pūhoi to Grand Drive) will be closed from 9pm to 5am on:
- Sunday 14 May to Thursday 18 May
- Sunday 21 May to Thursday 25 May
When the closures are in place, there will be a detour along Hibiscus Coast Highway (HCH) and/or SH16. A stop/go operation will be in place on HCH to manage traffic safely.
This work is highly weather dependant and can’t be done in the rain or if the ground is wet. The team have allowed contingency in these two weeks, however if there is significant rain during these dates, the work will need to be pushed out to the next fine night. To keep up to date with the closures, please check updates here Southern Connection - NX2Group or on the Facebook page @aratuhonopuhoitowarkworth
LATEST DRONE FOOTAGE
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Pūhoi to Warkworth project will extend the four-lane Northern Motorway (SH1) 18.5km from the Johnstones Hill Tunnels to just north of Warkworth. It is the first stage of the Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Wellsford project, and will open sometime in 2023.
Ara Tūhono means a connecting pathway (Ara meaning pathway/passage and Ara Tūhono means connecting or linking one part to another).
The highway will be built to the west of the existing SH1 and bypass Warkworth on the western side. It will be a four-lane dual carriageway, separated by a central median with a safety barrier.
Key benefits of the new route include improved safety and connectivity, more reliable journey times and a better freight connection for the Northland region.
The Pūhoi to Warkworth project is a PPP (Private Public Partnership) between the Government and a private consortium, the Northern Express Group (NX2).
While the NX2 private-sector consortium will be responsible for financing, designing, building, maintaining and operating the motorway for up to 25 years, the motorway will remain a public asset.
