New Zealand State Highway 6

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State Highway 6


Length	1162 km 722 mi
Primary direction	North-South
Start	Blenheim
Primary destinations	Nelson Murchison Inangahua Junction Runanga Greymouth Hokitika Haast Wanaka Cromwell Queenstown Lumsden Winton
End	Invercargill
Route quality	?% single carriageway ?% dual carriageway 0% motorway
Tourist routes

State Highway 6 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. It extends from 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 and Southland Plains to the island's south coast. Distances are measured from north to south.

The highway is the longest single highway in the country, though it is shorter than the combined totals of the two highways that comprise State Highway 1, SHs 1N and 1S.

For most of its length SH6 is a two-lane single carriageway (It is dual carriageway through Invercargill), with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas.

1 Route
2 State Highway 6 spurs
3 Nevis Bluff
4 Engineering Features
5 Major Junctions
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Route

This is the route that SH6 takes in 2007.

The highway leaves SH1 at Blenheim, initially heading northeastward across the rugged hills at the base of the Marlborough Sounds. it reaches the sounds briefly at Havelock, then heads inland up the valley of the Pelorus River. At Pelorus Bridge the highway again turns north, then tends southwest as it approaches the coast of Tasman Bay. 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 613-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 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 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 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 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 Wanaka. The highway skirts the eastern coast of the lake before crossing The Neck, a saddle in the mountains that lie between Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. The highway continues along the western shore of Hawea, then south along the Cardrona River to Albert Town, close to the tourist centre of Wanaka.

Ten kilometres from Wanaka, 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 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 before reaching Frankton, close to the shore of Lake Wakitipu. The highway follows the southeastern shore of this lake, skirting the foot of The Remarkables, leaving the lake at Kingston. At Garston, 18 km to the south, the highway briefly follows the course of the infant Mataura River, before heading across rolling hill country to the upper reaches of the Oreti River near Lowther. The highway continues to follow the Oreti south across the Southland Plains, past the towns of Lumsden and Winton before reaching its terminus at a junction with SH 1 in central Invercargill.

[edit] State Highway 6 spurs

SH6 has one spur, designated state Highway 6A. This 6.9 km highway links Frankton with the tourist centre of Queenstown.

[edit] Nevis Bluff

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 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.^[1] Significant slips occurred at the bluff on 1940-02-20,^[2] and blocking SH6 in June 1975.^[3] On September 17, 2000, a large-scale rock fall buried the highway at the bluff, and several motorists narrowly avoided being killed. The fall 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.^[4]^[5] Transit New Zealand conducted stabilisation drilling and blasting at the bluff twice in 2006 and again in 2007.^[6]

[edit] Engineering Features

Hawk's Crag is a single-lane half tunnel blasted out of a solid rock bluff in the Buller Gorge. It was constructed before 1900.^[7]
The highway featured a number of combined road-rail bridges, but several have now been replaced.
The Haast River bridge (km 750.0) is now the longest single-lane bridge in the country, with two passing bays. ^[8]

[edit] Major Junctions

Territorial authority	Location	km	Destinations	Notes
Malborough District	Blenheim	0	SH 1 North Grove Road Picton, Wellington Ferry	SH 6 begins
	Blenheim	0	SH 1 South Sinclair Street Town Centre, Kaikoura	SH 6 begins
	Renwick		SH 63 St Arnaud	Alternative route to Westport, bypassing Nelson
	Renwick		SH 62 Rapaura Road Picton	Alternative route to Picton, bypassing Blenheim
Nelson City	District contains no major junctions
Tasman District	Richmond		SH 60 Appleby Highway Motueka, Collingwood
	Kawatiri		SH 63 St Arnaud	Alternative route to Blenheim, bypassing Nelson
	Ariki		SH 65 Hamner Springs
Buller District	Inangahua Junction		SH 69 Reefton, Greymouth	Alternative route to Greymouth, bypassing Westport
Buller District	Westport		SH 67 Westport
Grey District	Greymouth		SH 7 Omoto Road Reefton, Hamner Springs, Christchurch	Alternative route to Nelson, bypassing Westport
Westland District	Kumara Junction		SH 73 Arthur's Pass, Christchurch
Queenstown Lakes District	Mt Iron		SH 84 Wanaka
Central Otago District	Luggate		SH 8A Omarama, Mt Cook
Central Otago District	Cromwell		SH 8B Cromwell, Alexandra
Queenstown Lakes District	Frankton		SH 6A Frankton Road Queenstown
Southland District	Five Rivers		SH 97 Mossburn, Te Anau	Alternative route to Te Anau, bypassing Lumsden
	Lumsden		SH 94 West Te Anau, Milford Sound	SH 6/SH 94 concurrency begins
	Lumsden		SH 94 East Riversdale, Gore	SH 6/SH 94 concurrency ends
	Winton		SH 96 West Nightcaps, Ohai	SH 6/SH 96 concurrency begins
	Winton		SH 96 East Mataura, Gore	SH 6/SH 96 concurrency ends
Invercargill City	Lorenville		SH 98 Dacre	Alternative route to Gore, bypassing Invercargill
	Lorenville		SH 99/Southern Scenic Route Riverton, Tuatapere	SH 6/Southern Scenic Route concurrency begins
	Invercargill		SH 1 North/Southern Scenic Route Tay Street Gore, Dunedin	SH 6 ends
	Invercargill		SH 1 South Clyde Street Bluff	SH 6 ends