New Zealand State Highway 7

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State Highway 7


Length	272 km 169 mi
Primary direction	East-West
Start	Waipara
Primary destinations	Culverden Maruia Springs Springs Junction Reefton
End	Greymouth
Route quality	?% single carriageway ?% dual carriageway 0% motorway
Tourist routes

State Highway 7 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. It crosses the Southern Alps to link the West Coast Region with Canterbury and to form a link between the South Island's two longest highways, State Highway 1 and State Highway 6. Distances are measured from east to west.

For most of its length SH7 is a two-lane single carriageway, with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas. There are a number of passing lanes at irregular intervals through the rural sections.

[edit] Route

This is the route that SH7 takes in 2007.

The highway leaves SH 1 at Waipara, some 60 kilometres north of Christchurch, and initially heads north, crossing several rivers and skirting the Balmoral State Forest. Just north of Culverden, it reaches the valley of the Waiau River and turns west to the course of this river and its tributary the Lewis River up the valley to the 907-metre Lewis Pass, the northernmost of the three main road passes across the Southern Alps.

On the western side of the pass, the highway enters the small spa town of Maruia Springs, before continuing northwest along the valley of the Maruia River. to Springs Junction, where it meets State highway 65. From here, the highway crosses a smaller pass, the Rahu Saddle, before following the valley of the Inangahua River to the town of Reefton.

From Reefton, the highway turns southwest, following the course of the Grey River to within two kilometres of its mouth at Greymouth, where SH 7 terminates at its junction with SH 6.

[edit] State Highway 7 spurs

SH7 has one spur, designated state Highway 7A. This 9.4 kilometre stretch links State Highway 7 at the Waiau bridge with the spa town of Hanmer Springs.