State Highway 2 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by New Zealand Transport Agency | ||||
Length: | 968 km (601 mi) | |||
Tourist routes: |
Pacific Coast Highway Classic New Zealand Wine Trail |
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Major junctions | ||||
North end: | SH 1 Waikato Expressway near Pokeno | |||
SH 5 near Bay ViewSH 3 in Woodville |
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South end: | SH 1 Wellington Urban Motorway at Ngauranga Interchange | |||
Location | ||||
Primary destinations: |
Paeroa, Waihi, Tauranga, Te Puke, Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier, Hastings, Waipukurau, Dannevirke, Masterton, Carterton, Featherston, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt | |||
Highway system | ||||
New Zealand State Highways
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State Highway 2 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. With the exception of State Highway 1, which runs the length of both of the country's main islands, SH 2 is the longest highway in the North Island. The highway runs north-south via the country's east coast, connecting Auckland and Wellington via the Hawkes Bay cities of Napier and Hastings, Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty including Tauranga.
For most of its length SH 2 is a two-lane single carriageway, with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas.
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This is the route that SH 2 takes in 2008.
The highway deviates from SH 1 just north of Pokeno, some 49 km south of central Auckland. It initially heads east, crossing the Hauraki Plains before running the length of the Karangahake Gorge, a break in the hills between the Coromandel Peninsula and Kaimai Ranges. From the mining town of Waihi it runs southeast, skirting the edge of Tauranga Harbour, which it crosses on the Tauranga Harbour Bridge. The highway continues to follow the coast for a further 60 km, until it reaches the village of Matata.
From Matata the highway heads slightly inland, crossing through the Rangitaiki plain to the south of Whakatane, loops south to Taneatua, through the Waimana gorge then back north to briefly return to the coast near Opotiki. After Opotiki the highway turns inland, ascending southeast along the valley of the Waioeka River, and from there winding up to the 725-metre Traffords Hill Summit. From here it descends into the watershed of the Waipaoa River following that river's valley from Te Karaka to Makaraka, just outside Gisborne, to which it is connected by a short stretch of SH 35.
From this point the highway turns south , passing the Wharerata Forest and the isthmus of the Mahia Peninsula, before turning west to follow the coast of Hawke Bay. Close to the mouth of the Waihua River the highway heads briefly inland, passing the Mohaka Forest and Lake Tutira before rejoining the coast not far from the junction with SH 5 at Bay View. The highway continues south to the twin bay cities, crossing Napier and turning inland to enter Hastings. From central Hastings, the highway briefly loses its national highway status for seven kilometres, regaining that status at Pakipaki.
The highway continues to head inland from Pakipaki, initially southwest to Waipukurau, then briefly west to follow tributaries of the Tukituki River upstream. Close to Norsewood the highway again turns southwest, a direction it maintains for much of the remainder of its journey, crossing undulating country that forms the upper catchment of the Manawatu River. In Woodville, the highway meets SH 3, which links SH 2 with the city of Palmerston North via the Manawatu Gorge. SH2 continues south into the Wairarapa, travelling through the town of Eketahuna and into the town of Masterton.
The last 100 kilometres of highway takes it through several small Wairarapa towns (Carterton, Greytown, and Featherston), and then via a winding and steep section over the Rimutaka Range (summit 555 metres) into the Hutt Valley. The highway travels along the edge of Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt and Petone before skirting the upper part of Wellington Harbour before terminating at the junction with SH 1 at the Ngauranga Interchange, five kilometres of central Wellington.
Although the Ngauranga Interchange is the official end of State Highway 2, it is signed northbound as far back as the Mount Victoria Tunnel, 8 km before it begins.
State Highway 2 has two short spurs: State Highway 2A and State Highway 2B. State Highway 2A runs for 3.8 km from SH2 through Tauranga as 15th Avenue and Turret Road to the junction with SH29 at Maungatapu. State Highway 2B runs for 4.1 km from SH 2 at Napier Airport to SH 50 at Taradale. This forms the northern part of the Hawke's Bay Expressway.
Stage Highway 2 used to travel where State Highway 2A travels today in Tauranga, along 15th Ave, into Turret Road, and across the harbour to Maungatapu, where it joined to State Highway 29, and then headed across the Maungatapu Bridge to Te Maunga. This was changed in 2009 when a second harbour bridge opened next to the current one, providing 4 lanes of traffic and an overpass from the harbour bridges to the existing Takatimu Drive expressway
State Highway 2 used to extend into Whakatane, but recently this section was moved inland to pass through Edgecumbe and Awakeri, with State Highway 30 extended to Whakatane to cover the former route occupied by State Highway 2.
State Highway 2 used to run between Hastings and Pakipaki, but recently has been revoked.
State Highway 2's southern terminus has also changed. It used to form the southern part of the Wellington Urban Motorway when State Highway 1 finished at the Aotea Quay off-ramp. In 1996, State Highway 1 replaced this section.
At Mangatawhiri the section of State Highway 2 had a poor crash record. A seven-kilometre Mangatawhiri Deviation was built to improve safety by bypassing a section. East and west bound passing lanes provide safe passing opportunities. Grade separated intersections improved safety for traffic wanting to cross or join the highway in December 2008.
The Rimutaka Hill Road, transversing the Rimutaka Ranges between Featherston and Upper Hutt, also has had a poor crash record, with many tight 25 and 35km/h corners, and a lack of safety barriers to prevent vehicles dropping down off the road. The original winding route between Kaitoke and Te Marua was significantly realigned between 2002 and 2006. The tightest and narrowest corner on the road, named Muldoon's Corner after the former Prime Minister's financial stance ("tight and to the right"), was bypassed with a new wider 55km/h corner in June 2011.[1]
River Road, between Maoribank and Silverstream in Upper Hutt, was opened in 1987 to bypass central Upper Hutt. The new route was a two-laned single carriageway 100km/h road on the Hutt River's banks, crossing the river at Moonshine, and replaced the 50km/h route via Fergusson Drive. Since then, sections of the road have been widended to three lanes and had median barriers installed.
Currently there are several projects to improve stafety of State Highway 2. They include:
The busiest section of State Highway 2 exists just north of the Ngauranga Interchange in Wellington, which was measured at km 977.6 to have an AADT of 67,000 vehicles.[2] The quietest section of road is nead Otoko in the Gisborne District, which was measured at km 389.5 to have an AADT of just 1000 vehicles.
Territorial authority | Location | km | Destinations | Notes |
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Franklin District | Pokeno | 0 | SH 1 north (Waikato Expressway) Auckland |
SH 2 begins |
SH 1 south (Waikato Expressway) Hamilton |
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Waikato District | District contains no major junctions | |||
Hauraki District | Mangatarata | 34 | SH 25 Thames, Coromandel Peninsula |
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37 | SH 27 Matamata, Tirau |
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Paeroa | Waihou River | |||
72 | SH 26 north (Arney Street) Coromandel Peninsula, Thames |
SH 2/SH 26 concurrency begins | ||
73 | SH 26 south (Te Aroha Road) Hamilton |
SH 2/SH 26 concurrency ends | ||
Waihi | 93 | SH 25/Pacific Coast Highway Whangamata, Tairua |
SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins | |
Western Bay of Plenty District | District west of Tauranga contains no major junctions | |||
Tauranga City | Cambridge Heights | 149 | Waihi Road Otumoetai |
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Tauranga City | 151 | SH 2A (Tamatea Arikinui Drive) Tauranga South, Greerton , Welcome Bay, Maungatapu |
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153 | Elizabeth St City Centre |
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154 | Chapel St Otumoetai City Centre |
Grade Separated Junction | ||
155 | Port of Tauranga | Grade Separated Junction | ||
Mount Maunganui | 157 | Totara St Mount Maunganui |
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160 | Maunganui Road (North) Mount Maunganui Omanu Beach |
Also known as the Hewletts Flyover | ||
Te Maunga | 164 | SH 29 Welcome Bay Tauranga South Hamilton, New Zealand |
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Western Bay of Plenty District | Paengaroa | 189 | SH 33 Rotorua |
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Whakatane District | Matata | 223 | Pacific Coast Highway (Arawa Street) Whakatane |
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Hawkens Junction | 232 | SH 34 (Awaiti South Road) Kawerau, Rotorua |
SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends | |
Edgecumbe | Rangitaiki River | |||
Awakeri | 242 | SH 30 west Rotorua |
SH 2/SH 30 concurrency begins | |
243 | SH 30 east Whakatane |
SH 2/SH 30 concurrency ends | ||
Opotiki District | Kerurutahi | 285 | Pacific Coast Highway (Wainui Road) Whakatane |
SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins |
Opotiki | 304 | SH 35/Pacific Coast Highway (St John Street) Te Kaha, Te Araroa |
SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends | |
Gisborne District | Makaraka | 443 | Pacific Coast Highway (Main Road) Gisborne, Te Araroa |
SH 2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency begins |
Matawhero | 444 | SH 35 (Awapuni Road) Gisborne |
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Wairoa District | North Clyde | 533 | SH 38 (Mahia Avenue) Frasertown, Lake Waikaremoana |
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Hastings District | District north of Napier contains no major junctions | |||
Napier City | Bay View | 638 | SH 5/Thermal Explorer Highway (Eskdale Drive) Taupo |
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Westshore | 647 | SH 2B (Hawkes Bay Expressway) Hastings |
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Napier Central | 649 | SH 50 north (Hyderabad Road) Port |
SH 2/SH 50 concurrency begins | |
650 | SH 50 south (Taradale Road) Taradale, Hastings, Wellington |
SH 2/SH 50 concurrency ends | ||
Pacific Coast Highway and SH2/Pacific Coast Highway concurrency ends Classic New Zealand Wine Trail and SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency begins |
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Hastings District | Karamu | 669 | SH 2 temporarily ends | |
Pakipaki | 678 | SH 2 resumes | ||
SH 50A (Hawkes Bay Expressway) Napier |
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Central Hawke's Bay District | Takapau | 743 | SH 50 Tikokino, Ongaonga |
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Tararua District | Manawatu River | |||
Woodville | 802 | SH 3 (Vogel Street) Palmerston North |
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Ngawapurua | 808 | Manawatu River | ||
Masterton District | District contains no major junctions | |||
Carterton District | ||||
South Wairarapa District | Greytown | 909 | Classic NZ Wine Trail (Moroa Plains Road) Martinborough |
SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency ends |
Featherston | 921 | SH 53/Classic NZ Wine Trail (Revans Street) Martinborough |
SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency begins | |
Upper Hutt City | District contains no major junctions | |||
Hutt City | Manor Park | 962 | SH 58 (Haywards Hill Road) Pauatahanui, Porirua |
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Wellington City | Ngauranga | 979 | SH 1 north/Classic NZ Wine Trail south (Hutt Road) Ngauranga, Porirua, Picton Ferry |
SH 2/Classic NZ Wine Trail concurrency ends Traffic for The Interislander ferry to Picton and the South Island exits here. |
SH 1 south (Wellington Urban Motorway) City Centre, Airport |
SH 2 ends |
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