![New Zealand road sign A41-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/New_Zealand_road_sign_A41-1.svg)
This is a list of
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s and
expressways in New Zealand, including some proposed and under construction. There are currently 406 km of motorways and expressways in New Zealand. 68 km are currently under construction, with a further 60 km expected to be completed by 2029, at which time a total of 516 km of motorway and expressway is expected.
''Expressways'' in New Zealand are high standard all-purpose roads, usually
dual carriageway, mainly for through traffic with no restrictions. Intersections may be controlled at-grade with roundabouts or traffic signals, or fully
grade separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...
.
''Motorways'' in New Zealand are dual carriageway roads designed for efficient high volume motor vehicle traffic. They have a no stopping restriction and are closed to pedestrian, cycle and animal traffic. Intersections are grade-separated.
Summary
Under construction
Approved
Auckland
Northern Motorway (SH 1)
From the
Central Motorway Junction in downtown Auckland via the
Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and th ...
and the North Shore to
Puhoi.
Construction of the next section to just north of Warkworth has commenced in 2017.
Northwestern Motorway (SH 16)
From
Ports of Auckland
Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL), the successor to the Auckland Harbour Board, is the Auckland Council-owned company administering Auckland's commercial freight and cruise ship harbour facilities. As the company operates all of the associated fa ...
to Brigham Creek Rd,
Whenuapai
Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome located in northwestern Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the northwestern shore of the Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres to the northwest of Auckland's city centre. It is one of t ...
.
Southwestern Motorway (SH 20)
From the Southern Motorway in
Manukau City
Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as " South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...
to the Northwestern Motorway at
Waterview.
Southern Motorway (SH 1)
From downtown Auckland via Manukau City to the
Bombay Hills
The Bombay Hills are a range of hills to the south of Auckland, New Zealand. Though only a small and seemingly insignificant range of hills, they lie at the southern boundary of the Auckland region, and serve as a divide between Auckland and th ...
and terminating onto the
Waikato Expressway
The Waikato Expressway is a dual carriageway section of (SH 1) in New Zealand's Waikato region. Constructed in stages, it forms part of the link between Auckland and Hamilton. Currently stretching from Auckland to south of Cambridge, the hig ...
.
Upper Harbour Motorway (SH 18)
Connecting the Northwestern and Northern Motorways via the
Upper Harbour Bridge
The Upper Harbour Bridge (also called the Greenhithe Bridge) is a motorway bridge in west Auckland, New Zealand. It is technically two bridges, spanning an upper reach of the Waitematā Harbour, and connecting Hobsonville (in West Auckland) a ...
. Construction of the Northern Corridor connection between the Northern and Upper Harbour Motorways commenced in 2018, with the full interchange opening in 2022.
Waikato
Waikato Expressway (SH 1)
A mostly-constructed expressway between the Southern Motorway at Bombay and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, complete between the Southern Motorway and Rotokauri, Tamahere and Cambridge.
By 2007 between Longswamp and Rangiriri was three lanes with a median barrier. In 2012 the Te Rapa Spur was opened, followed by the Ngāruawāhia section in 2013. The Cambridge bypass opened on 16 December 2015, six months ahead of schedule. The route has now been fully designated, and funding was secured for the Huntly and Hamilton sections. The Huntly section opened in March 2020, but the Hamilton section was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The 15 km Cambridge Section now has a 110kmph speed limit for light vehicles as of 11 December 2017.
Bay of Plenty
Takitimu Drive (Pyes Pa - Mount Maunganui Expressway) (SH 2/SH 29)
From Pyes Pa to Chapel Street near the city centre. An interchange exists with Tamatea Arikinui Drive, along with a "coat-hanger" interchange, which is used with Elizabeth Street and heads north towards Mt Maunganui.
The section from Pyes Pa to the SH 2 interchange is tolled. From 1 August 2015 it was added to the
New Zealand state highway network
The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency.
The highways were ...
as part of SH 29.
Tamatea Arikinui Drive (Bethlehem - The Avenues Expressway) (SH 2)
From 15th Avenue to just before Bethlehem Town Centre, with interchanges at Cambridge Road, Waihi Road and Takitimu Drive (Pyes Pa - City Expressway).
Tauranga Eastern Link (SH 2)
Connects Tauranga to Paengaroa (with SH 33) via Papamoa, bypassing Te Puke. In late 2006 the first phase was opened from Maungatapu to Bayfair. Full motorway was completed in 2015 with the tolled section between Papamoa and Paengaroa opened to the public in August that year.
The tolled section from Papamoa to Paengaroa now has speed limit for light vehicles of 110 kmph as of 11 December 2017
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay Expressway (SH 2 / SH 50)
From
Hawke's Bay Airport
Hawke's Bay Airport , commonly referred to as Napier Airport, is Hawke's Bay's main commercial airport, serving domestic flights to the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as smaller centres such as Gisborne, Wairoa ...
near
Napier to Pakipaki, south of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. The entire expressway is part of , with approximately also concurrent with .
Wellington
Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway (SH 1 / SH 59)
Approximately in length, this is New Zealand's first motorway; the first section opening in 1950. The section of the motorway between the southern terminus at
Johnsonville and the interchange with the
Transmission Gully Motorway
The Transmission Gully Motorway () is a , four-lane motorway north of Wellington, New Zealand; it is part of the State Highway 1 route. Construction began on 8 September 2014 and completion was originally scheduled for April 2020, but contractu ...
forms part of , with the small section north of this point forming part of .
[ ]
Wellington Urban Motorway (SH 1)
From Ngauranga to Te Aro,
Kapiti Expressway (SH 1)
The Kapiti Expressway is a four-lane grade-separated expressway, stretching from
Mackays Crossing north of
Paekākāriki to just north of
Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast. It carries traffic through
Raumati,
Paraparaumu
Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington.
Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...
,
Waikanae
Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet".
The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōt ...
and Ōtaki. The section from Mackays Crossing to
Raumati South
Raumati South is a coastal community on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 50km north-west of Wellington, and immediately south of Raumati Beach and south-west of Paraparaumu. The Maungakotukutuku area is located inland.Rauma ...
was completed in 2007 with the grade separation of the Mackays railway level crossing. Work on the Raumati to
Peka Peka section started in December 2013 and opened on 24 February 2017, with minor finishing works completed by July. Construction of the section from Peka Peka north to Ōtaki commenced in late 2017 and opened in December 2022.
Transmission Gully Motorway (SH 1)
Officially opened on 30 March 2022, from
Mackays Crossing near
Paekākāriki to the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway in
Linden, bypassing Centennial Highway.
Hutt Expressway (Hutt Road, Western Hutt Road, River Road) (SH 2)
From the Wellington Urban Motorway at
Ngauranga
Ngauranga is a suburb of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, in the lower North Island. Situated on the western bank of Wellington Harbour, it lies to the north of the centre of the city. The name comes from the Māori language, Maori-langua ...
through the Hutt Valley to the Fergusson Drive intersection at Maoribank in northern Upper Hutt. It has three names: Hutt Road from Ngauranga to Petone, Western Hutt Road from Petone to Silverstream, and River Road from Silverstream to Maoribank. .
The section south of Melling is dual carriage and is fully grade separated. The section from Melling north to Silverstream is dual carriage with a mixture of at-grade and grade separated intersections. The section north of Silverstream is a
2+1 road
2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and usually separated with a steel cable barrier. The second lane allows faster-moving ...
with at grade intersections.
Canterbury
Christchurch Northern Motorway (SH 1)
From north of Kaiapoi over the Waimakariri River through to the northern suburb of Belfast.
Its southernmost interchange (Kainga/Marshland) is unusual in that northbound traffic merges from the right, while southbound traffic is carried on a large loop to the right up and over the onramp. The reason for this design was to accommodate a future southern extension into central Christchurch, with the northbound onramp being the first part of the northbound carriageway. Northbound there are three more interchanges; Tram Road (Oxford), north off, south on; Kaiapoi (diamond interchange); and Lineside Road ( to Rangiora), north off, south on.
It is dual carriageway from Belfast (Main North Road) to Lineside Road, single lane each way with no median strip to Woodend.
Christchurch Southern Motorway (SH 76/ SH 1)
Short motorway bypassing a part of southern Christchurch city. Lost its status as a motorway after plans to extend the original section (between Curletts Road and Barrington Street, which was built in the early 1980s) stalled. Since 2012, the road has been extended Curletts Road to Halswell Junction Road with the original section widened to four lanes and interchanges at both Curletts Road and Barrington Street), thereby regaining motorway status. In 2020, extended to rejoin SH 1 at Templeton and continue alongside SH 1 until just west of
Rolleston Rolleston may refer to:
Places
* Rolleston, Queensland, Australia
* Rolleston, Leicestershire, England
* Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, England
** Rolleston railway station
* Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire, England
** Rolleston Hall
* Rolleston, ...
.
Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway (SH 74)
From the intersection of Ferry and Dyers Roads along Tunnel Road through the Lyttelton Tunnel to the intersection of Norwich Quay and Simeon Quay.
It is single lane with interchanges at Bridle Path and Port Hills Road. There is a passing lane southbound from the Port Hills Road interchange.
Western Belfast Bypass (SH 1)
The motorway links directly from the Christchurch Northern Motorway, at Chaneys interchange, to Johns Road at the Clearwater roundabout, bypassing the current section of State Highway One through the Belfast urban area.
Otago
Former Dunedin Northern Motorway (SH 1)
This undivided highway had its "motorway" signs removed several years ago, and is now officially called the
Dunedin-Waitati Highway, although it is still referred to by Dunedinites as "the northern motorway".
It runs from
Pine Hill to
Waitati
Waitati, from the Māori Waitete, is a small seaside settlement in Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. It is located close to the tidal mudflats of Blueskin Bay, 19 kilometres north of the Dunedin city centre. The small Waitati ...
, and is the main route north from Dunedin.
Caversham Bypass (SH 1)
From Dunedin
CBD to
Caversham, SH1 has been widened to a four-lane road over its full length.
It becomes the
Dunedin Southern Motorway
The Dunedin Southern Motorway is the main arterial route south from the South Island city of Dunedin, part of New Zealand's State Highway 1. Despite its name, only a portion of the route is officially classified as motorway. The route is the so ...
at its western end, close to
Lookout Point
Caversham is one of the older suburbs of the city of Dunedin, in New Zealand's South Island. It is sited at the western edge of the city's central plain at the mouth of the steep Caversham Valley, which rises to the saddle of Lookout Point. Ma ...
. At its eastern end, it joins Dunedin's central city one-way street system.
Dunedin Southern Motorway (SH 1)
This route runs from
South Dunedin
South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...
to
Mosgiel
Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...
. The section from
Lookout Point
Caversham is one of the older suburbs of the city of Dunedin, in New Zealand's South Island. It is sited at the western edge of the city's central plain at the mouth of the steep Caversham Valley, which rises to the saddle of Lookout Point. Ma ...
at the southwestern end of
Caversham, past the outer suburbs of
Green Island,
Abbotsford and
Fairfield, to the intersection with at
Mosgiel
Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...
, is classified as motorway. It is one of the southernmost motorways in the world. The length of the motorway is 13 km.
See also
*
New Zealand state highway network
The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency.
The highways were ...
References
{{New Zealand motorway list
Motorways And Expressways In New Zealand
Transport in Auckland