State Highway 21 (SH 21) is a short 6.7 kilometre stretch of highway in the
North Island of New Zealand. It links ,
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 ...
at
Tamahere
Tamahere is a locality (located on a semi-rural ward that bears the same name) within Waikato District, New Zealand; on the outskirts of Hamilton. The majority of the Ward is zoned as Country Living, with a minimum lot size of 0.5ha. The la ...
and at
Ōhaupō. Its main destination is
Hamilton Airport and
Mystery Creek, where the
National Agricultural Fieldays
The National Agricultural Fieldays is an annual national agricultural show and field day event held in mid-June at the Mystery Creek Events Centre near Hamilton, New Zealand. It styles itself as "the biggest agricultural trade show in the south ...
are held.
SH 21 was gazetted as a brand new state highway designation in 1997.
Oddities
SH 21 is actually 120km south of where the number is supposed to be when considering the general pattern of assigning increasing state highway numbers in a north–south direction; in reality, it should lie somewhere in
South Auckland
South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though n ...
. This southern placement makes SH 21 the second-most southern SH 2x highway, after .
At the exit to Hamilton Airport, SH 21 used to show Hamilton to be in both directions (i.e. left to Hamilton and
Rotorua, right to Hamilton and
Waitomo Caves
Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred i ...
), and was possibly the only place in the State Highway network in which this happened (the actual difference between turning left and turning right is only 800 metres). In 2015 the signs were updated to show Hamilton to the left, and the route to the right is now on a separate sign reading "Hamilton via State Highway 3".
Major intersections
Narrows Bridge
The first bridge opened on 12 February 1879, costing £999 17s 4d, with a £300 government subsidy, £90 each from
Waipa Waipa may refer to:
New Zealand
* Waipa (New Zealand electorate), a former electorate
* Waipa District, a territorial local authority
* Waipā River, a waterway
Elsewhere
* World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies
The World Associatio ...
and
Waikato County Councils and the rest paid by donations, paid by a long list of subscribers from 1878. It lasted until blown up in 1940.
Its
replacement,
supported by a
steel arch,
opened in December 1939. It is from the Tamahere end of SH21 with a road width of wide, plus a footpath, which cost £5,660 (£3,000 from government and the rest shared by the counties) and was designed by Jones and Adams (see also
Tuakau Bridge). It was given a
NZHPT Category 2 historic listing in 1985. The river banks were
soil nailed in 2010 to protect the foundations. The effect of the works can be seen in the
AADT
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...
figures – 2008 (5087), 2009 (5288), 2010 (4972), 2011 (4921), 2012 (4910), 2013 (4892), 2014 (5391), 2015 (5551).
See also
*
List of New Zealand state highways
This is a list of highways of the New Zealand state highway network and some touring routes. State highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency, while all other roads are the responsibility of territorial authorities.
Current
North ...
*
List of roads and highways
List of articles related to roads and highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is ...
, for notable or famous roads worldwide
References
External links
New Zealand Transport AgencyNarrows Bridge 1939 photos –
arch constructionold and new bridgesold bridge before 1939
21
Transport in Waikato
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