State Highway 87 (SH 87) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in New Zealand servicing the
Taieri Plains and the
Strath-Taieri Valley in
Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
, connecting
Mosgiel
Mosgiel () 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 City Council area. Mosgiel has a p ...
to
Kyeburn
Kyeburn is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and L ...
on the eastern flank of the
Maniototo Plains.
The highway is two-lane for its entire length, and there are four sets of traffic lights in Mosgiel.
Route
SH 87 leaves at a junction at the southwestern end of 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 ...
, immediately south of Mosgiel. It travels north through the town as its main street, Gordon Road, before heading west along the northern edge of the
Taieri Plain. The highway climbs the northeastern flank of
Maungatua shortly after passing through
Outram (where it crosses the
Taieri River
The Taieri River (a misspelling of the original Māori name ''Taiari'' ) is the fourth-longest river in New Zealand and is in Otago in the South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw Range, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pill ...
), its course becoming northwesterly. The course continues past the small settlements of
Lee Stream and
Clarks Junction before turning northeastward to head along the broad
Strath-Taieri valley. After passing through
Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location
* S ...
, the highway reaches the town of
Middlemarch
''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. It appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, in 1829 ...
.
From Sutton, the highway runs close to the course of the Taieri River, and from Middlemarch the
Otago Central Rail Trail
The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 150-kilometre Rail trail, walking, cycling and horse riding track in the South Island of New Zealand. A pioneering project for New Zealand, the successful rail trail joined the New Zealand Cycle Trail umbrella or ...
also runs nearby. The highway continues northeast past
Hyde before emerging onto the high
Maniototo plain. The highway terminates at
Kyeburn
Kyeburn is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and L ...
, 15 km to the east of
Ranfurly, at a junction with .
File:MosgielNZ.jpg, SH 87 as Gordon Road in Mosgiel
File:SH87 south of Sutton.jpg, SH 87 entering the dry landscape of the Strath-Taieri valley
File:State Highway 87, Middlemarch, NZ.JPG, Looking south along State Highway 87 at Middlemarch
See also
*
List of New Zealand state highways
This is a list of highways of 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 Island, North and South Islands are state highways ...
External links
New Zealand Transport Agency
87
Transport in Dunedin
Transport in Otago
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