A new approach for road maintenance and night closures on State Highway 58

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

A new way of managing road maintenance is about to be trialled on one of Wellington’s key state highways – State Highway 58, between Hutt Valley and Transmission Gully.

Roxanne Hilliard, Wellington Alliance Manager, says the highway carries around 20,000 vehicles daily, and is currently the site of ongoing works for the State Highway 58 Safety Improvements project.

“What we want to do is ensure we carry out other planned state highway maintenance on this route in a way that causes the least disruption and inconvenience for drivers and the community.”

“That’s why we will trial the approach we currently use on State Highway 2 Remutaka Hill  – regularly scheduled nighttime maintenance closures,” Ms Hilliard says.

Benefits

Ms Hilliard says night closures are the most efficient and low-impact way of getting maintenance work done.

“Our traffic data shows that while State Highway 58 carries, on average, 20 thousand vehicles every day between the Hutt Valley and Pāuatahanui, traffic volumes between 10 pm and 4 am are far, far lower – around 330 to 450 vehicles only.”

“It makes sense to do our road maintenance when fewer people use the route, and the most efficient, low-impact way is a night closure,” Ms Hilliard says.

She says they also mean essential safety barrier repairs can be completed faster.

“The wire rope barriers on State Highway 58 are a vital safety feature. They significantly reduce the risk of head-on collisions and deaths and serious injuries when people have a crash.”

“When they are hit, it is important we repair them as soon as possible so they can continue protecting drivers,” Ms Hilliard says.

Resident and business access

Ms Hilliard says residents, business owners, business customers, and emergency services will have access through the closures at all times. 

“They will be supported and have access when they need it. We are working on pilot vehicle solutions and will provide more details before the first planned closure in mid-September.”

She says, unlike the State Highway 2 Remutaka Hill closures, there will not be nightly escorts for other traffic through the work sites.

“People in the Hutt Valley needing to access Porirua or State Highway 1 Transmission Gully will have to travel via State Highway 2 to Ngauranga and then use State Highway 1. People heading to the Hutt Valley will have to use State Highway 1, then State Highway 2.”

“This is a longer trip, and people will need to allow for extra travel time when the closures are in place,” Ms Hilliard says.

Next steps

The new approach will be trialled for three months, with the first night closure scheduled for the night of Sunday, 14 September.

State Highway 58 will be closed between the State Highway 2 Haywards interchange and the State Highway 58 Pāuatahanui interchange.

The closure will run from 10 pm on Sunday night until 4 am Monday morning. Contractors will repair safety barriers, maintain vegetation, complete culvert inspections and compete other general maintenance work.

Ms Hilliard says once the trial is completed in November, a full review will be done.

“We need to take the time to check the approach, make sure it works, and make a call on whether it should be put in place permanently.

These planned closures apply to planned maintenance and are separate from the ongoing State Highway 58 Safety Improvements project.

MIL OSI