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State Highway 59 (New Zealand)

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State Highway 59 shield}}
State Highway 59
Map
Route information
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency
Length26.2 km (16.3 mi)
Existed2021–present
Major junctions
North end SH 1 (Kapiti Expressway/Transmission Gully Motorway) at Mackays Crossing
Major intersections SH 58 east (Paremata Road) at Paremata
South end SH 1 south (Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway) at Linden
Location
CountryNew Zealand
Primary
destinations		Paekākāriki, Pukerua Bay, Paremata, Porirua
Highway system
← SH 58→ SH 60

State Highway 59 (SH 59) is a New Zealand state highway in the Wellington Region linking Mackays Crossing (near Paekākāriki) to Linden. It came into existence on 7 December 2021,[1] prior to the opening of the Transmission Gully Motorway and consists of the former route of State Highway 1 between Mackays Crossing and Linden.[2]

Route

Centennial Highway between Paekākāriki and Pukerua Bay.

State Highway 59 leaves State Highway 1 at the Mackays Crossing Interchange, the point where the northern end of the Transmission Gully Motorway meets the southern end of the Kapiti Expressway. The route heads to the south-west and passes through Paekākāriki, before travelling along the Centennial Highway through to Pukerua Bay along a narrow strip of land between the Paekākāriki Escarpment and the Tasman Sea, shared with the North Island Main Trunk railway line. After Pukerua Bay, the route becomes a dual carriageway through to Plimmerton, before narrowing to a single carriageway through Mana. South of Mana, the route crosses over the Porirua Harbour at Paremata; here, the route intersects with the western terminus of State Highway 58 at a roundabout.

From the SH 58 junction, the route once more becomes a dual carriageway and travels between the Porirua Harbour and the suburb of Papakōwhai to reach the Porirua city centre, becoming the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway at a point 500 metres (550 yd) south of the Mungavin Avenue interchange. A short distance south, as the route enters Wellington City in the northern suburb of Linden, the southern end of the Transmission Gully Motorway carrying SH 1 merges on to the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway. The SH 59 designation ends at this point, with the Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway carrying the SH 1 designation as it continues south to Johnsonville and Wellington.

History

The original route north of Wellington known as the Centennial Highway from Ngauranga to Paekākāriki was started in 1936 and opened on 4 November 1939.[3] The Centennial Highway project involved an upgrade of the Ngauranga Gorge road and provided a new route from Paremata to Paekākāriki, bypassing the winding road along the southern harbour edge from Paremata to Pāuatahanui (now part of State Highway 58) and the tortuous narrow winding Paekākāriki Hill Road between Pāuatahanui and Paekākāriki. It followed a new route, bridging the narrow channel between Paremata and the Mana isthmus and following the eastern edge of the Taupō swamp north of Plimmerton before climbing to the Pukerua Bay saddle and descending to follow the coastline to Paekākāriki.[4]

During the 1950s and 1960s, the route south of Porirua was replaced in stages by the Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway.

In Porirua city, in the 1990s, the road was widened to four lanes and realigned to ease curves from just south of Pukerua Bay to Mana. In 2005–2006, the route through Mana was upgraded with extra lanes to provide dual carriageways through Mana during peak periods and the installation of traffic lights to regulate cross traffic. A second bridge was added to four-lane the connection of the Mana isthmus to Paremata.

Originally part of State Highway 1, the route was renumbered State Highway 59 on 7 December 2021, shortly before the opening of the Transmission Gully Motorway.[1] SH 1 was shifted to the Transmission Gully Motorway to reflect its purpose as the new main route north of Wellington, with the existing route remaining a state highway due to its strategic importance to the regional transport network.[2]

Diggers clearing a slip on SH 59 north of Pukerua Bay in 2022

The stretch along the coast between Paekākāriki and Pukerua Bay is prone to slips, part of the reason the inland route through Transmission Gully was preferred for greater resiliency to natural disasters.[5] In its first year of being State Highway 59, the highway was closed twice due to weather events causing flooding and slips,[6][7] the third time the coastal road was closed in the space of a year.[8]

Major junctions

All exits are unnumbered.

Territorial authorityLocationkmmiDestinationsNotes
Kapiti Coast DistrictMackays Crossing0.00.0 SH 1 south (Transmission Gully Motorway) - Wellington
(Emerald Glen Road)
(Whareroa Road) - Whareroa Farm		SH 59 begins
40°58′15″S 174°58′59″E / 40.970968°S 174.983033°E / -40.970968; 174.983033 (Mackays Crossing Interchange)
0.10.062(Whareroa Road) – Queen Elizabeth Park
To SH 1 north (Kapiti Expressway) - Paraparaumu, Palmerston North
Section between Mackays Crossing and Paekākāriki is under construction and will be completed after the opening of Transmission Gully Motorway.[9]
Paekākāriki1.91.2 SH 1 north (Transmission Gully Motorway to Kapiti Expressway) - Paraparaumu, Palmerston NorthAccess to northbound SH 1 and access from southbound SH 1 (via Paekākāriki Link Road) only
3.52.2(Paekākāriki Hill Road) – Pāuatahanui
(Beach Road) – Paekākāriki
Porirua CityPlimmerton17.110.6(James Street/Ulric Street) - Plimmerton Estate
Paremata19.812.3 SH 58 (Paremata Road) – Whitby, Hutt Valley41°06′21″S 174°52′05″E / 41.105864°S 174.867956°E / -41.105864; 174.867956 (SH 58/SH 59 intersection)
Papakōwhai21.913.6(Whitford Brown Avenue) – Papakōwhai
Porirua CBD23.314.5(Parumoana Street) – Porirua City Centre, Titahi BaySouthbound exit and northbound entrance
24.115.0(Mungavin Avenue) – Porirua City Centre, Titahi Bay, Tawa Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway begins 500 m (550 yd) south of this junction
Wellington CityLinden26.216.3 SH 1 north (Transmission Gully Motorway) - Palmerston NorthSH 59 ends
41°09′19″S 174°50′22″E / 41.155188°S 174.839422°E / -41.155188; 174.839422 (Linden Interchange)

Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Johnsonville-Porirua Motorway continues south as SH 1

References

  1. ^ a b "State Highway 59 switch confirmed for December" (Press release). New Zealand Transport Agency. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Change coming for state highway numbers in the Wellington region" (Press release). New Zealand Transport Agency. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  3. ^ Reilly, Helen (2013). Pauatahanui: A local history. Wellington: Pauatahanui Residents Association. pp. 128–129. ISBN 978-0-473-25439-1.
  4. ^ "Centennial Highway, State Highway 1". Engineering New Zealand. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  5. ^ Board of Inquiry into the Transmission Gully Proposal (June 2012). "Final Report and Decision of the Board of Inquiry into the Transmission Gully Proposal" (PDF). Environmental Protection Authority. p. 73. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  6. ^ Bill Hickman (10 June 2022). "When wild weather rages, Pukerua Bay is stuck between the slips and the sea". Dominion Post. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  7. ^ Kate Green (2 September 2022). "Slip closes key coastal route for at least 10 more days". Dominion Post. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  8. ^ Wellington reporters (16 December 2021). "SH59 north of Wellington opens, but delays expected as congestion clears". Dominion Post. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Tick, tick, tick…the wait is nearly over for Transmission Gully" (Press release). New Zealand Transport Agency. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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