State Highway 77 (New Zealand)
State Highway 77 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Route information | ||||
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency | ||||
Length | 93.9 km (58.3 mi) | |||
Tourist routes | Inland Scenic Route between Homebush and Mount Hutt | |||
Major junctions | ||||
Northwest end | South Terrace/West Coast Road at Darfield | |||
Southeast end | West Street at Ashburton | |||
Location | ||||
Country | New Zealand | |||
Primary destinations | Coalgate, Glentunnel, Rakaia Gorge, Methven | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
State Highway 77 is a State Highway in New Zealand going through the inland parts of Central and Mid Canterbury between the towns of Ashburton and Darfield via the Rakaia Gorge. It is wholly single carriageway with two one-lane bridges at the Rakaia and Selwyn Rivers. One set of traffic lights is found in Ashburton marking the southern terminus of the highway.
About 43 km of the highway lie on the Inland Scenic Route (formerly State Highway 72).
Route
This is the current route of SH 77 as of June 2010.
The highway begins as Bangor Road just west of Darfield town centre, and proceeds in a westerly directions towards the mountains through flat pastoral farmland. Just before reaching the foothills, the road intersects with the Inland Scenic Route (Deans Road) coming from Waddington and begins its concurrency at Homebush. After a name change to Homebush Road, the road skirts to the north of Coalgate and then to the south of Glentunnel before veering left and narrowing to one lane to cross the Selwyn River.
Now known as Wairiri Road, the road widens back to two lanes and passes through undulating to hilly farmland. At Glenroy the road changes name to Windwhistle Road and climbs towards the settlement of Windwhistle.
Beyond Windwhistle, the name changes to Rakaia Gorge Road and begins a spectacular descent into the Rakaia Gorge. For most of its length the Rakaia River runs on shingle river beds as a braided river but here the river is mostly a single channel. The river here has carved out the surrounding land to form two level terraces. The road passes over both these terraces before narrowing to one lane again to cross the river.
After widening again, the road changes name to Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road and rises towards the plains again. The road emerges onto the plains but passes right underneath the towering Mount Hutt. The road is frequently covered by snow and ices over in sheltered areas during the calmer periods of the winter months in higher parts of the road.
The road turns left onto Waimarama Road 10 km north of Alford Forest and proceeds through arable farmland, changes name again to Mount Hutt Station Road and arrives in Methven, where it changes name again to Main Street.
After Methven, the road changes name to Methven Highway and proceeds in a south to southeasterly direction through more pastoral farmland. Before Ashburton, the road hugs the Ashburton River, the name of the road changes to Alford Forest Road for about 2 km, then to River Terrace for 600 m and lastly to Moore Street for the last 300 m of the route before terminating at SH 1 in the town centre.
Major Intersections
State Highway 77 | |||
Northbound exits | Distance to Darfield (km) |
Distance to Ashburton (km) |
Southbound exits |
Darfield End as Bangor Road |
0 | 93.9 | Darfield Start as Bangor Road |
Greymouth, Waddington, Kirwee, Christchurch West Coast Road South Terrace |
Christchurch, Kirwee, Waddington, Greymouth South Terrace West Coast Road | ||
Waddington, Oxford Deans Road (Inland Scenic Route) |
7.8 | 86.1 | Waddington, Oxford Deans Road (Inland Scenic Route) |
End concurrency with Inland Scenic Route Name change to Bangor Road |
Start concurrency with Inland Scenic Route Name change to Homebush Road | ||
Coalgate, Hororata Bridge Street |
11.1 | 82.8 | Coalgate, Hororata Bridge Street |
Coalgate | 11.8 | 82.1 | Coalgate |
Glentunnel | 14.2 | 79.7 | Glentunnel |
Whitecliffs Whitecliffs Road |
14.7 | 79.2 | Whitecliffs Whitecliffs Road |
Name change to Homebush Road | Name change to Wairiri Road | ||
SELWYN RIVER | 14.8 | 79.1 | SELWYN RIVER |
Hororata Downs Road |
23.9 | 70.0 | Hororata Downs Road |
Name change to Wairiri Road | Name change to Windwhistle Road | ||
Windwhistle Name change to Windwhistle Road |
34.0 | 59.9 | Windwhistle Name change to Rakaia Gorge Road |
Lake Coleridge, Te Pirita, Hororata Coleridge Road Leaches Road |
34.6 | 59.3 | Hororata, Te Pirita, Lake Coleridge Leaches Road Coleridge Road |
Rakaia Gorge RAKAIA RIVER Enter Selwyn District Name change to Rakaia Gorge Road |
40.5 | 53.4 | Rakaia Gorge RAKAIA RIVER Enter Ashburton District Name change to Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road |
Methven Mount Hutt Station Road (shortcut) |
44.9 | 49.0 | Methven Mount Hutt Station Road (shortcut) |
Timaru, Mayfield, Mount Hutt Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road (Inland Scenic Route) McLennans Bush Road |
50.4 | 43.5 | Mount Hutt, Mayfield, Timaru McLennans Bush Road Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road (Inland Scenic Route) |
Name change to Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road Start concurrency with Inland Scenic Route |
Name change to Waimarama Road End concurrency with Inland Scenic Route | ||
Rakaia Gorge Mount Hutt Station Road (shortcut) |
57.3 | 36.6 | Rakaia Gorge Mount Hutt Station Road (shortcut) |
Name change to Waimarama Road | Name change to Mount Hutt Station Road | ||
Name change to Mount Hutt Station Road | 59.3 | 34.6 | Name change to Main Street |
Highbank, Barrhill Hall Street |
59.9 | 34.0 | Highbank, Barrhill Hall Street |
Methven | 60.0 | 33.9 | Methven |
Alford Forest, Lyndhurst, Lauriston Forest Drive Methven Chertsey Road |
Lyndhurst, Lauriston, Alford Forest Methven Chertsey Road Forest Drive | ||
Name change to Main Street | 60.8 | 33.1 | Name change to Methven Highway |
Mount Somers, Rakaia Thompsons Track |
71.6 | 22.3 | Rakaia, Mount Somers Thompsons Track |
Westerfield, Lauriston Ollivers Road Winchmore Lauriston Road |
81.8 | 12.1 | Lauriston, Westerfield Winchmore Lauriston Road Ollivers Road |
Racecourse Road |
88.1 | 5.8 | Racecourse Road |
Allenton, Netherby Harrison Street |
90.9 | 3.0 | Allenton, Netherby Harrison Street |
Name change to Methven Highway | 91.1 | 2.8 | Name change to Alford Forest Road |
Allenton, Ashburton Oak Grove Havelock Street |
92.8 | 1.1 | Allenton, Ashburton Havelock Street Oak Grove |
Name change to Alford Forest Road | Name change to River Terrace | ||
Name change to River Terrace | 93.5 | 0.4 | Name change to Moore Street |
Timaru, Tinwald, Chertsey, Christchurch West Street |
93.9 | 0.0 | Christchurch, Chertsey, Tinwald, Timaru West Street |
Ashburton End continues as Moore Street to Hampstead, Wakanui |
External links