Roads of National Significance

In early 2009, the government announced the first seven Roads of National Significance, which have been identified as essential routes that require priority treatment.

Wayne Donnelly, General Manager – Road and Rail, said the list represents priorities for the State highway system.  “The roads are amongst the country’s most urgent priorities within or close to our five largest population centres. All support large traffic volumes, and all need work to reduce congestion, improve safety and support economic growth.

The seven roads identified were:

• Puhoi to Wellsford – SH1
• Completion of the Auckland Western Ring Route – SH20/16/18
• Auckland Victoria Park bottleneck – SH1
• Waikato Expressway – SH1
• Tauranga Eastern Corridor – SH2
• Wellington Northern Corridor (Levin to Wellington) – SH1
• Christchurch motorway projects

The roads are listed in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding to ensure that they are taken into account when the NZ Transport Agency develops the National Land Transport Programme.

Further Roads of National Significance may be added in the future, and the Ministry is already investigating possible criteria for future roads.

Click here to download the maps showing the Roads of National Significance (PDF v7.0, 3,195kb)