A reminder that a stretch of State Highway 2 Hawke’s Bay Expressway will be closing overnight this Sunday (4 May) for a range of maintenance work.

Crews will be working each night between 8pm and 5am, with work complete early on the Saturday morning (10 May).

During the week, crews will be focusing on the renewal and resurfacing of bridge abutments either end of the Tutaekuri River Bridge, as well as line marking other parts of the road.

Each night, the northern closure point will be at Meeanee Road but the southern point of the closure will be adjusted accordingly. 

• On the first night (Sunday 4 May), the expressway will be closed between Paklpaki and Meeanee Road. Southbound vehicles will be detoured onto Meeanee Road, Awatoto Road, State Highway 51, Karamu Road, left onto St Aubyn Street, right onto Hastings Street, right onto Southampton Street East, and left onto Railway Road. The reverse will apply for northbound vehicles.
• On Monday 5 May, the expressway will be closed between York Road and Meeanee Road. Southbound vehicles will be detoured onto Meeanee Road, Awatoto Road, State Highway 51, Te Ara Kahikatea, left onto Pākōwhai Road, Maraekakaho Road, right onto York Road. The reverse will apply for northbound vehicles.
• On Tuesday 6 May, the expressway will be closed between Evenden Road and Meeanee Road. Southbound vehicles will be detoured onto Meeanee Road, Awatoto Road, State Highway 51, Te Ara Kahikatea, Pākōwhai Road, Evenden Road. The reverse will apply for northbound vehicles.
• Wednesday 7 May to Friday 9 May, the expressway will be closed between Links Road and Meeanee Road. Southbound vehicles will be detoured onto Meeanee Road, Awatoto Road, State Highway 51, Te Ara Kahikatea, Pākōwhai Road. The reverse will apply for northbound vehicles.

Due to the nature of this work and the narrow road width, a full closure is required. Outside the work hours, the sections of Expressway will be open, with a temporary speed limit in place. A reminder, the bridge work only affects the road each end of the bridge and not the bridge structure.

Unfortunately, there is no HPMV detour and due to the nature of this work, HPMV won’t be able to queue and be let through the worksite. Emergency vehicles will need to use the detours.

Please note the temporary bridge at Waiohiki is restricted to 8 tonne MAX at 30km/hr. 

Note: 50MAX vehicles are permitted to use the Tutaekuri Bridge (Waitangi) on State Highway 51. 50MAX does not mean that any vehicles up to 50-tonne are permitted. Only vehicles with a specific 50MAX permit type are able to use the bridge. HPMVs (that are not 50MAX) are not allowed to use the bridge. If a vehicle weighs over 44-tonne and it is not a 50MAX vehicle, it is not permitted to use this bridge as a detour during the closures.

More information on 50MAX vehicles(external link)

This work is weather dependent. Contingency dates are Sunday 11 to Friday 16 May, 8pm–5am each night.