A reminder below of the upcoming work affecting State Highway 7 at Lewis Pass from next week, impacting particularly on heavy vehicles during daytime hours.

Facebook post: SH7 Lewis Pass, West Coast road rebuild (external link)

24 September:

An essential rebuild of a section of State Highway 7/Lewis Pass Road means that road users will need to plan for daytime delays from next month.

From Monday 12 October through to Friday 11 December 2026, a 6.3km section of SH7 between the St James Walkway car park and Maruia Hot Springs is due to be resurfaced with new asphalt, replacing the existing layers of chip seal that have become unstable. This stretch of highway has reached the end of its serviceable life, and the work is necessary to ensure safe and reliable travel.

The roadworks over this period mean that road users will be required to stop on demand in both directions and delays of up to 20 minutes should be expected between 7am and 6pm on weekdays. People are encouraged to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys.

Because of physical constraints at the worksite, there will be no access for heavy vehicles (class 2 medium rigid vehicles or above) during these working hours. These excluded heavy vehicles will need to use alternative routes via State Highway 1 to Nelson or State Highway 73 to the West Coast. SH7 will still be available to all heavy vehicle types from 6pm to 7am weekdays, and throughout the weekends.

In addition to the delays during weekdays, two full closures of this section of SH7 will be required over the coming weeks to allow single lane bridges to be resurfaced. The timing of these closures is weather dependent and notice of at least a week will be provided.