A summer of work to complete much-needed maintenance on State Highway 29 Kaimai Range will see night closures over two weeks next month.

SH29 will be closed between 8pm and 4.30am from Sunday, February 9 to Friday, February 14 and again from Sunday, February 16 to Friday, February 21.

The closures are needed to undertake asphalt renewals and other routine maintenance activities such as clearing drains, sign maintenance and road marking.

The previously advised SH29 closure was for one week, an extra week has been added to complete additional maintenance while the road is closed, while also allowing for the possibility of bad weather.

If the work is completed before the full two weeks is up, then the road will reopen early.

During the day, SH29 will be open but may be under a temporary speed restriction.

This is one of a number of night closures for SH29 for vital maintenance work on this busy route linking Waikato with Bay of Plenty.

Due to the nature of the road over the Kaimai Range, plus the heavy traffic volumes due to its importance as part of the ‘Golden Triangle’, full closures are the most efficient and effective way to get important maintenance completed.

For more information about the work happening on SH29 over the summer click here.

Further closures are planned for April. The exact dates will be shared when they have been confirmed.

The detours for this closure are significant and add considerable time to journeys.

People are encouraged to check the NZTA Journey Planner journeys.nzta.govt.nz and allow extra time for their journey, or if possible, delay travel over SH29 on these nights.

The detour routes are:

South: SH28, SH5, SH30, SH33, SH2 via Rotorua

North: SH24, SH27, SH26, SH2 via Karangahake Gorge

The closure points on the western (Waikato) side are at the SH29/24 and SH29/28 intersections and on the eastern (BOP) side at the SH29/Cambridge Road intersection.

Emergency services will have access at all times, and residents can access their property from the relevant side of the closure.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi thanks motorists for their patience.