Ngāūranga to Upper Hutt intersection upgrades
We’re looking to make safety improvements to four intersections along SH2 Hutt Valley - Hebden Crescent (near Owen Street), Hebden Crescent (by Liverton Road), Owen Street, and Moonshine Hill Road. These four intersections have been identified as high-risk for death and serious injury. They have unsafe layouts not suitable for high-speed and high-volume traffic, including the potential for serious side-impact crashes.
This is part of a staged approach to improving intersection safety on over 10 intersections along the 25km stretch between Ngāūranga and Upper Hutt.
Find out more about the work that went into deciding to do these improvements
What’s happening now?
We’re now ready to start construction at the two Hebden Crecent/SH2 intersections.
Both intersections have longstanding safety issues, including vehicles turning right at the the SH2/Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection having to turn across two lanes of busy, fast-moving traffic. From 2014-2023*, there have been 29 crashes at these two intersections, with one person losing their life.
We considered several potential options during the investigation and design phases. The current option (below) and other alternatives, which were ruled out as not viable for a range of reasons.
Closing the right-hand turn addresses the safety risk, while minimising travel disruption for the 37,000 vehicles that move through this section of SH2 every day.
The safety improvements will, however, impact journeys for residents and businesses in the Hebden Crescent, Liverton Road and Gurney Road area. Some journeys will be longer, particularly for people wanting to travel south along SH2.
Below you’ll find more information about what’s changing, as well as construction scheduling, timing and impacts.
Hebden Crescent intersections
After some delays, which included making some necessary design changes, construction of safety improvements at the Hebden Crescent/State Highway 2 (SH2) intersections will start Monday 29 April 2024 (weather dependent).
We expect construction to take around three months to complete (weather dependent). Work will be carried out in stages:
- Hebden Crescent intersection by Liverton Road from 29 April 2024
- Hebden Crescent intersection near Owen Street from early July 2024.
Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection changes
The Hebden Crescent intersection by Liverton Road will be converted to allow only left-hand turns in and out. The ability to turn right will be removed and the median barrier extended to make it continuous.
Hebden Crescent near Owen Street intersection changes
The intersection at Hebden Crescent near Owen Street will be closed and road users will be diverted to use Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road or Haywards (SH2/SH58) Interchange for access.
Getting around during construction and once the safety improvements are complete
If you live or work in the area, you’ll need to make changes to your journeys - during the construction period, and once the safety improvements are complete.
Accessing Hebden Crescent from SH2
If you’re travelling from the north, you’ll access Hebden Crescent by using the Belmont Regional Park entrance onto Hebden Crescent at the SH2/SH58 interchange. This route is suitable for heavy vehicles.
Coming from the south, you’ll still be able to turn left onto Hebden Crescent at the Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection.
Exiting Hebden Crescent onto SH2
If you’re heading north, you’ll have two options for accessing SH2:
- turn left at the Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection
- travel north along Hebden Crescent and using the SH2/SH58 interchange.
If you want to head south on SH2, you’ll no longer be able to turn right out of Hebden Crescent. You’ll need to either:
- turn left onto SH2 at the Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection and head north to use the SH2/SH58 interchange to turn around
- travel north along Hebden Crescent and exit directly onto the SH2/SH58 Interchange.
Please note: during construction at the Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection:
- your ability to turn right into and out of this intersection will be permanently removed. This is currently scheduled for early – mid May (weather dependent)
- the intersection will be fully closed at certain periods. However, you’ll still be able to use the Hebden Crescent intersection near Owen Street, as you do now.
More detailed information about construction impacts, timing and scheduling will be provided directly to residents and businesses as it’s confirmed.
Construction impacts, timing and scheduling
Construction of the safety improvements to the SH2/Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road intersection is scheduled to start from Monday 29 April 2024. This work will take approximately three months to complete, and construction will happen in stages.
- Stage 1: Monday 29 April – Monday 6 May 2024
- We’ll be constructing a turnaround bay on Hebden Road. Vehicles can use the intersection normally during the day approximately 7am-5pm.
- Stage 2: Early- mid-May 2024
- We will permanently close off the right-hand turn in and out. We will be doing construction work between 9pm and 4.30am, with set up from 7pm. Impact to SH2: We will be closing a lane on either side of the SH2, between 9pm and 4.30am.
- Stage 3: Mid-May – early July 2024
- From mid-May, we’ll be installing a concrete island, carrying out drainage works, paving the road and line markings.
Construction work affecting State Highway 2 will be done at night to avoid major disruption to traffic. To ensure drivers and work crews are kept safe, temporary traffic management and lane closures will be in place at times.
When the left turn into Liverton is closed, vehicles will need to turn left at Hebden Crescent near Owen Street (opposite Belmont Domain). When the intersection is entirely closed, vehicles can use Hebden near Owen to turn left. To head south, vehicles will need to turn around and SH58 interchange.
Construction for the permanent closure of the left turn in and out of Hebden Crescent near Owen Street will begin once we have completed the work at Hebden Crescent/Liverton Road. This is scheduled to happen from early July 2024.
From early July, the intersection will be closed permanently – so no vehicles will be able to turn left in and out of this intersection.
View/download map [PDF, 116 KB]
View the full information brochure [PDF, 1.1 MB]
Above is a map that shows how to access and exit Hebden Crescent after the safety improvements are complete. You can print this out and/or share it with people that need to access your business or property.
*Data is provided from the road traffic crash database; Crash Analysis System (CAS). 2023 data is not yet complete in CAS. These are the current figures from CAS as at 4/03/2024.
Moonshine Hill Rd and Owen Street intersections safety improvements
We’ve currently paused our work on the proposed upgrades to both these intersections, as we consider the implications of the new Government Priority Statement and await the new Speed Management Rule, which will likely change the rules that govern how speed limits are set.
Both of these may impact the proposed upgrades and will influence any decisions on the next steps for these intersections.
Below we’ve outlined the current status of the work for each intersection.
Moonshine Hill Road
The proposed upgrade for Moonshine Hill Road is for new traffic lights and a proposed posted speed limit change on the northbound lane.
This intersection is a crash hotspot with many serious and fatal crashes in recent years, so it was important to include in the first stage of improvements.
A remaining step is to confirm a new speed limit of 60 km/h through the intersection.
Current practice is not to install new traffic lights where the limit is 100km/h, so we’ve proposed to reduce the speed limit to 60km/h in the northbound lanes for a short stretch before and through the intersection. This is to ensure drivers can safely stop, when required, or slow down and pass safely through the intersection. It also means if a crash happened at the intersection, it would be at a lower speed – reducing the likelihood of people being seriously harmed.
Changing speed limits is a legal process and there are steps we must follow, as the road controlling authority for state highways.
Owen Street
At Owen Street, the proposed upgrade includes installing traffic signals, and a proposed speed limit reduction, to better control the four-way intersection. This is likely to be the first stage of further improvements that will be made later in the project.
Background
These intersection changes are part of a larger work programme focused on improving safety on SH2 in the Hutt Valley, while minimising changes that might slow travel along SH2.
SH2 is an important, busy road that carries large volumes of people and products every day, connecting Wellington, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa and beyond. Around 37,000 vehicles travel along this section of SH2 every day.
Most of SH2 in the Hutt Valley has good safety characteristics, with median and side barriers that prevent the most serious crash types. However, there are several intersections with serious crash records.
In 2021 we carried out feasibility design work for physical safety improvements on 14 intersections along 25km of SH2 from Ngāūranga to Upper Hutt (excluding Melling Interchange, which is a separate project). This was about gathering information and determining the best proposed safety improvements.
As part of this phase, we engaged with key stakeholders that have an interest in the road corridor to provide feedback on the options. Full details of the stakeholders involved are included in our engagement report.
Ngāūranga to Featherston speed review and safety improvements public engagement report [PDF, 9.5 MB]
The project team produced a Feasibility Design Report at the end of this stage (Feb 2022) and decision makers agreed to take a staged approach to this work, with the first stage to include an initial four intersections – Moonshine Hill Road, Owen Street, Hebden Crescent and Liverton Road.
In late 2022, we let residents, businesses and key stakeholders know about the decision to move forward with these intersections.
After some delays in 2023, including to make some necessary design changes, we’re now ready to start construction for two SH2/Hebden Crescent intersections. Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road and Hebden Crescent near Owen Street.
