New safety improvements coming for State Highway 2, Hutt Valley

Travel along State Highway 2 in the Hutt Valley is about to be safer with the construction of safety improvements at two critical intersections with Hebden Crescent.

The two intersections are the southern intersection near Owen Street and the northern intersection by Liverton Road. Work to make them safer will begin next month.

Emma Speight, Director Regional Relationships, says both intersections have longstanding safety issues.

“This is particularly the case  for the intersection by Liverton Road, where vehicles turning right onto State Highway 2 have to turn across two lanes of heavy traffic in a 100km/h speed zone.” 

“There have been 29 crashes at these two intersections between 2014 and 2023, with one person losing their life,” Ms Speight says. 

She says the improvements are the best way to improve safety at these intersections and ensure efficient and reliable journeys for the 37,000 vehicles that drive this section of the highway daily.

“We appreciate the change will affect how residents access the highway and change traffic patterns on local roads. However, the changes are not being made lightly and are essential if we are to make this section of State Highway 2 safer,” Ms Speight says.

Planned changes

The safety improvements will see:

• The intersection at Hebden Crescent near Owen Street will be closed.
• Traffic will be diverted and use Hebden Crescent by Liverton Road for access.
• The Hebden Crescent intersection by Liverton Road will be changed to only allow left-hand turns in and out. The ability to turn right will be removed, and the median barrier will be extended to make it continuous.

Road users wanting to head south along State Highway 2 can either:

• Turn left onto State Highway 2 and head north to use the SH2/SH58 interchange to turn around.
• Use the northern end of Hebden Crescent (Belmont Regional Park entrance) to exit directly onto the interchange.  

Road users travelling north to south will be able to access Hebden Crescent by using the Belmont Regional Park entrance at the SH2/SH58 interchange. This route is suitable for heavy vehicles. 

Local businesses and residents have been informed that the safety improvements will get underway in mid-April and will be updated on the project’s progress. 

Signs will be installed encouraging drivers to use Hebden Crescent via the Liverton Road intersection or travel along Hebden Crescent to the Haywards Interchange. This will help reduce the possibility of increased traffic on Gurney Road.

New signs will also be installed to warn drivers that Gurney Road is unsuitable for larger vehicles.

Works schedule and location

• Installing the new safety improvements is expected to take 12 weeks, depending on the weather. 
• 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.   

SH2 Hebden Crescent intersection safety improvements brochure [PDF, 1.1 MB]

More information

In 2021, NZTA/Waka Kotahi conducted feasibility design work for physical safety improvements at 14 intersections along 25 km of State Highway 2, Ngāūranga to Upper Hutt. It involved gathering information and determining the best-proposed safety improvements.

A Feasibility Design Report  recommended a staged approach for this work, and funding was approved for an initial four intersections:

• Moonshine Hill Road
• Owen Street
• Hebden Crescent
• Liverton Road. 

These four intersections have been identified as having a high potential for death and serious injury (DSI) crashes.

In late 2022, NZTA/Waka Kotahi informed residents, businesses, and key stakeholders about our plans to make these intersections safer. We also completed a safe system assessment of proposals to close the Hebden Crescent south intersection (near Owen Street) and convert the Hebden Crescent north intersection (by Liverton Road) to a left-in, left-out intersection.

The assessment considered the safety of alternative routes traffic may take once the changes were made. It found that: 

• Removing the right turn from the State Highway 2/Liverton Road intersection will make the intersection safer  
• The resulting increase in traffic on local roads would not create significant safety risks on these routes.    

More information about the Hebden Crescent and other State Highway 2 Hutt Valley safety improvements is available on the Waka Kotahi website.

SH2 Hutt Valley and Remutaka safety improvements