The Northland Corridor is a 100 km stretch of highway connecting Auckland to Northland. Made up of 3 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), it will support economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, improve safety, support housing development, and provide a more resilient roading network.
Connecting to Ara Tūhono - Pūhoi to Warkworth in the south, the Northland Corridor is made up of 3 Roads of National Significance (RoNS): Warkworth to Te Hana, Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway and Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei.
Roads of National Significance
The Northland Corridor stretches 100km from Warkworth to Whangārei and will address the critical resilience and safety issues facing the current road. Northland has one of the worst safety records in the country and SH1 over the Brynderwyn Hills was closed in both directions last year for 36 days and closed southbound only for 37 days – totalling 73 days of disruption.
The new road will unlock economic growth and productivity by moving people and freight efficiently, quickly, and safely across the region, support housing development and provide more resilience during extreme weather events.
The Northland Corridor Te Hana to Whangārei Investment Case has been endorsed by the NZTA Board. This includes the preferred route for Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway (including the Alterative to the Brynderwyn Hills) and Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei.
The preferred route is a refinement of the emerging preferred corridor. We will use this route to apply for consents and designation. There are still several places the final road may go within the preferred route.
To address the critical resilience issues in the Brynderwyn Hills, the NZTA board has endorsed taking a staged approach to the corridor, focusing on the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills, which will provide the long-term solution and enhance the overall efficiency of the corridor.
The full corridor between Te Hana to Whangārei is moving to the route protection stage. The next step is to undertake geotechnical and environmental investigations in the preferred route to better understand local conditions.
We will also begin to contact landowners in the preferred route and arrange individual meetings with impacted landowners. We will be doing this in stages, beginning with the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills section.
The project expects to make use of the Fast-track Approvals Act as well as Public Works Act changes for critical infrastructure.
Long plot map
A long plot map shows the preferred route over a large area. It helps show how the project fits into the wider landscape. They are indicative only, and do not show the final area or where the new road will go.
Yellow dotted lines
Yellow dotted lines show the boundary of the preferred route, not where the final road will go.
Why the corridor looks wide
There are still many different places the final route may go within the preferred route. We are at the route protection stage, which means we are working towards protecting the land for future planning to build the road. The area we will protect needs to give room for further environmental and geotechnical investigations, innovation in future design, and allow for the extra area we will need during construction of the road, for things such as lay down areas, access, stormwater systems and other required mitigation areas.
Final area for route protection
The long plots do not show the final area we will be applying for route protection for.
We are currently undertaking geotechnical and environmental investigations as well as design development and having individual conversations with landowners to help us refine the corridor further. We expect to lodge the Notice of Requirements (NoR) to route protect the area for the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills by mid-2026 and for the remaining sections of the corridor by late 2026. We will share the updated maps when we lodge the NoR.
How to know if your property is affected
If a property you own is within the preferred route you should have received a letter from us.
We are meeting landowners in stages, starting with the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills section. If you’re not sure or have questions, please contact us.
Contact for property queries:
More information for landowners is available here:
SH1 Northland Corridor information sheet for landowners – October 2025 [PDF, 403 KB]
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All landowners within the preferred route should now have received their letter communicating this, and we have started to have individual meetings with landowners. Due to the 75 km length of the corridor, individual landowner engagement is occurring in a staged approach, beginning with potentially affected landowners in the Alternative to the Brynderwyns Hills section.
Landowners between Waipu and Whangārei will be contacted again early next year with further information to book in their individual meetings with the project team.
SH1 Northland Corridor information sheet for landowners – October 2025 [PDF, 403 KB]
CloseThe next steps are for the project team to work at pace to refine the preferred route further, by beginning geotechnical and environmental investigations, starting with the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills section.
We will continue to work closely with our iwi and hapū partners and key stakeholders, and to share our progress with landowners and the community as we work at pace on the Northland Corridor project.
View larger timeline [PDF, 90 KB]
CloseIn April 2025, an emerging preferred corridor was announced for the Northland Corridor for Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway and Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei.
An emerging preferred corridor is a larger area than the final route will be. Within the emerging preferred corridor there are still several different places the final road may go. The width of the area varies across the emerging preferred corridor due to geology and other constraints. The next step we do will be to refine this route further so we understand more about where the final road will go, and the land we may require for it.
This map provides an early indication of the confirmed corridor for Ara Tūhono – Warkworth to Te Hana, and the emerging preferred corridor from Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway and Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei.
View larger project map [PDF, 746 KB]
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