New Zealand state highway network

The majority of the state highway network is made up of single-carriageway roads with one lane each way and at-grade access.

Land within the boundaries of highway districts became subject to a rate of not more than 1/- an acre, or of 3d in the £ of its estimated sale value and that was to be equalled by a grant from the Province.

Every five years the NZ Transport Agency will embark on a state highway review to consider whether the existing network should be expanded or reduced, according to traffic flows, changes in industry, tourism and development.

The categories are as follows:[4][5][6] From 2006 information, the busiest stretch of SH 1 was just south of the Auckland Central Motorway Junction, on/near the Newmarket Viaduct, with over 200,000 vehicles (either way) each day.

The least busy parts of the network (excluding off-ramps and on-ramps) are on SH 43 north-east of Whangamōmona, with fewer than 120 vehicles (counting both directions) in a day.

In about 2004 these plaques were replaced by a new system, which gives each bridge a single number showing the distance from the start of the highway in hundreds of metres.

[12] The individual risk is based on the likelihood of a single driver experiencing an accident while travelling the link in question.

[12] The collective risk is based on the total number of crashes that occurred on the link, which pushes safer but very highly travelled sections of the network to the top of the statistical category.

[12] Both categories of assessment are to be used as an advisory tool for both drivers to inform them of dangerous road sections as well as to allow traffic controlling authorities to prioritise maintenance and safety improvements.

The Alliance is using speed reductions, wire rope barriers, wide centrelines, rumble strips, better warning signs and shoulder widening.