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Advance Direction Sign on Southern Mwy (SH1) at the interchange with Mt Wellington Hwy (UR6) (Exit 438) at Mt Wellington. Image © Dean Sherry

State highways are those roads in New Zealand that form a nationally strategic purpose in moving people and goods throughout New Zealand. The term ‘state highway’ differentiates between local roads, built and maintained by local authorities, and the national state highway network. ‘State’, in the sense used here, is an older term meaning ‘government’. 1

The New Zealand Transport Agency has established a numbering scheme for the State Highway System and it works as follows:

• The most important highways are numbered within the block 1–10, with State Highway 1 being the only highway that runs the full length of the country, from Cape Rēinga in the north to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island. 1
  • State highways 2–5 are the key North Island highways.
  • State highways 6–9 are the key South Island highways.
• The remaining highways are numbered according to the locality:
  • State highways 11–19 are in Northland/Auckland.
  • State highways 20–29 are in Hamilton/Bay of Plenty.
  • State highways 30–39 are in Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne.
  • State highways 40–49 are in Whanganui/Taranaki.
  • State highways 50–59 are in Wellington/Manawatū.
  • State highways 60–69 are in Marlborough/Nelson.
  • State highways 70–79 are in Canterbury/West Coast.
  • State highways 80–89 are in Otago.
  • State highways 90–99 are in Southland.

Not all of these numbers are allocated, although SH99 runs between SH6 north of Invercargill and Clifden, near Tūātapere. 1

There is no route number differentiation between motorways, highways, expressways, and so on, they just form part of the road network. New Zealand started building motorways very early, beating nearby Australia by several years. The first section of motorway ran for three miles (4.8kms) between Takapu Road and Johnsonville in Wellington. It opened in December 1950 as part of the main approach to Wellington city. 1

Below are the various roads that this site has photos of. The routes are sorted by their route number.

Route Number:	Description:	Preview:
	State Highway 1 (Cape Reinga to Wellington & Picton to Bluff)
	State Highway 2 (Pokeno to Ngauranga)
	State Highway 3 (Hamilton to Palmerston North)
	State Highway 6 (Blenheim to Invercargill)
	State Highway 6A (Frankton to Queenstown)
	State Highway 36 (Tauranga To Rotorua)
	State Highway 94 (Levin to Ashhurst)
	State Highway 94 (Gore To Milford Sound)
	State Highway 97 (Mossburn to Five Rivers)

1 NZ Transport Agency, Roads and rail Research and data, State highway frequently asked questions

Last updated: 29-Jul-2020 0:49

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