New Zealand State Highway 73

State Highway SH73 in New Zealand
map
Basic data
Operator:	New Zealand Transport Agency
Start of the street:	SH 6 at Kumara Junction ( 42 ° 35 ′  S , 171 ° 8 ′  E )
End of street:	SH 75 / SH 76 / in Middleton ( 43 ° 33 ′  S , 172 ° 35 ′  E )
Overall length:	231 km
Regions :	South Island: West coast Canterbury
SH 73 at Arthur's Pass  Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

SH 73 through Arthur's Pass

The Otira Viaduct

Castle Hill Village

The former donut in Springfield, with Mount Torlesse in the background

The New Zealand State Highway 73 ( State Highway 73 or SH 73 for short ) is a trunk road of national importance on the South Island of New Zealand . The road represents an important cross-connection between the west and east coast across the New Zealand Alps and is marketed as the Great Alpine Highway for tourists .

geography

The highway begins on the West Coast , runs in a south-easterly direction and connects Hokitika on the west coast, halfway via Cass , with the largest city on the South Island, Christchurch on the east coast. Most of the road has one lane in each direction, but in Christchurch it is mostly two-lane. North of Springfield , the highway is narrowed by a few single-lane bridges. The fourth and fifth highest points of the New Zealand highway road network , Porters Pass and Arthur's Pass , are on the highway.

history

The State Highway 73 route was known to the Māori for several hundred years, as they used the route to transport pounamu (jade). In the middle of the 19th century, Europeans found out about the route from a local chief. In 1864 Arthur Dudley Dobson crossed the South Island from the east, from the Waimakariri River , to the west and discovered Arthur's Pass. The road between Christchurch and Hokitika was completed in 1866. The company Cobb & Co. started its stagecoach service on the east-west route in the same year.

In 1887 the Transalpine Line began to build a railway connection between Christchurch and Greymouth on the route . But until the completion of the Otira Tunnel on August 4, 1923, the road remained the only traffic connection through the Alps. With the opening of the tunnel, the stagecoach traffic was stopped.

Because of the geological conditions between Springfield and Kumara , the road had to be closed several times and the route changed. The section between Arthur's Pass and Otira was considered one of the most dangerous expressways in New Zealand. The road here was built on scree-like subsoil that regularly slipped. Numerous studies examined ways to get the problems at Candy's Bend , Starvation Point and the Zig Zag under control. From 1997 to 1999 the Otira Viaduct and protective roofs against falling rocks were built.

Routing

Kumara Junction to Christchurch

State Highway 73 begins 7 miles south of Greymouth at Kumara Junction . It passes gently rolling farmland, bushland and forest and the settlements of Kumara and Dillmanstown . The road continues along the valley of the Taramakau River . At Jacksons, the Midland Line crosses the river and then runs parallel to the road. Shortly before Aickens , at the confluence of the Taramakau Rivers and Otira Rivers , the road and railway line turn sharply south and run south to Otira .

After Otira, the road leaves the railway line running in the tunnel and crosses the Otira River. Then she climbs up to the Otira Viaduct and Arthur's Pass . At 920 meters, Arthur's Pass is the second highest pass on the road and one of the three passes over the Southern Alps. The road then descends to the village of Arthurs Pass , where the railway line emerges again from the Otira tunnel .

The SH 73 follows the valley of the Bealey River down, crosses the Waimakariri River and runs a piece in a westerly direction parallel to the railway line. Before Cass , the road turns south around a hill and then runs through farmland along Lake Grasmere and Lake Pearson .

The road climbs up to Castle Hill Village and then runs through a valley. It passes Lake Lyndon , where it ascends east to Porters Pass , which is the highest point on the road at 939 meters. The SH 73 descends into the valley of the Kowai River and follows this river to Springfield .

After Springfield the road reaches the Canterbury Plains and runs through the settlements of Annat and Sheffield to Darfield . After Darfield the road runs through the towns of Kirwee , Aylesbury and West Melton . The road leads past Paparua Prison via Yaldhurst to Christchurch.

Christchurch

As Yaldhurst Road, the road heads east to Riccarton . In Avonhead , the road widens to two lanes. At the Curletts Road / Peer Street intersection, the dual carriageway turns right while Yaldhurst Road continues as Riccarton Road into the city center.

As Curletts Road, the road becomes single-lane again up to Blenheim Road. It crosses the Main South Line and ends at Christchurch Southern Motorway (SH 76).

Changes to the route

Since its inception, the route of SH 73 in Christchurch and the Arthur's Pass-Otira area has been changed several times. In the early years it ended at the corner of Blenheim Road and Hansons Lane in Upper Riccarton . In 1999, one of the most dangerous parts of the highway network at Candy's Bend was replaced by the Otira Viaduct. In Christchurch the SH 1 was diverted around the city center, so the SH 73 was extended to the intersection of Brougham Street / Waltham Road, the rest of the route was taken over by the SH 74. In 2004 the SH 74 was given a new route along the Ring Road and the Tunnel Road rather than straight through the city center. The SH 73 was therefore further extended until it was connected to the SH 74 on Port Hills Road.

In December 2012, with the expansion of the Christchurch Southern Motorway, the section of SH 73 east of Curletts Road was completed as SH 76 as an extension of the new expressway.

Important intersections and places

State Highway 73
northern departures	Distance to Greymouth (km)	Distance to Lyttelton (km)	southern slopes
End Otira Highway	16.6	240.4	Start Otira Highway
Hokitika , Greymouth Kumara Junction Highway, Taramakau Highway			Greymouth, Hokitika Taramakau Highway, Kumara Junction Highway
Kumara as Seddon Street through Kumara	23.5	233.5	Kumara as Seddon Street through Kumara
Dillmanstown	26.2	230.8	Dillmanstown
Lake Brunner , Moana Lake Brunner Road ( )	61.5	195.5	Lake Brunner, Moana Lake Brunner Road ( )
Jacksons	62.1	194.9	Jacksons
Midland Line	69.4	187.6	Midland Line
Midland Line	72.2	184.8	Midland Line
Otira	81.5	175.5	Otira
Midland Line	83.2	173.8	Midland Line
Otira River	83.3	173.7	Otira River
Otira Viaduct	87.7	169.3	Otira Viaduct
Change to Westland District name changes to Otira Highway	90	167	Arthur's Pass 920 m
Arthur's Pass 920 m			Change to Selwyn District Name changes to West Coast Road
Arthur's Pass Village	95	162	Arthur's Pass Village
Waimakariri River	104	153	Waimakariri River
Bealey	106	151	Bealey
Mount White Road	118	139	Mount White Road
Cass	121	136	Cass
Castle Hill Village	145	112	Castle Hill Village
Lake Lyndon , Lake Coleridge Lyndon Road	156	101	Lake Lyndon, Lake Coleridge Lyndon Road
Porters Pass 939 m	159	98	Porters Pass 939 m
Kowai River	164.7	92.3	Kowai River
Kowai River	171.2	84.8	Kowai River
Kowai Bush , Waimakariri Gorge Pocock Road	175.8	80.2	Kowai Bush, Waimakariri Gorge Pocock Road
Springfield	177.5	79.5	Springfield
Russells Flat Keens Road Coxs Road Junction Road	180.1	76.9	Russells Flat Coxs Road Junction Road Keens Road
Annat	184	73	Annat
Sheffield	187	70	Sheffield
Sheffield	189.5	68.5	Oxford, Rangiora Waimakariri Gorge Road ( Inland Scenic Route )
Oxford , Rangiora Waimakariri Gorge Road (Inland Scenic Route)	189.5	68.5	Waddington
Coalgate , Glentunnel Deans Road (Inland Scenic Route)	190.5	67.5	Coalgate, Glentunnel Deans Road (Inland Scenic Route)
Coalgate, Glentunnel Bangor Road	200	57	Coalgate, Glentunnel Bangor Road
Charing Cross , Dunsandel , Kimberley Ross Street McMillan Street	200.3	56.7	Kimberley, Charing Cross, Dunsandel McMillan Street Ross Street
Darfield as South Terrace by Darfield	200.5	56.5	Darfield as South Terrace by Darfield
Darfield Horndon Street	202.3	54.7	Darfield Horndon Street
Charing Cross Ansons Road	206.9	50.1	Charing Cross Ansons Road
Midland Line	207	50	Midland Line
Courtenay Ansons Road	207.1	49.9	Courtenay Ansons Road
Charing Cross, Courtenay Courtenay Road	209	48	Kirwee
Kirwee			Courtenay, Charing Cross Courtenay Road
Hororata , Burnham , Rolleston Railway Road Aylesbury Road Bealey Road Station Road	214.5	42.5	Aylesbury
Aylesbury			Rolleston, Burnham, Hororata Station Road Railway Road Aylesbury Road Bealey Road
Rolleston, Kirwee Hoskyns Road	216.6	40.4	Kirwee, Rolleston Hoskyns Road
Burnham, Weedons Weedons Ross Road West Melton Road	222.7	34.3	West Melton
West Melton ,			Weedons, Burnham West Melton Road Weedons Ross Road
Springston , McLeans Island Dawsons Road Chattertons Road	227.6	29.4	McLeans Island, Springston Chattertons Road Dawsons Road
Broomfield , Sockburn Buchanans Road	231.8	25.2	Broomfield, Sockburn Buchanans Road
Courtenay , Waddington Old West Coast Road	232.5	24.5	Courtenay, Waddington Old West Coast Road
Yaldhurst	234.2	22.8	Yaldhurst
Templeton , McLeans Island Pound Road			McLeans Island, Templeton Pound Road
Timaru , Masham , Russley , Picton Masham Road Russley Road			Picton, Russley, Masham, Timaru Russley Road Masham Road
Sockburn , Avonhead Middlepark Road Avonhead Road	238.5	18.5	Avonhead, Sockburn Avonhead Road Middlepark Road
Bishopdale , Riccarton Peer Street Yaldhurst Road	239.4	17.6	Bishopdale, Riccarton Peer Street Yaldhurst Road
The name changes to Yaldhurst Road at the end of the common route with Christchurch Ring Road			Name changes to Curletts Road Start shared with Christchurch Ring Road
Hornby , Riccarton Main South Road	239.5	17.5	Riccarton, Hornby Main South Road
Hornby, Christchurch CBD Blenheim Road	240.3	16.7	Christchurch Central City, Hornby Blenheim Road
Main South Line	240.5	16.5	Main South Line
Wigram Parkhouse Road	240.8	16.2	Wigram Parkhouse Road
Middleton Lunns Road	241.1	15.9	Middleton Lunns Road
Rolleston , Prebbleton , Sydenham , Lyttelton Christchurch Southern Motorway	241.6	15.4	Lyttelton, Sydenham, Prebbleton, Rolleston Christchurch Southern Motorway
Start State Highway 73 as Curletts Road from Hoon Hay , Halswell and Akaroa			At the end of State Highway 73, continue as Curletts Road to Hoon Hay, Halswell and Akaroa

Former SH 73a

The 3.6 km long State Highway 73A was a branch line of the SH 73, which connects the suburbs Hornby and Sockburn on the Main South Road and Blenheim Road. Before 2004 it was part of the original route of SH 73 and before that part of SH 1 . It was one of the few highways in New Zealand that was run entirely in two lanes in each direction. In 2014, the highway was downgraded to a normal road, as the Christchurch Southern Motorway (SH 76), which runs almost entirely in parallel, was completed in 2012.

Main intersections

State Highway 73A
western slopes	Distance to Hornby (km)	Distance to Christchurch CBD (km)	eastern departures
End further than Main South Road	0	10	Start further than Main South Road from
Springston , Timaru , Hornby , Picton Shands Road Carmen Road			Picton, Hornby, Timaru, Springston Carmen Road Shands Road
Prebbleton , Lincoln Springs Road	1.7	8.3	Prebbleton, Lincoln Springs Road
Wigram , Middleton , Sockburn, Symes Road Green Lane	2.1	7.9	Sockburn, Wigram, Middleton Green Lane, Symes Road
Main South Line	2.2	7.8	Main South Line
Broomfield , Yaldhurst Lowther Street Racecourse Road	2.4	7.6	Broomfield, Yaldhurst Racecourse Road Lowther Street
Upper Riccarton , Sockburn Alloy Street Epsom Road Main South Road sockburn roundabout	2.6	7.4	Upper Riccarton, Sockburn Epsom Road Main South Road Alloy Street Roundabout, Sockburn
Name changes to Main South Road			Name changes to Blenheim Road
Upper Riccarton Halswell Curletts Road	3.8	6.2	Upper Riccarton, Halswell Curletts Road
End further than Blenheim Road into the Christchurch CBD

Web links

• Great Alpine Highway (SH 73 tourism website)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ōtira rail tunnel opened . New Zealand History , October 2, 2012, accessed March 3, 2015 .  
2. ^ John Wilson : Canterbury places - Porters Pass to Arthur's Pass . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , July 13, 2012, accessed March 3, 2015 .  
3. ↑ http://www.nzine.co.nz/views/arthurspass_otira.html The Road from Arthur's Pass to Otira
4. ↑ http://www.nzine.co.nz/features/arthurs_pass.html From Christchurch to Arthur's Pass By Road