State Highway 74 (New Zealand)

State Highway 74 is a state highway in New Zealand servicing the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. Mostly two-lane, it is composed of limited-access expressways, with part of the highway as the Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway, and connects the city to its port town of Lyttelton.

State Highway 74
Christchurch Ring Road
Route of State Highway 74
Route information
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency
Length28.4 km (17.6 mi)
Major junctions
North end SH 1 (Christchurch Northern Motorway) at Belfast
Southeast endGladstone Quay at Lyttelton
Location
Major citiesChristchurch
Highway system
SH 73 SH 75

Route

The highway begins immediately north of Belfast, with ramps connecting to the Western Bypass of the Christchurch Northern Motorway on State Highway 1. It then proceeds in a southerly direction, following Main North Road through the suburbs of Belfast, Northwood and Redwood.

At Northcote, the highway turns left onto Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Drive and begins its concurrency with the Christchurch Ring Road. As a two lane expressway, QEII Drive skirts through the northern suburbs of Christchurch, with major intersections at Innes Road and Marshland Road. After the Burwood Road traffic lights, the road changes name to Travis Road, loses expressway status, and runs in an easterly direction to the Anzac Drive/Frosts Road roundabout, where the highway turns right.

Now known as Anzac Drive, the road returns to expressway status and runs through the suburbs of Aranui and Bexley until reaching the Breezes Road/Bridge Street Roundabout. After the roundabout, the road changes name to Dyers Road. At Palinurus Road, the concurrency with the Ring Road ends, but Dyers Road keeps going in a southerly direction until the Ferry Road roundabout.

After the roundabout, the highway changes name to Tunnel Road and turns into a motorway, and passes through two interchanges before passing through the Lyttelton road tunnel. (For more information on this section go to Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway)

In Lyttelton, the road changes name to Norwich Quay and acts as the main thoroughfare through the town and its associated port before terminating at the port gates as Gladstone Quay.

Route Changes

The route of SH 74 has been rearranged quite frequently for a State Highway, initially gazetted in 1964 upon the opening of the Lyttelton Road Tunnel, it only consisted of the motorway and the short section through Lyttelton.

When State Highway 1 went through Christchurch was rerouted to bypass the city in the early 1990s, State Highways 73 and 74 were extended to cover much of the original route, with SH 74 initially continuing through at QEII Drive/Northcote Road to travel via Cranford and Sherborne Streets. In Christchurch CBD, the route turned left onto Bealey Avenue and then onto the parallel one-way roads Madras and Barbadoes Street. The road then turned left onto Moorhouse Avenue and then right onto Waltham Road before turning left again onto Brougham Street. The road then proceeded in a south-easterly direction until the Port Hills Road interchange with Tunnel Road.[1] In 2004, the route was realigned to its current route, with much of the previous route either revoked or taken over by SH 73.[2]

In November 2017, the Christchurch Northern Motorway's Western Bypass was opened, taking State Highway 1 to the west of Belfast, and State Highway 74's route was extended north along SH1's previous route up Main North Road from the Johns Road intersection to the previously existing motorway.[3]

With the recent designation of the Christchurch northern corridor as a road of national significance,[4] there are plans underway to create the expressway Northern Arterial Road, which will bypass the northern suburbs of Redwood and Belfast as well as turning both the QEII Drive and Travis Road sections of SH 74 into dual carriageways.[5]

Major intersections

For Tunnel Road's major intersection, refer to Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway

Territorial authorityLocationkmjctDestinationsNotes
Christchurch CityBelfast0 SH 1 (Christchurch Northern Motorway)SH 74 begins
Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
2.4(Johns Road)Previous northern end of highway. Leads to SH1 for southbound exit
3.8(Radcliffe Road)
(Northwood Boulevard) – Northwood
Styx4.5(Styx Mill Road)
Redwood5.3(Prestons Road) – Marshland, Burwood
5.8(Daniels Road)
Northcote6.5(Main North Road) – Papanui, City Centre
(Northcote Road) – Bishopdale, Ilam
Mairehau SH 74 north (Christchurch Northern Motorway extension)
Cranford Street extension
Under construction
9.7(Innes Road) – Mairehau, Saint Albans
Marshland10.3(Marshland Road) – Kaiapoi, Shirley
New Brighton13.7(Frosts Road) – Parklands
(Travis Road) – North New Brighton
14.5(New Brighton Road) – New Brighton, Dallington, City Centre
14.6Avon River / Ōtākaro Bridge
Wainoni15.2(Wainoni Road) – New Brighton, Wainoni, Linwood
Bexley16.4(Pages Road) – New Brighton, Linwood, City Centre
Bromley18.0(Bridge Street) – South New Brighton
(Breezes Road) – Aranui, City Centre
21.2(Linwood Avenue) – Ferrymead, Sumner, Linwood, City Centre
Woolston21.7 SH 74A (Palinurus Road)Woolston, City Centre
22.0(Ferry Road) – Sumner, Woolston, City Centre Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway (Tunnel Road) begins
22.1Heathcote River / Ōpāwaho Bridge
Heathcote24.3 SH 76 (Port Hills Road)Healthcote, Opawa, City Centre
26.0(Bridle Path Road) – HeathcoteNorthbound exit and southbound entrance only
26.1Lyttelton Road Tunnel (1.97 km (1.22 mi))
Lyttelton28.1
28.1(Simeon Quay) – Naval Point, Governors Bay Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway (Tunnel Road) ends
28.5(Oxford Street) – Town Centre, Sumner
28.8(Gladstone Quay) – PortSH 74 ends

Spur Sections

State Highway 74A
Christchurch Ring Road
LocationBromley–Woolston
Length2.1 km (1.3 mi)

State Highway 74A is a minor Christchurch arterial road connecting the southeastern industrial suburbs of Bromley and Woolston. It was gazetted as a new state highway in 2003 at the same time SH 74 was shifted to its current location.[2] It is just over 2 kilometres long and consists of three roads - Garlands Road, Palinurus Road and Rutherford Street. It runs concurrent with the Christchurch Ring Road for its entire length.

Major Intersections

Territorial authorityLocationkmjctDestinationsNotes
Christchurch CityWoolston0 SH 74 north (Dyers Road) – Bromley, New Brighton, Picton
SH 74 south (Dyers Road)Lyttelton
SH 74A begins
0.5(Ferry Road) – Sumner, Woolston, City Centre
0.7Heathcote River
Opawa1.9Lyttelton Line
2.1 SH 76 east (Opawa Road) – Lyttelton
SH 76 west (Opawa Road) – Waltham, City Centre
SH 74A ends

See also

References

  1. The Previous State Highway 74 on Google Maps
  2. "Revoking Sections of State Highway and Declaring New Sections of State Highway". NZ Gazette. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  3. "Christchurch's Western Belfast Bypass - all lanes now open". NZ Transport Agency. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. "Christchurch Northern Corridor". Archived from the original on 21 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  5. "Northern Corridor" (PDF). Retrieved 29 May 2010.
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