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 shield}}
State Highway 74
Christchurch Ring Road
Map
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
CountryNew Zealand
Major citiesChristchurch
Highway system
SH 73 SH 75

Route

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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 on the Christchurch Northern Corridor (which opened in 2020) around the suburbs of Belfast, Northwood and Redwood.

At Mairehau, the highway turns east onto Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Drive and begins its concurrency with the Christchurch Ring Road. As a dual carriageway, 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, drops to single carriage and runs in an easterly direction to the Anzac Drive/Frosts Road roundabout, where the highway turns right.

Now with the name Anzac Drive, the highway 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 the Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway and passes through two interchanges before passing through the Lyttelton road tunnel.

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

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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 opening of the Christchurch Northern Corridor as a road of national significance,[4] SH 74, bypasses the northern suburbs of Redwood and Belfast. Previously the highway followed Main North Road and the western section of QEII Drive.[5] The Christchurch Northern Corridor opened in December 2020.[6]

Major intersections

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

Territorial authority Location km jct Destinations Notes
Christchurch City Belfast 0     SH 1 (Christchurch Northern Motorway) SH 74 begins
Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
SH 74/Christchurch Northern Corridor concurrency begins
Mairehau   Christchurch Northern Corridor (southbound) – City Centre SH 74/Christchurch Northern Corridor concurrency ends
SH 74/Christchurch Ring Road concurrency begins
  Christchurch Northern Corridor (northbound)
(Queen Elizabeth II Drive – west)
9.7   (Innes Road) – Mairehau, Saint Albans
Marshland 10.3   (Marshland Road) – Kaiapoi, Shirley
New Brighton 13.7   (Frosts Road) – Parklands
(Travis Road) – North New Brighton
14.5   (New Brighton Road) – New Brighton, Dallington, City Centre
14.6   Avon River / Ōtākaro Bridge
Wainoni 15.2   (Wainoni Road) – New Brighton, Wainoni, Linwood
Bexley 16.4   (Pages Road) – New Brighton, Linwood, City Centre
Bromley 18.0   (Bridge Street) – South New Brighton
(Breezes Road) – Aranui, City Centre
21.2   (Linwood Avenue) – Ferrymead, Sumner, Linwood, City Centre
Woolston 21.7     SH 74A (Palinurus Road) – Woolston, City Centre SH 74/Christchurch Ring Road concurrency ends
22.0   (Ferry Road) – Sumner, Woolston, City Centre   Christchurch-Lyttelton Motorway (Tunnel Road) begins
22.1   Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River Bridge
Heathcote 24.3     SH 76 (Port Hills Road) – Healthcote, Opawa, City Centre
26.0   (Bridle Path Road) – Heathcote Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
26.1   Lyttelton Road Tunnel (1.97 km (1.22 mi))
Lyttelton 28.1
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) – Port SH 74 ends

Spur sections

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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

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Territorial authority Location km jct Destinations Notes
Christchurch City Woolston 0     SH 74 north (Dyers Road) – Bromley, New Brighton, Picton
  SH 74 south (Dyers Road) – Lyttelton
SH 74A begins
SH 74A/Christchurch Ring Road concurrency begins
0.5   (Ferry Road) – Sumner, Woolston, City Centre
0.7   Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River
Opawa 1.9   Lyttelton Line
2.1     SH 76 east (Opawa Road) – Lyttelton
  SH 76 west (Opawa Road) – Waltham, City Centre
SH 74A ends
SH 74A/Christchurch Ring Road concurrency ends

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Previous State Highway 74 on Google Maps
  2. ^ a b "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.
  6. ^ "Christchurch's Northern Corridor motorway fully opens to traffic". RNZ. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
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