State Highway 1 between Waiouru and Rangipo is closed this Thursday and Friday for resurfacing works.
Waka Kotahi said the closure would be in place between 9am and 6pm on Thursday and Friday to fix a number of issues that had deteriorated significantly over winter.
Road users will need to use State Highways 46, 47, 4 and 49 to detour around the western side of Mt Ruapehu via National Park.
Waikato system manager of maintenance and operations Cara Lauder said while the disruption of this closure was unfortunate, it was the only suitable option due to the locations contractors needed to work in.
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"In some locations, the road is too narrow to allow vehicles to safely drive past an active worksite where crew are operating various machinery," she said.
She said over recent months, Waka Kotahi had received feedback from road users complaining about the state of the road.
"Instead of continuing to temporarily fill potholes as they appear, we have made the decision to apply a more permanent solution sooner rather than later."
Lauder said the work needed to be done in the daytime as temperatures on the road are too cold at night to have the asphalt set correctly.
Waka Kotahi hoped to use a window of fine weather at the end of the week to complete as much as they could, she said.
"We realise that undertaking such work at short notice is disruptive, however, this decision was made with the longer-term user experience in mind."
More than 35 lane kilometres of chip seal and asphalt surfacing will be applied on the Desert Rd and nearly two lane kilometres of the road will be rebuilt entirely.
- NZ Herald