New Zealand State Highway 79

State Highway 79
Route information
Maintained by New Zealand Transport Agency
Length: 61.0 km (37.9 mi)
Major junctions
East end: Orari-Rangitata Highway at Rangitata
West end: Main Street/Mount Cook Road at Fairlie
Location
Primary
destinations:
Geraldine
Highway system
SH 78SH 80

State Highway 79 (SH 79) is a New Zealand State Highway connecting the South Canterbury communities of Rangitata, Geraldine, and Fairlie. Starting at State Highway 1 the highway is 61 kilometres in length and runs in a general east-west direction. 6.3 km of the highway through Geraldine runs concurrently with the Inland Scenic Route (), formerly State Highway 72. The road is a two-lane single carriageway, with a one-lane bridge crossing the Orari River.

It is an important tourist highway, and forms part of the most direct route between Christchurch and the Mackenzie Country, Aoraki / Mount Cook and Queenstown/Wanaka.

Route

SH 79 passing through Geraldine

The highway starts on the Canterbury Plains and proceeds in a north-westerly direction. The highway then intersects with the Inland Scenic Route and crosses the Orari River. The highway then veers to the south and arrives in Geraldine. In the town centre, SH 79 turns right and passes through the southern sections of the township before veering to the west towards the foothills. The road gradually passes through sections of pine forest and farmlands and is generally hilly and curvy in some spots before descending into the township of Fairlie.[1]

Major intersections

Territorial authority Location km jct Destinations Notes
Timaru District Rangitata 0 SH 1 northAshburton, Christchurch
SH 1 southTemuka, Timaru
SH 79 begins
9 Inland Scenic Route (Geraldine-Arundel Road) – Methven, Mount Hutt Ski Area SH 79/Inland Scenic Route (Regional Route 72) concurrency begins
Orari River
Geraldine 15 Inland Scenic Route (Talbot Street) – Winchester, Timaru SH 79/Inland Scenic Route (Regional Route 72) concurrency ends
Mackenzie District Fairlie 61 SH 8 east – Timaru
SH 8 westTekapo, Aoraki/Mount Cook
SH 79 ends

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.