State Highway 77 is a state highway in New Zealand going through the inland parts of Central and Mid Canterbury between the towns of Ashburton and Darfield via the Rakaia Gorge. It is wholly single carriageway with two one-lane bridges at the Rakaia and Selwyn Rivers. One set of traffic lights is found in Ashburton marking the southern terminus of the highway.
State Highway 77 passing over the Rakaia Gorge Bridge, which was built in 1882Much of State Highway 77 is dominated by the skyline of the Southern Alps and Canterbury foothills. Mount Hutt is especially noticeable from SH 77
The highway begins as Bangor Road just west of Darfield town centre, and proceeds in a westerly directions towards the mountains through flat pastoral farmland. Just before reaching the foothills, the road intersects with the Inland Scenic Route (Deans Road) coming from Waddington and begins its concurrency at Homebush. After a name change to Homebush Road, the road skirts to the north of Coalgate and then to the south of Glentunnel before veering left and narrowing to one lane to cross the Selwyn River.
Now known as Wairiri Road, the road widens back to two lanes and passes through undulating to hilly farmland. At Glenroy the road changes name to Windwhistle Road and climbs towards the settlement of Windwhistle.
Beyond Windwhistle, the name changes to Rakaia Gorge Road and begins a spectacular descent into the Rakaia Gorge. For most of its length the Rakaia River runs on shingle river beds as a braided river but here the river is mostly a single channel. The river here has carved out the surrounding land to form two level terraces. The road passes over both these terraces before narrowing to one lane again to cross the river.
After widening again, the road changes name to Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road and rises towards the plains again. The road emerges onto the plains but passes right underneath the towering Mount Hutt. The road is frequently covered by snow and ices over in sheltered areas during the calmer periods of the winter months in higher parts of the road.
The road turns left onto Waimarama Road 10 km north of Alford Forest and proceeds through arable farmland, changes name again to Mount Hutt Station Road and arrives in Methven, where it changes name again to Main Street.
After Methven, the road changes name to Methven Highway and proceeds in a south to southeasterly direction through more pastoral farmland. Before Ashburton, the road hugs the Ashburton River / Hakatere, the name of the road changes to Alford Forest Road for about 2 km, then to River Terrace for 600 m and lastly to Moore Street for the last 300 m of the route before terminating at SH 1 in the town centre.[1]
Route changesedit
When SH 72 had its state highway status revoked, SH 77 was extended to cover the section between (its former terminus) Mount Hutt and Waddington. In 1997, SH 77 was diverted at the intersection of Homebush Road, along Bangor Road, to terminate with SH 73 at Darfield.[2]
Major intersectionsedit
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one. Please improve this article if you can.(November 2021)
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources State Highway 77 New Zealand news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2016 Learn how and when to remove this message State Highway 77 is a state highway in New Zealand going through the inland parts of Central and Mid Canterbury between the towns of Ashburton and Darfield via the Rakaia Gorge It is wholly single carriageway with two one lane bridges at the Rakaia and Selwyn Rivers One set of traffic lights is found in Ashburton marking the southern terminus of the highway State Highway 77Route of Inland Scenic RouteRoute informationMaintained by NZ Transport AgencyLength93 9 km 58 3 mi TouristroutesInland Scenic Route between Homebush and Mount HuttMajor junctionsNorthwest endSH 73 South Terrace West Coast Road at DarfieldSoutheast endSH 1 West Street at AshburtonLocationCountryNew ZealandPrimarydestinationsCoalgate Glentunnel Rakaia Gorge MethvenHighway systemNew Zealand state highways Motorways and expressways List SH 76 SH 78 About 43 km of the highway lie on the Inland Scenic Route formerly State Highway 72 Contents 1 Route 2 Route changes 3 Major intersections 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksRoute edit nbsp State Highway 77 passing over the Rakaia Gorge Bridge which was built in 1882 nbsp Much of State Highway 77 is dominated by the skyline of the Southern Alps and Canterbury foothills Mount Hutt is especially noticeable from SH 77 The highway begins as Bangor Road just west of Darfield town centre and proceeds in a westerly directions towards the mountains through flat pastoral farmland Just before reaching the foothills the road intersects with the Inland Scenic Route Deans Road coming from Waddington and begins its concurrency at Homebush After a name change to Homebush Road the road skirts to the north of Coalgate and then to the south of Glentunnel before veering left and narrowing to one lane to cross the Selwyn River Now known as Wairiri Road the road widens back to two lanes and passes through undulating to hilly farmland At Glenroy the road changes name to Windwhistle Road and climbs towards the settlement of Windwhistle Beyond Windwhistle the name changes to Rakaia Gorge Road and begins a spectacular descent into the Rakaia Gorge For most of its length the Rakaia River runs on shingle river beds as a braided river but here the river is mostly a single channel The river here has carved out the surrounding land to form two level terraces The road passes over both these terraces before narrowing to one lane again to cross the river After widening again the road changes name to Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road and rises towards the plains again The road emerges onto the plains but passes right underneath the towering Mount Hutt The road is frequently covered by snow and ices over in sheltered areas during the calmer periods of the winter months in higher parts of the road The road turns left onto Waimarama Road 10 km north of Alford Forest and proceeds through arable farmland changes name again to Mount Hutt Station Road and arrives in Methven where it changes name again to Main Street After Methven the road changes name to Methven Highway and proceeds in a south to southeasterly direction through more pastoral farmland Before Ashburton the road hugs the Ashburton River Hakatere the name of the road changes to Alford Forest Road for about 2 km then to River Terrace for 600 m and lastly to Moore Street for the last 300 m of the route before terminating at SH 1 in the town centre 1 Route changes editWhen SH 72 had its state highway status revoked SH 77 was extended to cover the section between its former terminus Mount Hutt and Waddington In 1997 SH 77 was diverted at the intersection of Homebush Road along Bangor Road to terminate with SH 73 at Darfield 2 Major intersections editThis article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one Please improve this article if you can November 2021 Territorial authority Location km jct Destinations Notes Ashburton District Ashburton Central 0 0 nbsp nbsp SH 1 north West Street Rakaia Christchurch Moore Street Town Centre nbsp SH 1 south West Street Temuka Timaru SH 77 begins 6 0 nbsp Ashburton Staveley Road Mount Somers Alford Forest Staveley 22 3 nbsp Thompsons Track Mount Somers Mayfield Rakaia Christchurch nbsp Methven 33 9 nbsp Forest Drive Mount Somers Geraldine Methven Chertsey Road Lauriston 36 6 nbsp Mount Hutt Station Road Rakaia Gorge alternative route 43 6 nbsp nbsp Inland Scenic Route Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road Geraldine Timaru McLennans Bush Road Mount Hutt Ski Area SH 77 Inland Scenic Route Regional Route 72 concurrency begins Mount Hutt 49 0 nbsp Mount Hutt Station Road Methven alternative route Rakaia Gorge 53 0 nbsp Rakaia River Bridge 1 Selwyn District Windwhistle 59 4 nbsp Coleridge Road Lake Coleridge Leaches Road Hororata Glenroy 70 0 nbsp Downs Road Hororata Glentunnel 79 0 nbsp Selwyn River Bridge 79 2 nbsp Whitecliffs Road Whitecliffs Coalgate 82 8 nbsp Malvern Hills Road Bridge Street Coalgate Hororata 86 0 nbsp nbsp Inland Scenic Route Deans Road Oxford Springfield West Coast via Arthur s Pass nbsp SH 77 Inland Scenic Route Regional Route 72 concurrency ends Darfield 94 0 nbsp nbsp SH 73 west South Terrace Springfield West Coast via Arthur s Pass nbsp SH 73 east South Terrace Christchurch SH 77 endsSee also editList of New Zealand state highwaysReferences edit State Highway 77 on Google Maps Revoking Sections of State Highways Declaring New Sections of State Highway New Zealand Gazette 26 June 1997 Retrieved 5 July 2016 External links editNew Zealand Transport Agency View from Rakaia Gorge Bridge Google Street View Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title State Highway 77 New Zealand amp oldid 1158280507, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
