State Highway 54 (New Zealand)
State Highway 54 (SH 54) is a New Zealand state highway in the Manawatu district in the North Island. It runs from SH 1 at Vinegar Hill (near Hunterville) to SH 3 near Palmerston North. The highway connects the Manawatu agricultural town of Feilding to the New Zealand state highway network and forms an alternative route to SH 1 and SH 3 between the North Island Volcanic Plateau and Palmerston North.
![]() | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Route information | ||||
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency | ||||
Length | 56.5 km (35.1 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
North end | ![]() | |||
South end | ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | New Zealand | |||
Towns | Feilding, Cheltenham | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
Route
SH 54 begins at a junction with SH 1 near the locality of Vinegar Hill, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Hunterville. It steeply descends to cross the Rangitikei River before winding along the eastern side of the Rangitikei Valley. The route then exits the valley and heads to Cheltenham, where it meets Kimbolton Road at a T-junction.
From Cheltenham, the route turns south on to Kimbolton Road and proceeds to Feilding, where it then parallels the North Island Main Trunk railway line for a short distance along Aorangi Street and Waughs Road. It then leaves Waughs Road and travels south along Camerons Line and east along Milson Line, before leaving Milson Line and turning south on Kairanga-Bunnythorpe Road. The SH 54 designation ends at the junction of Kairanga-Bunnythorpe Road with SH 3 near the settlement of Newbury, 4.5 km (2.8 mi) north of Palmerston North.
Route changes
SH 54 previously began further north at Mangaweka, leaving SH 1 on Ruahine Road and travelling via Rangiwahia to Kimbolton, where it travelled along Kimbolton Road to Cheltenham before continuing along its current route to Feilding and beyond. SH 54 was shifted to the Cheltenham-Hunterville Road (its current route between SH 1 and Cheltenham) in the 1990s.
Major intersections
Territorial authority | Location | km | jct | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rangitikei District | Vinegar Hill | 0 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
SH 54 begins |
1 | ![]() |
Rangitikei River | |||
Manawatu District | Cheltenham | 29 | ![]() |
Kimbolton Road – Kimbolton | |
Feilding | ![]() |
Kimbolton Road – Town Centre Aorangi Street – Halcombe |
|||
![]() |
Waughs Road – Bunnythorpe, Ashhurst | ||||
Newbury | ![]() |
Kairanga Bunnythorpe Road – Bunnythorpe Milson Line – Airport |
|||
55 | ![]() |
![]() Kairanga Bunnythorpe Road – Kairanga ![]() |
SH 54 ends |