New Zealand State Highway 8
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NZ Transport Agency | ||||
| Length: | 457 km (284 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| CW end: |
 SH 1 at Washdyke
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| ACW end: |
 SH 1 at Clarksville
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| Location | ||||
| Primary destinations: |
Pleasant Point, Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Twizel, Omarama, Cromwell, Clyde, Alexandra, Roxburgh, Lawrence | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Highway 8 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. It forms an anticlockwise loop through the southern scenic regions of the Mackenzie Basin and Central Otago, starting and terminating in junctions with State Highway 1. Distances are measured from north to south.
For most of its length SH8 is a two-lane single carriageway, with at-grade intersections and property accesses directly off the road, both in rural and urban areas.
The highway leaves SH1 at Washdyke, an industrial suburb of Timaru, travelling initially northwest towards the town of Fairlie. From here the route tends westward and rapidly increases in altitude, passing the southern end of the two great Mackenzie Basin lakes of Tekapo and Pukaki.
From Pukaki the highway turns southwest across the upper reaches of the Waitaki Valley, passing through the former hydroelectricity service town of Twizel and Omarama before again climbing to cross the Lindis Pass, which, at 971 metres, is the highest point on the highway's path. The highway winds along the valley of the Lindis River, reaching the upper Clutha River not far from Tarras.
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Wikipedia