At 219 kilometres, SH 30 is New Zealand's fifth longest provincial (two-digit) state highway, after SH 25, SH 35, SH 73, and SH 94.[1] With the exception of SH 4, it has junctions with every national (one-digit) state highway in the North Island.
SH 30 has the most concurrencies of all the state highways. It shares sections with, from west to east, SH 32, SH 1, SH 5, SH 34 (albeit briefly), and SH 2.
Near Mangakino, SH 30 turns sharply south-east, and bypasses the town of Mangakino. Here, the highway meets the Waikato River at the top of Lake Maraetai, and follows the river upstream to Whakamaru, where the concurrency with SH 32 begins. It crosses the Waikato on top of the Whakamaru hydroelectric dam and leaves SH 32 where it continues eastwards on the opposite bank of the Waikato River to SH 1 at the Ātiamuri Dam. SH 30 runs concurrently with SH 1 northwards for six kilometres. The highway leaves SH 1 at Upper Ātiamuri, and heads north-east, over the border into Bay of Plenty, towards the tourist town of Rotorua.
The highway passes through the south-east of Rotorua, then heads north through the suburb of Te Ngae, and up the eastern side of Lake Rotorua. Turning east, the road skims the southern edge of Lakes Rotoiti, Rotoehu, and Rotoma. The road turns north-east passing north of the mill town of Kawerau, and through Te Teko, across the Rangitaiki River, to Awakeri.
After crossing SH 2 at Awakeri, the highway turns north and heads towards the coast. The road then turns east, and crosses the Whakatane River. The highway ends just across the river at the roundabout with Landing Road.
Route changes
SH 30's only major route change has occurred at the Whakatane end of the highway. The highway originally ended at Paroa, where the highway met SH 2. Recently, SH 2 has been moved inland, and SH 30 was extended along SH 2's former route to Whakatane.
SH 30 has one spur route – State Highway 30A (SH 30A) in Rotorua.
SH 30A starts west of central Rotorua, at the intersection of Old Taupo Road (SH 5) and Pukuatua Street. SH 30A follows Pukuatua Street eastwards, before going into an S-bend onto Amohau Street, to avoid central Rotorua. The road continues east to Fenton Street, from where SH 30A turns southwest onto a dual carriageway to connect with Te Ngae Road. The highway turns eastwards again, meeting SH 30 at the intersection of Te Ngae Road and Sala Street.
SH 30A was created after SH 5 was moved from its original route through central Rotorua to Old Taupo Road. SH 30A follows part of the old SH 5 route on Amohau Street, between Ranolf Street and Fenton Street.
