Hawke's Bay is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural parts of the region are served by the towns of Waipukurau, Waipawa, and Wairoa.
Napier is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art Deco architecture. For these attributes, Napier is sometimes romantically referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific".
Hastings is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings is 52,200, with a further 14,900 people in Havelock North and 2,120 in Clive. Hastings is about 18 kilometres inland of the coastal city of Napier. These two neighbouring cities are often called "The Bay Cities" or "The Twin Cities".
The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency.
Taradale is a suburb of the City of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a predominantly middle-upper class residential suburb, located 10 kilometres southwest of the centre of Napier. The Taradale ward, which includes Greenmeadows, Meeanee, and Poraiti, had a population of 22,809 in the 2018 New Zealand census.
The Napier-Hastings Urban Area was defined by Statistics New Zealand as a main urban area of New Zealand that was based around the twin cities of Napier and Hastings in the Hawke's Bay Region. It was defined under the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92), which has since been superseded by the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18).
State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand road network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the South Island.
State Highway 5, one of New Zealand's eight national highways, runs from State Highway 1 at Tīrau, in the south Waikato, to State Highway 2, close to the Hawkes Bay coast at Bay View, 10 km north of Napier. It is the second shortest of the national highways.
State Highway 2 runs north–south through eastern parts of the North Island of New Zealand from the outskirts of Auckland to Wellington. It runs through Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings and Masterton. It is the second-longest highway in the North Island, after State Highway 1, which runs the length of both of the country's main islands.
The Waikato Expressway is a dual carriageway section of State Highway 1 in New Zealand's Waikato region. Constructed in stages, it forms part of the link between Auckland and Hamilton. Currently stretching from Auckland to south of Cambridge, the first section of the highway was built in 1993. Throughout its lifetime, it has undergone many upgrades to optimise traffic flow throughout the Waikato region, including various bypasses of many towns in the region, culminating with Hamilton in 2022.
The Hawke's Bay Expressway, known also as the Napier-Hastings Expressway, runs from Hawke's Bay Airport, through Napier and Hastings, and ends at Pakipaki, just south of Hastings, a total length of 24 km. It is part of State Highway 2.
State Highway 60 is a state highway servicing the far northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. Running between the settlements of Richmond and Collingwood, it is 116 kilometres (72 mi) long and lies entirely within the Tasman District. It is the northernmost highway in the South Island and is a popular tourist route, servicing Motueka, Abel Tasman National Park, Golden Bay, and Farewell Spit.
State Highway 50 (SH 50) is a New Zealand state highway that runs through the Hawke's Bay Region.
State Highway 39 (SH 39) is a New Zealand state highway that forms a western bypass of the city of Hamilton. Gazetted in 1999, it is a generally quicker route to get between Auckland and New Plymouth as well as connecting to the Waitomo Caves, just south of the SH 39 southern terminus. The southernmost 14 km section has a concurrency with SH 31, as this highway has existed for much longer.
State Highway 23 (SH 23) is a New Zealand state highway that connects the towns of Raglan and Hamilton.
State Highway 15 (SH 15) is a New Zealand state highway in the Northland region of the North Island. It is 126.5 km (78.6 mi) long and provides an alternative route to SH 1 between the Kaikohe and Whangārei areas; a spur also links SH 1 with the Marsden Point Oil Refinery and Northport.
State Highway 36 (SH 36) is a New Zealand state highway in the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island. It is one of two state highways that form a north–south connection between the cities of Tauranga and Rotorua, SH 36 being the most westerly of the two. It was identified as a quicker route to access the two cities and extensive work was done to upgrade the rural route to state highway quality.
The Classic New Zealand Wine Trail is a 380-kilometre (240 mi) tourist road route in New Zealand that covers both the Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa regions of the North Island, as well as the Marlborough District of the South Island, connected by the Cook Strait ferry crossing. The route traverses the principal New Zealand wine regions of Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and Marlborough, which together represent about 80 percent of the country's total production.
SH 2 / SH 50 (Hawke's Bay Expressway) near Napier 
