Drivers using the Maungatapu roundabout this weekend are warned to expect delays while high voltage power lines are relocated.

Speed restrictions and lane closures will be in place on Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10 between 7am and 6pm. Drivers travelling through will experience lengthy delays of up to 12 minutes.

Motorists are urged to use alternative routes or plan travel outside of these hours to avoid delays at the busy worksite.

NZ Transport Agency projects team manager John McCarthy says the underpass is in its final summer of construction and is on track for opening by April next year.

'People travelling around Welcome Bay Road can now see right through the underpass.

'This is a major milestone for the earthworks team who moved the total of 18 thousand cubic metres of dirt, from both sides of the underpass in a constrained space.”

The two bridges under the Maungatapu roundabout are complete and the Kaitemako Culvert now has water running through it. The pedestrian and cyclist overbridge is also complete and in use. The internal walls of the underpass still need to be installed, the final road surface laid and landscaping completed.

The Maungatapu underpass is being constructed on State Highway 29A and includes new cycle links and a cycle and pedestrian bridge above Welcome Bay Road.

Read more about the project here: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/hairini-link/