Work on the Tauranga Eastern Link will stop over the Christmas holiday period.

The NZ Transport Agency says there has been steady progress made during the year.

Principal project manager Andrew Scott says the construction site is shut down until Monday, January 9.

TEL works.

He says since construction started last year, progress made on the $455m project has included five of the seven support projects being completed, as well as the visitor information centre on Tara Road.

In November, the first stage of construction on the Mangatawa interchange started.

He says this construction will take about three years to complete and will provide an additional link from State Highway 2 through to Papamoa Beach Road.

Andrew says over the past month there has been an increase in general construction activity in the old railway yard area at Te Maunga in preparation for the construction of the two northbound lanes on State Highway 2.

Work in this area will continue after the summer holiday and will take about six months to complete.

During the holidays, Andrew asks people driving through the area to take care as it's still a construction site.

'We ask road users to drive carefully, particularly along State Highway 2.

'We thank the public for their ongoing cooperation with traffic management throughout the year.”