An outpouring of frustration and anger about traffic on State Highway 2 is evident on social media this morning.

Motorists have been taken to Facebook and messaging SunLive to voice their growing annoyance over growing traffic delays on the highway that stretches from Katikati to Tauranga.

One person says they left home in Katikati at 6.55am on Wednesday and only just made it to Bethlehem by 8.55am.

"It's blooding ridiculous. Something needs to be done."

This morning, people say the Wairoa Bridge, which was closed overnight for construction works on a new cycle way that is being installed along the highway, was 55 minutes late being opened.

"The bridge was supposed to open at 5am. Only just opened at 5.55am," says a motorists who messaged SunLive on Facebook this morning.

Traffic management and speed restrictions are currently in place near the Wairoa Bridge as construction on the last 800m of the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga cycleway, which will enable safe cycling on the narrow strip of State Highway 2 between the Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem.

Tauranga City Council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency have warned that these works are expected to be in place for a number of months.

Traffic congestion on SH2 is nothing new though, with motorists reporting anywhere from 40min to 2 hour long delays on the highway over the last two years.

A mother of two who travels along the highway regularly each week says there has been road works on SH2 for at least two years now.

"I think we are all just exhausted. We might have been able to handle this recent lot of works, if we had had a break from the last lot. But it has been continuous for two years, with no end in sight."

In a statement released earlier this month, NZTA says the agency is aware that significant delays on SH2 are causing frustration.

'SH2 is an incredibly sensitive piece of road and any work near or on this road is seeing changes in traffic flow,” says Rob Campbell, Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations for Waka Kotahi.

'The pressure on this road has been felt for some time. From what was once a rural road passing through a few settlements, it has developed into a busy commuter and freight route.

'The main cause of the current congestion appears to be the sheer volume of traffic putting pressure on the network. There has been increase of more than 6000 vehicles per day added to this corridor in the last 10 years.

'Another contributing factor is an apparent shift in commuter habits. Our traffic data analytics show that people are staggering the time they travel on SH2 so we're seeing a shift in peak travel, which used to be 6am-9am, is now more like 6am - 10-10.30am.”

A map showing where the works are taking place.

Work underway between Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem:

The work underway since Sunday, May 14, is part of the Waka Kotahi annual maintenance programme. It's a major rehabilitation of State Highway 2.

The work is being completed at night and includes completely rebuilding and asphalting the road surface between the Wairoa Bridge and the Bethlehem roundabout.

The remaining night-time road closures are:

Sunday 28th May (new)

Light vehicles will be detoured via Wairoa Road, Crawford Road and Poripori Road, through to State Highway 29. Heavy vehicles will be stacked either side of the bridge and piloted through at set intervals.

Between the nights of the closures, up to and including Thursday, June 1, night works will continue between the Wairoa Bridge and Bethlehem under Stop/Go traffic management.