Work on the new $8 million roundabout and underpasses at the intersection of Old Taupo Rd and Hemo Rd has begun after about six months of preparation work.
New Zealand Transport Agency Bay of Plenty state highways manager Niclas Johansson said the construction of a new roundabout at the State Highway 5/State Highway 30 Hemo Rd intersection is on track to be completed by July, about a year after construction started.
The 50m diameter traffic island is an effort to reduce crashes at one of the country's most dangerous intersections.
When complete it will also feature a 12m-high sculpture designed and built by an artist at New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute Te Puia, underpasses for cyclists and pedestrians, plus new entrances to Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
"The contractor has so far cleared the site, relocated services, installed a geothermal blanket to vent the steam, and begun the earthworks phase of the roundabout and the new alignment of SH5," Mr Johansson said.
