A series of planned closures of the Wairoa River Bridge on State Highway 2 will begin in February.

The closures are required to allow Western Bay of Plenty District Council to install sections of the cycleway extension on the bridge, says Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

The cycleway extension is one of the final stages of the Omokoroa to Tauranga Cycleway.

NZTA Bay of Plenty system manager, Rob Campbell, says seven night-time closures are planned from February to April, with the first planned for Friday, February 14.

'The works will be carried out overnight to minimise disruption to motorists.

'This is a significant closure and we encourage people to plan ahead, allow extra time, or consider delaying unnecessary travel where possible.”

Council's group manager infrastructure services Gary Allis says contractor Brian Perry Civil needs to install seven sections of decking for the cycleway while the closures are in effect.

'Each section includes 25m of deck truss and one counterweight pipe, which require large cranes to be positioned on the bridge to lift the sections into place.

'This is an exciting milestone for the cycleway extension, and for the wider Omokoroa to Tauranga Cycleway.

'From here, people will start to get a real sense of what the completed project will look like.”

The first closure on February 14 will be in place from 10:30pm to 5:30am on February 15, with a local road detour in place.

Northbound motorists from Tauranga will need to take the signposted detour from SH2 in Bethlehem via Moffat Road and Cambridge Road, onto SH29 before connecting with Poripori Road, onto Crawford Road through to Wairoa Road and then back onto SH2.

Southbound motorists will need to take Wairoa Road before connecting with Crawford Road, through to Poripori Road and then onto SH29.

This detour is expected to add approximately 30 minutes to the journey.

The detour route is not suitable for high productivity motor vehicles, greater than 50Max, over-dimension and overweight vehicles. For any operators unable to postpone their travel, temporary parking areas will be available along SH2 on both sides of the bridge until the road reopens, says NZTA.

Outside of the closure, the highway will operate as normal with both lanes open.

The remaining closure dates will be released as they are confirmed with council's contractor.

Each bridge closure may take less time than expected. Motorists are advised to check the Transport Agency website or call 0800 4 Highways (0800 44 44 49) for the latest travel information.

'The Transport Agency and Council thank motorists for their patience.”