Motorists have been left fuming after heavy delays on State Highway 2 caused by work on power poles.

Powerco has confirmed they were conducting essential work in the area and traffic was therefore reduced to one lane near Pahoia Road.

Several road users contacted SunLive yesterday afternoon expressing their frustration at the delays.

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE new hotline stated that cars were at a standstill and that it was likely a trip from Ōmokoroa to Te Puna was going to take an hour.

Another SunLive reader says it took them an hour to get from Tauranga to Apata on their way to Waihi.

'The traffic suddenly started moving but it was slow or stopped all the way from the Palmers roundabout,” he says.

'That's not good enough.”

Another member of the public says there was no warning to the public. However, another claims there have been LED signage this week in the area warning of minor delays.

'Delays were not minor,” he says.

This was the traffic situation on SH2 yesterday afternoon. Google Maps.

In a statement, Powerco explain that the work was originally scheduled to take place Thursday, but was postponed due to the poor weather.

The work was to replace power poles and crossarms on State Highway 2 near Pahoia Road as planned renewal work on the region's electricity network.

'To keep the work crews and public safe while the power poles were being replaced, traffic management was on-site,” says a Powerco spokesperson.

'This included the road being reduced to one lane.

'Powerco thanks customers and motorists for their patience and understanding as this work was completed.”