Drivers in Inverness have been warned to brace themselves for weeks of disruption as the next stage of work gets under way on the £55million West Link project.
From Monday, Bught Road and Bught Lane will be closed for four weeks from the entrance to Whin Park to the roundabout at the Inverness Leisure Aquadome.
Vehicle access to the Aquadome and Whin Park via Bught Drive and Bught Road will be unaffected but there will be no access to the Botanic Gardens on Bught Lane.
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Pedestrian access to all facilities will be unaffected. The contractor has carried out full consultation with the Botanic Gardens, Aquadome and emergency services.
“These works are required to allow utilities connection to the new Highland Rugby Club building and both the contractor Wills Bros and the Highland Council apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Work on the long-awaited West Link project finally got under way in May last year.
By 2020, motorists should be able to travel from the A96 Aberdeen road and A9 Perth route, along the southern distributor road to the A82 Fort William road, via a new bridge over the River Ness and a swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal.
Giant steel beams were lifted into place for the new River Ness bridge this spring.
It is hoped the completion of the link will take thousands of vehicles out of the city centre.
Further temporary road restrictions will also be put in place in the Inverness area from next week.
A section of the B862 Fort Augustus to Inverness road will also be closed between 9am and 3.30pm, less than a mile south of its junction with the B852 road
From Wednesday, a section of the U1556 Drumchardine Road at Kirkhill will be closed to traffic from 9am to 5pm.
The closure, which affects a section of road south-east from its junction with the A862 Ardullie to Inverness road, is required so BT Engineers can safely access for maintenance worl.
And from 9.30am to 3.30pm a short section of the U1671 Fort Augustus Old Main Road will be temporarily closed to vehicles to allow contractors, working on behalf of BT Openreach, to carry out maintenance.