WORK on Swansea's "eastern gateway" Boulevard project is on schedule to be finished by December, it has been confirmed.
Drivers and pedestrians have faced a maze of bollards, diggers and disruption on Oystermouth Road since March, when work on the £8million improvement scheme began.
The plan is to create a more attractive entrance to Swansea city centre, with a tree-lined boulevard running from the Tawe river bridges to the LC leisure centre that also helps to link the centre with Marina.
Phase One of the project — the current work — runs from the bottom of The Strand to the bottom of Princess Way. No date has yet been set for the second half, which will run from The Strand to the Tawe.
At this week's cabinet meeting Nick Bradley, Swansea Council's cabinet member for Regeneration, told fellow members Phase One would be finished before the busy Christmas season.
He said: "The boulevard work is on schedule.
"The project is on-time and is due be finished before the start of the Waterfront Winterland."
The annual Winterland family attraction is due to open around November 15.
The finished scheme will see a wide central reservation and widened pavements to include cycle paths. Some 80 elm trees will be planted, and there will also be improved pedestrian crossings.
Mr Bradley has previously described Oystermouth Road and Quay Parade as a "barrier" between the city centre and the waterfront, and said: "It is important we encourage far more pedestrians and cyclists to pass between them. This activity, as well as a far more visually attractive city gateway, will help develop a sense of place and more investment in future."
The project is funded by the Welsh Government, the European Union and Swansea Council.
