Motorists claim it has taken half an hour to travel a mile

Calls have been made to postpone the construction of a new junction to serve the �31m project until after the busy half-term break.

Holiday traffic heading for the nearby leisure centre, the beaches of Gower and the seafront at Mumbles has caused huge tailbacks in the city this week.

But the museum says if work was stopped now it would only create bigger problems in the summer.

If we postponed the work now it would then go into part of the school holidays when there would be even more traffic on the roads Museum spokeswoman Sarah Vinning Smith

The traffic jams have left some motorists facing a 30 minute delay to pass the site at Oystermouth Road.

Senior councillors in Swansea had asked contractors Mowlem to down tools until Monday when youngsters would be back in school.

Deputy leader Robert Francis Davies has spoken to managers at the museum.

"Because it is half-term there is that much more traffic coming through the city," he said.

'Bumper to bumper'

The authority had already imposed restrictions on the time contractors could work to avoid the morning and afternoon rush hour.

Work is not allowed to start until 9.30am and must be finished by 3.30pm.

One motorist said it took him half-an-hour to travel the final mile into the city after returning from a lunchtime meeting in Cardiff on Tuesday.

"The cars were bumper to bumper in both lanes and the traffic was backed up to the Ford plant on Fabian Way," he said.

"I was told it was equally bad coming into the city from the other side along Oystermouth Road.

The museum is on target to be completed by early 2005

"The length of road where they are working is quite short but it is causing a lot of problems."

But museum spokesman Sarah Vinning Smith said it was decided construction had to carry on this week as there was a very tight schedule to get it completed before the school summer holidays in July.

"If we postponed the work now it would then go into part of the school holidays when there would be even more traffic on the roads.

"If they can keep up the progress they hope to finish it all at the end of July."

Construction of the museum started in February and is on budget and schedule to be completed by early 2005.