A tender has been issued to pave a long-delayed stretch of Team Gushue Highway, which will provide a shortcut between two important St. John's thoroughfares.

The tender involves paving the highway between Kenmount Road and Topsail Road, the Newfoundland and Labrador government said in a statement Tuesday.

That phase of construction was supposed to have been completed in 2014, but both the former Tory and present Liberal governments have delayed the work amid consecutive budget squeezes, leaving an unused bed of gravel connecting the two roads.

The upcoming work will also involve building a concrete median and a Topsail Road underpass. A separate tender will be issued for design work on a Topsail Road overpass.

The seven-kilometre stretch will allow drivers to complete a route in mere minutes that currently takes much longer.

When the full Team Gushue Highway is completed, it will connect the Outer Ring Road to Pitts Memorial Drive.