This is in marked contrast to the surrounding countryside, which is steeply sloping; the highway passes along the foothills of Signal Hill during much of its course, on a narrow coastal strip shared by the South Island Main Trunk railway and the Otago Harbour Cycleway.

The highway continues its undulating course, passing under a viaduct carrying the South Island Main Trunk railway before entering Port Chalmers, where it changes name to George Street.

Prior to the building of the Forsyth Barr Stadium in 2011, SH 88 traversed the length of Anzac Avenue, veering east onto Ravensbourne Road at the edge of Logan Park.

[2] Realignment of a 1.2 km stretch of the highway, including a new bridge across the mouth of the Water of Leith was completed in July 2011 at a cost of $NZ 24.7 million.

[4] In order to partially alleviate these dangers, a separate walkway and cycleway was built parallel to the highway in the early 2000s between the mouth of the Leith and Maia, bypassing Ravensbourne and its associated industrial sites (the Ravensdown fertiliser factory and Logan Point quarry).