Drivers’ roadworks relief
HEWORTH ROUNDABOUT WORK TO BE COMPLETED WEEKS EARLY
THE new reopening date of Heworth Roundabout has been delayed ... but only by a day.
Roadworks on the Felling bypass were initially held up due to a breakdown at a plant, meaning there was a shortage of tarmac.
As a result the date was pushed back to yesterday – but that date was missed.
Now, Gateshead Council says all works are complete and the road will fully reopen from 5.30am today - still earlier than originally expected.
Anneliese Hutchinson, service director for development, transport and public protection at Gateshead Council, said: “We are delighted that we’ve been able to reopen this junction eight weeks earlier than planned.
“This is a major route into Tyneside and we were fully aware of the delays and inconvenience these works were going to cause to residents and commuters.
“That’s why we gave a commitment right at the start to get these works completed as quickly as possible. I’m delighted to say we’ve done just that.”
The junction has been closed to allow works to repair the supporting bridges under the road to be carried out.
The junction has been reduced to a single carriageway, with full road closures at night and at weekends.
There has been a partial closure of the A185 Shields Road between Pelaw and Sunderland Road.
Motorists should not notice a difference to their journey because the works have been about protecting the structure under the road, the council said.
Ms Hutchinson said: “We did take the opportunity to upgrade this junction by removing the redundant roundabout to smooth the flow of traffic along the Felling bypass, and improve road safety by upgrading other features such as pedestrian crossings, street lighting, and traffic controls.”
The A184/A185 junction at Heworth is supported on a series of concrete bridges which carry the road over the Network Rail and Metro lines and these were causing structural engineers serious concern after they detected water seeping into the bridge structures.
If left unchecked, this water could have caused serious and irreparable structural damage to the bridges.
The major risk was ‘spalling’ which occurs when water seeps into concrete and causes the steel reinforcing rods within the concrete to rust. The rusting process causes the rods to expand, cracking the concrete around them and severely weakening its structural strength.
Essential repair work involved the complete removal of the road surface to allow the bridge decks to be waterproofed and a new road surface then applied.