Alert on tunnel delays

Reporter A MONTH-LONG refurbishment of the Tyne Tunnel gets under way this week, drivers have been warned.

The scheduled work will start tomorrow evening and will take place five nights a week.

Maintenance work and structural inspections in the northbound tunnel will see one lane closed from 10pm and 6am on Wednesday and Thursdays.

During the weekend work, the entire northbound tunnel will be shut to traffic.

Instead, the southbound tunnel will be used as a route for drivers in both directions.

The closures on Fridays and Saturdays will take place between 8pm and 8am and on Sundays the northbound tunnel will close from 8pm until 6am.

A spokesperson for Tyne Tunnel operator TT2 said: “The northbound Tyne Tunnel will be undergoing some scheduled maintenance refurbishments and structural inspections as of Wednesday for four weeks.

“We aim to keep disruption to commuters to a minimum; therefore works will be completed during night shift lane closures when traffic volume is lowest.”

They added: “We thank all our customers for their patience during the maintenance period.”

The two Tyne Tunnels, connecting North and South Tyneside, were officially opened 50 years ago.

The northbound tunnel is 1,650 metres (1,804 yards) long and more than 30 metres (98 ft) below the river.