Bridge traffic fear as holidays finish
TBridge commuters have been warned that the end of the school Easter holidays could see traffic conditions get worse.
The bridge is now reduced to one lane in both directions to enable engineers to carry out over 900 steelwork repairs, repainting and other restoration tasks. The work is expected to take four years.
Newcastle City Council lead engineer revealed that work had “already made good progress”.
Pamela Holmes, assistant director of transport at Newcastle City Council, said: “We want to thank commuters who have listened to our advice over the first fortnight of works on the Tyne Bridge. We know that reducing the number of lanes on the bridge does cause disruption on routes into the city centre, particularly at rush hour.”
Ms Holmes said that over the first two weeks of work, journey times had increased, but perhaps by less than had been anticipated.
She said: “We saw an average peak journey time travelling northbound, from Gateshead Stadium to the bridge, of 18 minutes entering the city in the morning, and 14 in the evening.
“Travelling southbound, from
Cowgate junction to the Bridge, the average journey time was 10 minutes in the morning and 24 minutes in the evening.
“These are modest increases but nothing like some of the figures we saw reported in the opening days of the work, and not significantly higher than prior to the works starting.
“In fact, some of the journey times from the Coast Road were largely unaffected by the works, but we know that traffic has been lighter given the school holidays.”
With the school holidays finished, it is expected that traffic will be heavier and Ms Holmes said drivers should think carefully about their journeys, saying: ““Please continue
to consider alternative routes in the city, take advantage of the various park and ride sites or utilise the public transport network across the region. For now, we want to say a huge thank you to those who have heeded our advice and kept traffic moving in recent days.
“Although the work we undertake is not always obvious given the location of some of the repairs, we have already made good progress and can’t wait to see the end result.”
Esh Construction is carrying out the work on behalf of Newcastle and Gateshead Councils.
To find our more about the project, including the most up-to-date travel advice, visit tynebridge.org/