Gateshead Highway flyover one year on from closure
A year since the Gateshead Highway flyover was closed to traffic, and Gateshead Council is looking ahead to the regeneration opportunities post-demolition.
The council say it’s been a year of enormous change and hard work to get a demolition plan agreed and funded.
They tell us council colleagues and specialist contractors have completed a huge amount of work to bring forward the demolition of the flyover.
They say demolishing any post-tensioned concrete structure is very complex and this flyover has a unique, innovative design that needs especially careful handling.
The council is grateful for the commitment of all its partners to recognise the flyover’s importance as a central piece of North East infrastructure, with its removal opening up regeneration opportunities which have significance beyond Gateshead.
Councillor Martin Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, said:
“We are grateful to both council colleagues and our public sector and commercial partners for their efforts this last year.
“We also need to acknowledge the huge impact that the closure of the flyover has had on our community in Gateshead.
“For five decades, this concrete structure has run through the heart of Gateshead, and it’s had a huge influence on how the whole town functions.
“We recognise it’s been difficult for everybody to manage local journeys since the flyover had to be shut down.
“But we are now glad to look forward to a brighter future and the amazing opportunities this demolition work will open up for Gateshead.
“We will now be working to re-unite the town centre with new developments, new homes, and grasping the opportunities in front of us.”
Anneliese Hutchinson, strategic director for the economy, innovation and growth at Gateshead Council, said: “This is a major project in the heart of the urban area and we are planning the demolition to cause the least disruption we can so roads, buses and the Metro can keep running as far as possible.
“The demolition isn’t entirely controlled by the council as we have to liaise with and rely on other landowners, third parties and utility companies.
“It’s rare to find this level of complexity that has to be tackled in a project and we’re proud of our team for getting the programme progressed this far, this quickly.
“We’re well advanced with the preparations for demolishing the flyover now, with Computer House now stripped out, and BAM have completed some of the least disruptive prep work. As the weeks go by, people will start to see more and more activity around the site. We’ve got a lot to look forward to in Gateshead in 2026.”