Tyne Bridge congestion will get worse in the coming weeks
Transport bosses have issued the warning - as full lane closures are in place
Motorists have been warned that the congestion around the Tyne Bridge will get worse in the coming weeks - as 24/7 lane restrictions are now in full force during its restoration.
Thursday (April 4), marked the start of all-day restrictions that will close two of the bridge’s four lanes for at least the next two years, halving the capacity of one of Tyneside’s busiest routes.
The lane closures will be in place during a large section of the grade-II* listed crossing’s long-awaited refurbishment, which began in earnest earlier this week.
Drivers heading south on the Central Motorway appeared to suffer the worst delays on Thursday, with journey times to travel 3.5 miles south from Cowgate to the Gateshead side of the bridge hitting around 60 minutes during the evening rush hour – compared to just nine minutes before the works started.
And with traffic levels lower than usual during the Easter school holidays, city transport chiefs expect that there will be even heavier travel disruption from Monday, April 15.
People have been urged to avoid the bridge during its renovation, either by driving via other routes such as the Tyne Tunnel and A1 or by making the switch to bus, Metro, walking or cycling.
The Tyne Bridge works are expected to last for the next four years, with hopes that the North East icon will be back to its best in time to celebrate its October 2028 centenary, and the lane closures will be in place for at least the first two of those.
Alastair Swan, principal engineer at Newcastle City Council, said: “The lane restrictions are now in place, with the bridge reduced to one lane in each direction, as this major refurbishment gets under way. As we’re in the Easter school holidays, traffic is lighter but there could be significant delays of up to 40 minutes at peak hours once normal traffic levels return.
“People need to plan their journeys, think about alternatives, whether they take public transport, or active travel options such as walking or cycling, or use the many park and ride facilities available.
“We’ve got full travel advice online to help keep Tyneside moving throughout the refurbishment programme.”
An online tool has been set up by cycling and walking group Space for Heaton to monitor journey times on the main approaches to the Tyne Bridge.
It showed that, during the morning rush hour on Thursday, southbound travel on the Central Motorway took around twice as long as it had on Thursday, March 21 – with the journey from Cowgate across the bridge peaking at around 18 minutes between 8am and 9am.
Heading north from the Gateshead Highway’s junction with Whitehall Road to the bridge took a maximum of 18 minutes in the morning, compared to 10 minutes two weeks prior.
The worst of the morning rush hour delays on the A184, measured between Gateshead Stadium and the bridge, appeared to be more similar to previous levels, though the peak of delays of between 12 and 15 minutes lasted for longer.
But the teatime rush resulted in far more significant tailbacks.
The longest delays were experienced on the Central Motorway southbound, where the trip from Cowgate to the Tyne Bridge was taking between 45 and 60 minutes during the worst periods between 5pm and 7pm. That compared to less than 10 minutes at the same time two weeks before.
Space for Heaton’s Mark Nelson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he hoped that showcasing the traffic data would help people make informed decisions about whether they should switch to other modes of travel.
He added: “Long-term, the council still needs to look to address the air quality around the Tyne Bridge. While this project is about maintaining the bridge, it is also going to show what will happen if you restrict vehicles.
“It will be interesting to see what effect that has on people’s choices over the next few years. Will it encourage people to think that they don’t want to sit in the traffic for four times longer than they previously did, so they get the Metro instead?
“If in six months’ or a year’s time everything is working okay, then you could ask whether it will need to go back to four lanes or could you have bus lanes in the currently closed lanes without it having a negative impact.”
The refurbishment of the bridge and associated improvements to the Central Motorway are expected to cost more than £41 million.
The Government signed off in February on an initial £35.2 million funding for the scheme, but has promised a further £6 million to cover the full costs – with local councils still awaiting confirmation of that uplift, which was announced as part of Rishi Sunak’s Network North programme last October.
Engineers from Esh Construction are due to make hundreds of repairs on the bridge, including a full repaint of the rusted crossing and a series of significant structural repairs.