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Warning to drivers as holidays come to end

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date15 April 2024
Publication titleEvening Chronicle
The work will see engineers spend four years carrying out over 900 steelwork repairs, along with repainting and a range of other vital restoration tasks

The bridge is now reduced to one lane in both directions to enable the work to be carried out.

The lead engineer on the project revealed said 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.

"This is a huge project for the region. We are restoring a national icon and we know the entire region wants to see the bridge back to its best.

"We know that reducing the number of lanes on the bridge does cause disruption on routes into the city centre, particularly at rush hour.

"That is why we have been so vocal in recent weeks, in the lead-up to the closures being put in place, so we can minimise that disruption as much as possible."

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."

Next week, with the school holidays finished, it is expected that traffic will be heavier - and the top council figure asked drivers to think carefully about their journeys.

She said: "Please continue to consider alternative routes in the city, take advantage of the various park and ride sites or utilise...

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