Work begins on the A167 Gateshead Flyover with new concrete after its December closure. Metro services are improving, demolition plans progress.
A support was added before the new year. Metro trains can now pass safely underneath. Services were stopped for two weeks earlier. The new concrete should help Metro trains run normally. The Sunderland Road bus lane might reopen too.
The council thinks the work will take up to five weeks. Weather can affect this timeline. The flyover itself will not reopen to traffic. It will be torn down later on. Plans for that demolition are still being finalized.
The council leader said demolition could take a year. It will be a complex and difficult project. Reopening the flyover is unlikely right now, as demolishing it seems the most probable scenario. Reopening then demolishing would cause more issues, so the council likely won’t reopen it for that reason.
The government has not funded this flyover project yet. The North East mayor may help pay for demolition. Plans to replace it with trees exist since 2008, but they were never funded for this change. Previous cost estimates ranged widely (£13-£74 million), depending on how much they rebuilt. Inflation probably made those costs even higher now.
