Yahoo News Motorists spent up to an extra 10 minutes crossing the Tyne Bridge this morning, figures reveal
Drivers spent up to an extra 10 minutes crossing the Tyne Bridge during the morning rush hour, new data has revealed.
Renovation work is currently ongoing on the Tyne Bridge. Engineers will spend four years carrying out over 900 steelwork repairs, along with repainting and a range of other vital restoration tasks.
Since April 4, the number of lanes on the bridge, over the River Tyne, have been reduced from four lanes to two - one each direction.
Transport bosses have already asked those driving cars to switch to the bus, Metro, walking, or cycling to try and reduce congestion during the works. They've urged those who have to drive to to avoid the city centre if possible.
Newcastle City Council has been closely monitoring traffic levels and journey times on approaching routes.
Last week, the local authority confirmed that, during the first two weeks of work, journey times had increased by less than had been anticipated. However they expected traffic to get heavier this week as children returned to school following the Easter holidays.
Figures from Monday morning show that travel time has increased on four of the five roads leading to the Tyne Bridge between 8am and 9am, compared to last month. The biggest increase being by 10.3 minutes.
Travel time between 8am and 9am on the A167 Southbound (Cowgate to the Tyne Bridge) increased by 10.3 minutes compared to last month. Travel time jumped from 8..3 minutes in March (8-21 March 2024) to 18.6 minutes.
Traffic on the A167 Northbound (Whitelhall Drive to the Tyne Bridge) at the same time has increased by 8.2 minutes. Travel time has jumped from 5.3 minutes last month (8-21 March 2024) to 13.5 minutes.
Traffic between 8am and 9am on the A184/A167 Westbound (Gateshead Stadium to the Tyne Bridge) has increased by 8.7 minutes. It has jumped from nine minutes last month (8-21 March 2024) to 17.7 minutes.
There has also been a 3.5 minute increase in travel time on the A193/A167 Westbound (Byker to Tyne Bridge). Between 8am and 9am last month the (8-21 March 2024) it took motorists 9.6 minutes. It has now jumped to 13.1 minutes.
The A1058 Westbound (Benfield Road to A167) is the only road where the travel time has decreased. Between 8am and 9am last month (8-21 March 2024) the travel time was 8.7 minutes. It was 7.5 minutes on Monday morning.
Pamela Holmes, assistant director of transport at Newcastle City Council, said: "Now that the restoration work on the Tyne Bridge is underway and the lane closures are in place we are closely monitoring traffic levels and journey times on approaching routes.
"We’re still in the early stages and thankfully we haven’t seen any major disruption so far, with some drivers experiencing journeys taking an extra 10 minutes during the morning peak on Monday.
"However, as traffic levels continue to get back to normal after the school holidays we are expecting to see increased delays and we’re continuing to encourage people to follow the travel advice at tynebridge.org.
"We’ve already seen over 22,000 visits to the website since the start of April and we very thankful to everyone who is already following the advice and making changes to their journeys.
"We are urging people to consider alternative travel options, such as public transport, park and ride, walking, cycling and using different routes, to help avoid delays and keep Tyneside moving."
