North East Mayor to meet Transport Secretary over 'escalating emergency' of shut Gateshead flyover
Amy Sutton meets those feeling the effects of the transport disruption on the weekend before Christmas.
North East Mayor Kim McGinness has secured an urgent meeting with the Transport Secretary to discuss the disruption caused by the closure of the A167 Gateshead flyover.
A week has passed since the Gateshead flyover was closed due to serious structural concerns (13 December), exacerbating congestion in an area already impacted by the closure of the Tyne Bridge.
Nexus, the travel operator which runs the Tyne and Wear Metro, then took the decision to suspend services between Monument and Heworth, due to the risk of the flyover collapsing.
Bus replacement services are operating in their place, with Metros not expected to resume until the New Year.
The meeting with the cabinet secretary is due to take place on Monday 23 December.
In a letter to Heidi Alexander MP, Ms McGuinness said: “This now unusable flyover is not only impacting local traffic, but is cutting our metro system in half. We need to ensure urgent investment to keep our region moving and protect our economy.
"Local engineers have come up with a solution involving a temporary strut to hold the flyover and place and make it safe enough to get the metros back up and running. I have been told by Gateshead Council this is likely to take 10-14 days.
“I’ve asked that regional officials and those at Gateshead Council and Metro operator Nexus urgently provide your department with plans, costs and timescales for more permanent solutions.”
Gateshead Council issued an updated statement yesterday (Friday 20 December) which said that they are in talks to see whether part of the flyover can be strengthened so that trains can safely pass below it.
It said: "Discussions are continuing with government ministers, the North East Combined Authority, and other key partners to secure the funding needed to demolish the A167 Gateshead Highway flyover, with plans being discussed in tandem around the regeneration of the area after that."
Nexus said they are "closely monitoring" the situation and said that the safety of customers and employees is their ultimate top priority.
On what is one of the busiest weekends of the year, the weekend before Christmas, Gateshead high street was almost empty.
A town centre cut off from some of its transport connections, Metros halted and traffic diverted.
Yet, businesses remained open as usual and Antonio Pili, owner of Italian restaurant Sapori told ITV Tyne Tees: "Every sort of business relies on the weeks coming up to Christmas to be the busiest time of the year as it gets quieter in January.
"You would expect the place to be full now, but it isn't. I expect the footfall to be less and less and less, as you know the area is not really accessible."
On the rail network, East Coast Mainline services from LNER and Lumo have confirmed passengers who have faced disruption may use their ticket on the next available service from Newcastle.
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