Prepare to crawl. Gateshead drivers are facing nearly a month of gridlock as the council prepares to shut down a major roundabout. It is all part of the ongoing effort to tear down the crumbling, unsafe Gateshead flyover, a structure condemned last year with demolition work dragging on since April.
The target? Five Bridges roundabout. It shuts June 21. It will not reopen until July 16. Twenty-four days of misery.
Naturally, local bureaucrats are putting a brave face on the impending disaster. Anneliese Hutchinson, speaking for Gateshead Council, insisted the town centre remains “open for business.” Her solution? Get on a bus. Take the Metro. Do anything to keep your car off her gridlocked streets. Good luck with that.
For those stubborn enough to keep driving, the council suggests taking the long way around. Use the A1. Use the A19. Go somewhere else.
The detour map looks like a plate of spaghetti. Sunderland Road residents lose their normal bus routes, so the council is funding a temporary shuttle bus. Over on Durham Road, the northbound bus lane is being suspended just so cars can actually reach the town centre. Once the roundabout blocks the east side, traffic will squeeze both ways between Sunderland Road and Old Durham Road.
It gets worse. They are slapping temporary traffic lights onto the Bensham Road roundabout to “improve flow”—a phrase that rarely means what it says. Even getting groceries will be a headache. Access to the Trinity Square Tesco car park is being rerouted. You will have to enter Lambton Street from the High Street and Oakwellgate junction, though you can exit in either direction.
This is just the beginning. Once Five Bridges finally reopens, the demolition crews will pack up and move to the Park Lane roundabout. More closures are coming. Plan accordingly.
