'Absolute farce' - Low Fell councillor slams Gateshead Flyover closure
by Daniel Hall · ChronicleLiveA Low Fell councillor has slammed the closure of Gateshead Flyover, calling the situation an "absolute farce."
Coun Dawn Welsh, who represents the Liberal Democrats in Low Fell, believes action should have been taken to close or repair the flyover far sooner. Gateshead Council told ChronicleLive in 2017 that it had implemented a monitoring strategy since 2011 for the identification of potential concrete spalls, where corrosion of the steel reinforcement pushes the surface concrete away from the mass.
It is not clear if the road has been closed this time due to concrete spalls, or if it is due to another issue. However, its closure has already started to affect traffic just two weekends before Christmas, with tailbacks on the Felling Bypass from a combination of Christmas shoppers and football fans heading for both Newcastle and Gateshead.
Coun Welsh told ChronicleLive: "The current situation in Gateshead is it's in a chokehold with traffic. This is going to make it worse for the retailers in the centre of Gateshead, and retail needs all the help it can get at the moment, the high street is dying enough as it is.
"It's the busiest time of year for the retailers when footfall should be at its highest. If anyone's wanting to do their Christmas food shop at Tesco, how on earth are they going to get there? You can do a full Christmas food shop on a bus, can you, realistically?!"
On Saturday afternoon, Coun Martin Gannon acknowledged the impact that the closure would have on traffic, saying: "We have lost this road."
The Gateshead Council leader called on central Government to stump up the tens of millions of pounds the council expects it will take either to demolish or replace the structure.
Coun Welsh said that she queried the logic of Gateshead Council's decision making on spending, citing the still empty £23m multi-storey car park on Gateshead Quays as somewhere money could have been redirected from towards the flyover. However, Gateshead Council said funding is from a separate pot of ring-fenced money and the car park was required to secure "valuable economic growth opportunities".
She also questioned whether the closure of Askew Road had led to increase loadings on the Flyover, exacerbating and hastening its demise. But Gateshead Council say that this is not the case, and that traffic monitoring figures demonstrate vehicle numbers on the flyover have not increased since the eastern end of Askew Road became a bus lane.
Nevertheless, around 40,000 commuters per day will have to find an alternative to using the Flyover, a portion of these in Coun Welsh's ward of Low Fell. She said: "The concern for residents in Low Fell is how this is going to affect their daily lives, how they're going to be able to get around to go to work, or how to go and see relatives on the other side of the Tyne.
"There's no good reason for it. This should have been resolved years ago, there should have been a plan in place."
As of last night, motorists are faced with finding a different route or switching their own vehicle for public transport, with both bus and Metro services suffering a knock-on effect of the closure. On Saturday, the Tyne and Wear Metro ran between Gateshead and Gateshead Stadium stations under speed restrictions, causing systemwide delays.
The tunnel between the two stations is directly underneath the Gateshead Flyover. Nexus said its engineers are working with Gateshead Council, but at present it is not clear how long the restrictions will be in place for.
Anneliese Hutchinson, strategic director of economy, innovation and growth and Gateshead Council, said: "Like any ageing structure, issues are identified over time, and they have been addressed. We were aware that the structure was deteriorating, which is why we commissioned more detailed monitoring and an inspection to ensure public safety."
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