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<\/p>\nGateshead Council has warned that the road under the flyover will not be able to reopen as soon as the concrete structure is fully removed, but a long-term decision on its future is yet to be made<\/p>\n
The ongoing demolition of the A167 Gateshead Highway flyover.(Image: Gateshead Council.)<\/p>\n
The road beneath the Gateshead Flyover will be in \u201cno condition\u201d to reopen imminently once the concrete eyesore\u2019s demolition is completed. Council chiefs have warned drivers not to expect the road below the A167 flyover<\/a> to be back in use after the crumbling structure is finally removed later this year, though a long-term decision on its future is yet to be made.<\/p>\n The flyover has been closed since December 2024 after concerns emerged that the elevated highway was in danger of collapsing, with contractors now in the process of gradually tearing it down. Major fears about the state of the structure have also meant that the road which runs directly beneath it has been closed too, between the Park Lane roundabout and the Five Bridges roundabout.<\/a><\/p>\n While the demolition of the flyover is due to be completed this October, bosses say that will not mean that the remaining road beneath will be able to be put back into use. The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the damage caused during the demolition works will likely be too severe to simply reopen the road once the rubble has been cleared.<\/p>\n That does not mean that it could never be repaired and reopened. However, its future is likely to depend on what decisions Gateshead<\/a> Council and the North East mayor come to over the planned regeneration of the area post-flyover.<\/p>\n There have long been hopes that removing the flyover could spark a new wave of investment and housebuilding around Gateshead town centre. However, no detailed plans for that have been unveiled at this stage.<\/p>\n Gateshead Council said in a response to a Facebook post last Friday: \u201cOur contractors tell us the road beneath the flyover will be in no condition to re-open after the demolition is complete. Work is ongoing to plan the town centre road system and plan regeneration of the vacant land being created by demolition.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked to clarify the council\u2019s position on the future of the road beneath the flyover, a spokesperson added: \u201cWe\u2019ve always said that the road beneath the flyover cannot reopen immediately after demolition because of the scale of the works involved, but any suggestion that its longer-term future has been decided is simply wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Gateshead\u2019s former Labour<\/a> leader, Martin Gannon, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last December that the council would \u201cneed to get the road system below the flyover rectified\u201d after its demolition. He said at the time that a \u201cnew road going in to replace this\u201d would not have the same capacity as the flyover did as he did not want it to be used as a \u201crat run\u201d by people bypassing the town centre to go in and out of Newcastle.<\/p>\n However, Mr Gannon lost his seat in May as Reform UK won control of the council at the recent local elections. Reform council leader Nick Allan has previously expressed hopes of making changes to Gateshead\u2019s road network, including to the controversial Askew Road bus lane, with the aim of boosting economic growth and making access to Newcastle easier.<\/p>\n The two roundabouts at either end of the flyover have largely remained open during the flyover\u2019s closure, but have been subject to closures at times \u2013 including the current section of demolition works. Last week, the council warned commuters of major disruption in the next stage of the flyover removal.<\/p>\n The Five Bridges roundabout is currently closed to traffic, but traffic chaos around the area is expected to get far worse when the busier Park Lane roundabout is closed for several weeks from July 25. That junction is heavily-used by commuters travelling into Newcastle, because it connects the A184 Felling Bypass to the A167 over the Tyne Bridge.<\/p>\n Did you know you can make ChronicleLive a preferred source of North East news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information<\/a> about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our ChronicleLive Daily newsletter is free. You can sign up to receive it here<\/a>. 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