Final phase of Felling bypass works set to start

The final phase in the longstanding road and bridge repairs at Heworth will see the A184 closed in both directions at Heworth from 8pm Tuesday evening until 5am on Wednesday morning.

The closure is to allow the road and junction to be re-surfaced and for lane markings to be applied.

The road will also be closed overnight on the following Wednesday, May 23, Thursday, May 24, Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26.

Traffic diversions will be clearly signposted and there will be a shuttle bus serving Hebburn and Jarrow from the A195 Shields Road when the Heworth Interchange is inaccessible.

There will also be supervisory staff to ensure the pedestrian route through the subway is safe.

Vehicular access to the Lakes Estate will be from the A185 westbound from Grange Road.

Further overnight road closures have also been scheduled for the week following the Bank Holiday weekend – from Tuesday, May 29, to Sunday, June 3.

This is to allow for the completion of the road surfacing, lane marking and the testing and commissioning of new traffic lights.

Once these works have been completed, the junction will re-open to normal traffic in early June.

Anneliese Hutchinson, service director for Development, Transport and Public Protection, said: “We are in the home straight now.

“I’d like to thank local residents and businesses for their patience and understanding during these difficult works.

"We know they have caused disruption and inconvenience to people particularly in the Pelaw and Bill Quay area, and we apologise for that.

"We said we would do all we could to complete the works as quickly as possible knowing the impact they would have and I am really pleased we have been able to do this and complete the work earlier than planned, despite some adverse weather.

“The damage to the concrete below this junction was as severe as we anticipated, but we’ve now protected the concrete bridges supporting this junction and I’d hope local residents won’t have to experience such levels of disruption again for a very long time.”

She added: “This has been a difficult and complex job.

"The crews from the council’s own direct labour organisation have worked incredibly hard during some extremely challenging winter weather, and gave up week-ends and evenings with their families, to get this work completed.

"They deserve full credit for getting this massive job completed in four months instead of seven.”

Gateshead Council apologises for any inconvenience these final overnight road closures may cause.