Gateshead Flyover - Demolition starts on nearby buildings
Demolition works around the Gateshead Flyover will finally begin this week – but the removal of the deserted highway itself will not start until 2026.
The vacant Computer House office building which sits at the south end of the town's High Street, would be knocked down from Monday. It'll allow engineers full access to the elevated highway.
It's been nearly a year since cars last crossed the A167 Gateshead Highway flyover, having been shut last December amid fears that it was at risk of collapse.
Contractors are set to move onto a compound next to the Sunderland Road bus lane on Monday, October 20, to begin the project.
We've been hearing what people want to see built to replace the buildings.
"We need more shops, more decent shops. I know they're saying they're going to build houses or flats, but we don't need anymore of them."
Another shopper on the high street told us:
"Just get something done to Gateshead. A decent shopping center, decent cafes. And just get it revamped."
BAM Nuttall and Thompsons of Prudhoe are then expected to start demolishing the flyover early in the new year, with hopes that it will be largely gone by May 2026 and clear the way for potential regeneration works to improve the surrounding town centre.
The local authority said that delays to the project were down to the “complexity of the programme required” to safely remove the 900m-long structure, which runs above underground Tyne and Wear Metro tunnels.
Council leader Martin Gannon, who had pledged in March that the flyover would be “gone within a year”, said today: “This demolition programme will be a major step towards creating an expanded and renewed town centre, fit for the future. The removal of the flyover and some surrounding buildings will open up huge opportunities for regenerating this area, making space for the creation of a stronger community of businesses and good quality housing here.
“We appreciate that Gateshead residents, and people across Tyneside, just want to see the flyover down, and we’re all impatient for that to happen, but we hope people will appreciate that having such a complex project signed off and the legalities and finances of a detailed contract agreed in under ten months is significantly faster than normal for a large infrastructure project. We really appreciate our residents’ and businesses’ continued patience and support.”
The council said that it hopes to create “accessible public spaces, safe walkable streets, and green areas” on the plot vacated by the flyover.
While it has set aside £18 million for the demolition and North East mayor Kim McGuinness has committed £2.5 million, politicians have warned that Government cash will be needed for a long-term redevelopment.
Details of road and pedestrian route closures during the demolition will be released as the work progresses and the council pledged to do “all it can to keep local residents and businesses informed, to minimise disruption to people’s everyday lives”.