Demolition near doomed flyover to begin

Computer House in Gateshead will be knocked down from Monday

The first stage of work that will ultimately see an unsafe flyover demolished is to get under way, although knocking down the doomed structure itself will not begin until next year.

The A167 Gateshead Highway flyover, which dates back to the 1960s, has been closed since December over fears it could crumble away.

Gateshead Council said the nearby vacant Computer House office building, at the south end of the town's High Street, would be knocked down from Monday.

The flyover previously carried about 40,000 vehicles a day.

Councillor Martin Gannon, leader of the Labour-led authority, said the project would be a "major step towards creating an expanded and renewed town centre" with housing and public spaces.

"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," he said.

"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 10 months is significantly faster than normal for a large infrastructure project."

The flyover was deemed unsafe late last year and has been closed since then

When work begins on the structure itself, it will be around the Sunderland Road bus lane to allow roundabouts at either end to continue operating until later phases of the programme.

The council said the flyover would be "largely removed from the landscape by around May 2026".

It has set aside £18m in its budget for demolition with a further £2.5m to be provided by the North East Combined Authority.