Council 'could not get flyover demolition funds'

The A167 flyover was closed on 13 December and demolition work has now begun

Plans to demolish a crumbling concrete flyover were delayed for years because there were no means to grant funding for the work, a council has said.

Work to tear down the A167 flyover in Gateshead has now begun after the bridge was closed in December 2024 over safety fears.

Gateshead Council said it had wanted to tear down the structure for more than a decade but had no way of accessing funding for the project.

Strategic director for economy, innovation and growth Anneliese Hutchinson said petitioning the government for £20m while facing budget pressures had been a "difficult ask".

"The way the funding comes from government, or how it's come previously, has been for specific things," she said.

"So we can get money for bus lanes, we can get money for cycle lanes, but you can't get money to demolish infrastructure."

Anneliese Hutchinson said the demolition opens up development opportunities

Ms Hutchinson told BBC Radio Newcastle the flyover had been regularly checked but its poor condition only came to light during a more comprehensive inspection, of the sort only carried out every 10 years.

She denied the council had neglected the structure until demolition was the only remaining option and said its inspection timetables had followed government guidelines.

But despite the council wanting to knock it down for about 15 years, she said it had decided to "spend a little bit of money" to repair the flyover in the hope government funding could be secured for its demolition later down the line.

Removing the flyover is part of the council's long-term plans to redevelop the town centre.

Under its new Regeneration Plan, it intends to redesign the area and build a new community consisting of homes and retail facilities.

Ms Hutchinson said the physical barrier the flyover created had prevented places such as the Baltic Quarter and Gateshead town centre from being suitably linked and had caused property developers to pull out of investing in the area.

"It's awful that [the flyover closure] happened so quickly over Christmas last year but actually it's got us to where we need to be now," she said.

Drivers have been hit with delays to their journeys because of the road's closure, which has coincided with repairs to the Tyne Bridge and Newcastle's central motorway.