Roadworks see temporary new bus lanes put in place
DRIVERS COULD BE FINED FOR USING SITES
MOTORISTS will have to contend with yet more bus lanes while roadworks are completed.
Newcastle City Council closed Killingworth Road, one of the main routes into the city, last month as part of a £13.5m Metro bridge renewal and road-widening project with Nexus.
The closure will be in place until spring 2018.
As part of the plans, temporary bus lanes have been introduced on the Brunton Overbridge in Gosforth and on Benton Road on the north and southbound approaches to Four Lane Ends junction in North Tyneside.
Though there will be no permanent cameras at the bus lanes, the sites will be “monitored regularly” and anyone driving through between 7am-7pm could be fined.
The council says the changes will improve the traffic network while roadworks are carried out.
Councillor Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council, said: “This is a major bridge renewal and highway improvement scheme that will improve connectivity to and from Newcastle.
“With the road needing to be closed for such a long time, it’s crucial that we have robust plans in place to ensure the highways network copes with the increased demand during the closure and also caters for people travelling to or through the area using all forms of transport.
“Bus lanes help us manage the network and ensure that large volumes of people will get to work on time. Bus operators are fully supportive of the plans and have offered pricing incentives to encourage more people to use bus services during the closure to help reduce the number of vehicles on the network, keeping everyone moving during these crucial works.” The Brunton Overbridge is a northbound flyover coming off the Great North Road, passing Newcastle Racecourse. The lane, which operates Monday to Friday, will prioritise buses heading out of the city centre via the Great North Road.
The temporary lanes on Benton Road, in operation seven days a week, will see the number 900 replacement bus prioritised through the Four Lane Ends junction while the Metro is disrupted.
Huw Lewis, customer services director for Nexus, which owns the Metro, said: “We will have up to 20 replacement buses an hour passing through Four Lane Ends as Metro modernisation work takes place in August so bus lanes are crucial to keep our passengers on the move.
“We are grateful to Newcastle and North Tyneside councils, which have worked hard to find a balance for all road users, and one which reflects the importance of buses with fixed routes which carry tens of thousands of people every day through the area.”
Motorists are no stranger to bus lane cameras and Newcastle city centre is home to the most prolific bus lane in the country.
The John Dobson Street camera raked in more than £1.5m during an eight-month period in 2016, before it was suspended after experts found the signage was inadequate.
The Tyne Bridge bus lane also made it into the top 10 most profitable lanes in the country, generating more than £1m pound for the council in little over a year.