Following a decade of planning, and almost four years of work on site, North East motorists enjoyed their first taste of a fully operational New Tyne Crossing on Monday 21 November 2011 as the original Tyne Tunnel re-opened to traffic following refurbishment.
Traffic flow is set to be transformed with two road tunnels available, as the capacity of the river crossing has more than doubled. Congestion on the UK’s busiest ‘A’ road is expected to fall dramatically, making the notorious rush hour tailbacks a thing of the past.
The original road tunnel closed to traffic in February 2011 when the new tunnel, built as part of the £260M New Tyne Crossing project, was commissioned for use. While closed the tunnel underwent a major refurbishment, enabling a dedicated escape passage to be built and state-of-the-art fire safety technology to be installed. The Tyne Tunnels are now the safest road tunnels in the country.
TOLLING REGIME
The Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority has made an application to the Secretary of State for Transport to make a new Order to grant it the necessary powers to retain this original three-step timetable. To find out more, click here.
TYNE TUNNELS BYELAWS
Byelaws made by the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority in pursuance of the Transport and Works Act 1992 and the River Tyne (Tunnels) Order 2005. These Byelaws may be cited as Tyne Tunnels Byelaws 2010. They detail how people must behave within the site.
