The INSIDE Story Of Gateshead’s CATASTROPHIC Flyover Closure!

[@andrewmcguigan8039]

Massive shock to Gateshead Council.. a structure with a 60 year design life needs replacing after 60 years

[@graceygrumble]

This made me laugh, even though this situation is not funny at all.

[@chrishumble8662]

It’s amazing that even the worst fortune teller ever could see this coming

[@philgray1023]

If only Boris had given them the money instead of buying condemned PPE.

[@jacquiduffy9726]

I think I would still feel nervous to travel on Metro under there..but I am not a lover of tunnels anyway!

[@nickcoppard5335]

Is it under warranty?

[@Geordie848]

When I worked for Gateshead Council back in the day, the story I was told was that when the flyover was commissioned Gateshead wanted to have the only road in the country with underfloor heating ( hence the weird shape underneath) however when they turned it on it used so much power that it was never used again. They even installed very expensive maintenance free stainless steel crash barriers. These subsequently rotted because the council salted the road rather than use the heating system. They then tried to sue the barrier manufacturer who counter sued the council because of the use of salt. 🤷‍♂️

[@kevinbaird7277]

Great story, typical council story of waste, pathetic.

[@graemeconnelly8849]

is there any internet history with this info. sounds a bit like a690 and hougton cut

[@ChrisInToon]

A very believable testimony

[@stubeedoo8259]

Sounds plausible. It's known that road salt not only rots concrete, it also causes the steel rebar to rust.

[@keithhigh7773]

I think the highest point of the M62 across the Pennines has heated carriageways, but l don't know if they are used.

[@smoggyben]

I lived in Newcastle 10 years ago and commuted over the flyover regularly, and there was talk of the bridge collapsing then. The fact it’s been known about all this time and nothing has been done is absolutely criminal!

[@TalesOfWar]

A lot of these kind of things are well beyond the financial means of the local governments and need central government for help. It would help if they devolved more powers to these areas to generate capital to get things done, but the last government particularly was very much against taking any kind of power out of Westminster. London is the only place in England that has the legal power to generate capital outside of Treasury, that's one reason they get so many nice things, central government hates spending money in London too, especially under a Tory government and Labour Mayor. It's all politics.

[@daverich3352]

60 years old, just the other day i was reading the plaque on the bridge over the tyne at Corbridge where it states that the bridge was the only one over the tyne to survive the floods of 1771. Still going strong after 250 years.

[@VanillaMacaron551]

Below a busy suburban arterial road near me in Brisbane, Oz, is a convict-built sandstone / brick arch bridge - pushing 200 years old - supporting the road over a creek. No-one would ever notice they had even driven over a bridge there. But you can access it from the end of a park, read the plaque and see the workmanship close-up. I'm guessing it's never had a jot of maintenance in decades. Something went awry with our building skills over the years, or we stopped building for permanence.

[@touringmoose]

The Hexham bridge was only just completed after a three year construction and washed away a year later in 1771.

[@BABYCHAOS26]

If the flyover is able to reopen with the temporary support in place, bet your bottom dollar it’ll stay like that for another decade.

[@michaelbrown17]

👌 they’ll just put supports underneath and drop the speed limit in that section. A19 flyover at portrack lane got damaged years ago they just dropped the limit down to 50mph and put a bandaid on it, still has yet to be fixed.

[@Westhamsterdam]

Only a "decade"?????

[@dubsydubs5234]

A decade, lol you're optimistic, I think the word you're looking for is indefinitely. This is the UK we don't even fix potholes and you think they'll fix a flyover. We've got to fix all the roads in Ukraine first and there's the usual 100% corruption tax on top of that.

[@Westhamsterdam]

@dubsydubs5234 The UK is one of the biggest arms exporters (BAE) it gives "aid" to the Ukrainian so it can buy arms from BAE. Hopefully you start to understand. It's not financial aid to help it's citizens.

[@dubsydubs5234]

@@Westhamsterdam Start to understand ?????

[@peanutismint]

Cheers for covering this Eddy; just got home from a week in Gateshead over Christmas and the flyover closure was a massive pain in the arse the whole week, as well as a good talking point with everyone I caught up with (!). Can’t really understand how this caught them by surprise…..

[@M4M1610]

If it were in Japan the flyover would be gone in a week and replaced in two. They’d have taken the Tyne bridge out and restored it somehow. Have you seen how shabby the Millennium bridge is now as well,it’s proper black

[@seanhaggarty5769]

Considering Japan on average take 30% of your income in tax and the UK takes 16%.

[@rogerstarkey5390]

Japan? No China, Replaced a motorway bridge over a weekend.

[@gillylawson]

Exactly my thoughts...this country is third world...the infrastructure is shite ...Tyne bridge is a disgrace...at least Sunderland looks like it's getting some investment but by Christ ....if people want to have there eyes opened watch billy moores vlogs (all or nothing)

[@mickharrison9004]

Same in china they don't fk about with infrastructure, because they know it holds things back and damages ,people's lives and what's a big laugh in our country ,when our leaders say they don't know why our growth ,never picks up and we're the least productive country in Europe down ,to most people being unhappy.

[@mickharrison9004]

​@@rogerstarkey5390yes that's very believable considering when covid started ,over there and they realised could do with a massif new hospital ,believe it or not that place was built in a week the waste and incompetence ,in this country is staggering too down to our leaders .

[@melonycrumpet]

Back in the mid 90’s I worked in the Architect department at GMBC. I couldn’t believe how slow the smallest project took to be signed off. I dread to think how many letters/documents will have to be copied/signed/filed etc. How many meetings arranged then cancelled due to sick/holiday leave etc

[@awalk5177]

Project Management is the weakest in government departments, because they have no incentives to save costs or make profit, consequently almost ALL government projects are late on delivery and over budget. Private industry does not have the luxury of living off the tax payer and wasting money. The only exception to this is the Pharmaceutical industry which has so much money sloshing about that they actively make projects consume their budgets, in order to keep the funding of department high, and attempt to make profits not look so obscene. To have a project on time and inside budget is actually seen as negative.

[@melonycrumpet]

@ I agree with you. My neighbour works in pharmaceutical industry and during Covid was offered £100,000 and a substantial pay increase to move to a rival company. 2 years later his original employers offered him a similar lump sum and pay increase to return to them. He said he wasn’t bragging about it and thought it was crazy… he was bragging though, he then commented we’ve got so much money we don’t know what to spend it on!

[@lesmurray-lf1wc]

hi i work in construction, shuttering joiner. i have seen a lot of this over the years. basically water gets into the steel bars behind and blows the concrete out. something like this happened on the tees flyover years ago. it was repaired and it still standing.

[@markrl75]

I believe there was a similar problem on the A4 Hammersmith flyover (linking the M4 to London) a few years back which caused absolute chaos right about the time they were getting ready to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

[@stubeedoo8259]

@Tyneside Life Thanks Eddy for all your content. 👍 I'm an "adopted Geordie" who came here on a date 25 years ago (after spending the previous 40+ years never settling anywhere down south) and liked it so much I stayed. You've taught me more about Tyneside than my wife and her family - who were all born within 3 miles of the river - have.

[@TynesideLife]

☝️👊🏻👍🏻

[@phantom_not_chopper]

Meanwhile I had Xmas in Zagreb - spotlessly clean, infrastructure that works efficiently, happy people celebrating safely & joyously. My country is a lost & abysmal misery hole.

[@RustyD.I.Y]

Love this

[@davida9074]

It's the people that's the problem. Brits are never happy.

[@loucipher67]

Could you narrow that down a bit. We don't know where you live.

[@alexthorpe2522]

Same for me. Currently in Taipei. Everywhere is immaculate. People are nice. Infrastructure is modern. No sense of impending doom or society in decline.

[@bv3bv334]

"misery hole"......😂....that pretty much sums it up. And it's only going to get worse 👍

[@theAEDan]

No shock to anyone that broken Britain is now starting to fall apart.

[@sapper82]

Several years back, 2018/'19, when visiting my daughter who was renting a place in the Chaucer Road area, I noted how much concrete disease there was on the viaduct where corroding rebar was cracking and spalling off large chunks of concrete. I'm very surprised for it to take this long to close the road.

[@procta2343]

a former work mate, said back in 2021, that this was due to be demolished, due to how bad it was back then.

[@stephenvarty191]

Not only are our ancient, stone built bridges and viaducts much nicer to look at, they last a lot longer too!

[@CS-zn6pp]

This thing has always looked like junk.

[@davida9074]

​@@CS-zn6ppI beg to differ. I've always thought it was a pretty cool design.

[@roadie4360]

Many stone bridges are like the eponymous broom as drivers not chunks of them off.

[@Westhamsterdam]

The Victorian viaducts have a lifespan incredibly long probably because they used good brick. They still need to be repointed. Victorians never used reinforced concrete once the metal inside oxidises that´s it, brick doesn´t have this problem. Reinforced concrete is far cheaper than brick

[@markrl75]

@@davida9074 - The rust streaks on the decaying concrete look particularly pleasing on the eye and remind you of the total greatness of T Dan Smith 😊😊

[@Nathan-vw9du]

Totally embarrassing and a let down. City planners and surveyors need to be doing better and be held accountable. Just like Gateshead, letting things go too far.

[@CS-zn6pp]

They've known for years and done nothing.

[@MONTY-MAGPIE]

Pleased ur back doing what u do best eddy. Thanks for the update better than watching the local news

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@bassmanbri57]

I came here to say the exact same thing. This so much better than the local news. Nice work.

[@TynesideLife]

@ 👊🏻👍🏻

[@roadie4360]

The Hammersmith Flyover (A4 Great West Road in London) was also built with heating and is a similar vintage but being in London. but being London funds were found to fix it temporarily a few years ago. Hammersmith Bridge an unrelated structure has been shut to motor vehicles due to deterioration and no funds to fix it.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I am old enough to remember T. Dan Smith, and the terrible shite buildings he built. I worked in one of the hospitals he built, it was fecking awful!

[@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq]

I also remember T Dan Smith, he was mates with a guy called Poulson, they were 24 karat crooks !

[@JohnG-x9d]

@@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq Thank God they were caught out. T Dan Smith was planning to flatten Newcastle city centre and replace it with flatpack concrete buildings and roadways. It was rife everywhere, they were all at it, look at the mess they made of Birmingham, only improved in the last 15 years.

[@rogernevin7461]

@@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq Poulson built Consett Baths and Felling Baths. I knew a lad who worked at Consett Baths night shift ! I said to him what do you do on nightshift ? His reply was un-real, 'Constantly mop up under the main Pool' as it had been constructed using a cheap Porous material ! Our Friends in the North, bent as boomerangs.

[@arthurmatthews9321]

Classic north south divide. If this was in London it would of been fixed decades ago. It’s the same here on teesside . The teesside flyover has been patched up for years . The transporter bridge which is a teesside iconic structure hasn’t operated for years, it needs millions spending on it. It’s just been left to rust away. I was talking to a lad from network rail the other day and he said london are spending billions on new tracks and trains . The Tyne and Wear metro trains are 40 years old, they were life expired 10 years ago, and are only just now being replaced with new ones .

[@LordParkin]

Great video. And a damning reflection on the state of our infrastructure. Reality is, we don’t like to pay for maintenance. Add to that the rush to use reinforced concrete in the 50’s and 60’s. Think about how many Victorian railway viaducts (both in use and redundant) are still structurally sound.

[@simontay4851]

Structurally sound with little maintenance for over 150 years and look nice as well. They fit into the landscape. Stone and brick arches last forever. Square grey concrete flyovers are fking horrible.

[@petersmith9470]

Geordie 848 is spot on with the design and reason for failure. There is an internal heating system and this is why the supports are of that designated design for the pipework. Reports of huge chunks of debris falling off it have been ongoing for decades and now the Redheugh bridge has closed a car park underneath in Pottery lane when a large chuck of a support landed in it.

[@PixPete]

Generally people know the Britain is downtrodden, but it's only when you visit other countries it really begins to sink in just how bad our situation is. Literally everything is crumbling, nothing works anymore, and we've turned into a 3rd world country. Outside of London we are so far behind by a magnitude of DECADES! If everything suddenly turned around tomorrow the country still wouldn't be fixed within my lifetime. The situation is so grim that I do not want to live and work here any more.

[@mickharrison9004]

Very well said and so true they have made our country ,the laughing stock of world beyond belief ,got to be one of the worst country's to live in modern world ,hardly anybody is happy everyone talk to it's not long ,till we start talking about all this country's problems .

[@eddjordan2399]

na iv been to third world countrys dude. we aint there yet. give it another tory governmant.

[@PixPete]

@@eddjordan2399 Me too, I've travelled all over the world and some 3rd world countries actually have better roads than us. The blame lies firmly with Tony Blair and the Tory's for continuing his polices. Socialism and Left Wing Extremism ruins everything it touches, always has in every country.

[@LindaPrescott-x7e]

It is massively rundown iin London too. Well done Kahn and Labour.

[@PixPete]

@@LindaPrescott-x7e Can't even discuss it on here, KZbin keep deleting my comments.

[@simonhainsworth3490]

Another class video. Cheers Eddy. Looking forward to your content in the new year

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@JJNCL345]

As an engineer there's not a chance in hell I would take a council job these days. Huge register of 60s concrete structures that are falling apart, no budget, you bid for money to fix them and get nothing back. Then everyone blames you when it falls apart. I imagine a lot of work is contracted out now at great cost

[@AndyB365]

Im a bus driver and I cannot imagine the barrel of laughs that we'd have if they closed the Redheugh too. Have to start floating the buses because the tarmac over the swing bridge would crumble in a fortnight with extra traffic.

[@keithhigh7773]

@@AndyB365 Well, before bridges how else would you cross the Tyne? What goes around, comes around!!!

[@ColinOldham]

just wait for high winds

[@alun7006]

Emblematic of the state of the UK in general, unfortunately. Decades of neglect and lack of investment, inadequate infrastructure planning to cope with changing needs, and a kick-it-down-the-road mentality. Everything from road maintenance to crumbling and obsolete hospitals to nuclear waste disposal. At least they caught it before it actually collapsed.

[@mecx7322]

Yep, great success, better than in Genova in Italy.

[@gerardskippon3099]

Crumbling Britain, as you've said no one seems to be trying to get things done. But I can't imagine what it would have caused if that supporting pillar had given way. Thank God it was found.

[@finlayfraser9952]

Martin, austerity has starved funds for the upkeep of public infrastructure, not just in Tyneside, but countrywide!

[@TynesideLife]

Who’s Martin? I do make this exact same point in the video but always worth emphasising 👍🏻

[@AD-nx1xd]

BOLLOCKS. LOUSY COUNCILLORS AND OFFICIALS WASTED THE MONEY ALLOCATED FOR MAINTENANCE ON VANITY PROJECTS AND IDIOTS RE-ELECTED THEM FOR IT. YOU. WERE PROBABLY ONE OF THE IDIOTS. I WAS AND SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER HAVING WORKED FOR A NATIONALISED INDUSTRY RUN, AT THE START. BY EX LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICERS!!!

[@Saammmoore]

Funny when you said about the Tyne bridge and the state it’s in, we have a similar situation down the road in Middlesbrough with the transporter bridge

[@neilgregan4643]

Get the lads from Auf Wiedersehen Pet back as they worked on the Teesside's Transporter Bridge .😊

[@roadie4360]

And London with Hammersmith Bridge.

[@darrensmith6999]

I work in Newcastle and the state of the Tyne Bridge is Disgusting are there no on gowning maintenance plans in place ??? The whole bloody country is the same KNACKERED! Roads, NHS ,Armed Forces, Turds in rivers and beaches Jesus we all pay a bloody fortune in Tax WERE DO THEY GO ??? not on infrastructure that's for sure ! Bloody Disgrace!

[@slapshot0074]

Our country just gets more embarrassing every single day doesn't it. What absolute misery for the locals.

[@grahamritchie7755]

Thanks Eddy for the video

[@justkidding9751]

This is what happens when the government takes road tax and spends it on everything but the roads. Yet we continue to hand out billions to so say under developed countries like India, Pakistan and many More. Sick

[@rh2577]

Road tax (VED) hasn't been ringfenced for road maintenance since 1937 it's all paid out of general taxation of which VED forms a part.

[@justkidding9751]

@rh2577 and that's what's wrong with the system

[@TheKurdtcobain]

China????

[@TheKurdtcobain]

China???

[@justkidding9751]

@TheKurdtcobain we still give China £400 million a year.

[@r0sco_1]

Typical Government, very good at finding new ways to spend our money but awful at maintaining existing services.

[@philgray1023]

Spent it on Londoners and Brexit mate.

[@procta2343]

@@philgray1023 i am a sunderland lad, and i have to say, the north east sector gets practically fuck all investment, We only got a new station, due to some top boffin arriving, and saw how bad it was. He said it was the worst in the country. We all been saying that for years.

[@Fran-sf6vh]

Whilst they tried to be cutting edge and modern in the 60s with all the concrete; everyone knows corners were cut with specifications and backhanders given. Any 1960s concrete in Newcastle/Gateshead must give the engineers nightmares.

[@TynesideLife]

Neither the concrete, nor the construction has been the problem, according to the senior structural engineer I spoke to

[@stephenelliott95]

1989 a report was submitted by Gateshead Councils own structural engineers/surveyors raising concerns and nothing was done about it, but instead Gateshead Council had 1990 and the National Garden Festival in its sights while wasting money bringing this to the North East. I saw a lot of money wasted during my tenure with GMBC

[@jonatday]

Council Planners Acheive what the Luftwaffe never did........

[@AS-uy3zx]

Thanks for your take on this.👍 Feel sorry for the people who use the flyover. What a mess.

[@awalk5177]

I often drive to Edinburgh from North Yorkshire and the biggest bottle neck is Newcastle. Now with these recent developments it is very worrying that Newcastle will literally be a blockage to vehicles going between Yorkshire, Durham and Scotland.

[@TynesideLife]

You don’t drive through Newcastle to get to Edinburgh do you? 😅

[@mohatchett8001]

When I did the Great North Run I loved that part, where the crowd were under the bridge on the roundabout cheering us on.

[@nzessmam]

The demolition of the fly over was in the area plan at least 10 years ago possibly longer; but there has never been the funding available to carry it out. It was when funding to councils was being pulled. It’s easy to point the finger but difficult to pull money out of thin air.

[@TynesideLife]

The leader of the Labour council is on record as saying that the funding was secure for the planned demolition of the flyover at the end of this decade. Who in your opinion is to blame for the gradual deterioration to the point of closing it for safety reasons?

[@keithhigh7773]

@@nzessmam Was there a replacement in the Plan?

[@nzessmam]

@@keithhigh7773 if I remember correctly - and it is going back over decade - there was not to be an overhead flyover but a ground level road layout.

[@nzessmam]

@@TynesideLife there was funding programmed years ago but was pulled by central government. So the council has had to go it alone. If I remember right it was to be from a big 15 year central government funded regeneration program. That got pulled in 2008 with the last committed money in about 2011. Lots of projects got put on ice or left part finished. In dire times the council has had to put future non-ring fenced monies towards the priorities. I’m not sure how they identify the priority but I would say the flyover is now definitely one

[@nickcoppard5335]

Pootin has offered to demolish it for free , he can do it at night to avoid inconvenience,

[@To_Travel_We_Must]

Hi Mate, To think I was driving over that flyover in Aug & Sept whilst on holidays, and then to see your report recently, sent shivers down my spine.. Absolutely love the area, We have family both sides of the Tyne and we are always coming back from Down under for holidays.. I got pinged last time driving on the road next to the new arena construction looking for a carpark that no longer exists.. fair to say I copped a fine for that one.. As a tourist, we fell in the trap of not knowing the roads well.. Anyway I digress, Just to say we enjoy watching your channel, love all aspects from footy to history, you could give Horrible Histories a run for their money.. Lol.. Ps just to shake a tree, Glad the old coat hanger is getting a makeover, obviously designed after Sydney's LOL.. Yeah I know mate.. Maybe I got a few roos loose in the top paddock.. LOL.. Eeeh Go onya mate.. keep it up.. Cheers, Jenny & Steve from Maiden Gully, Bendigo Victoria...

[@TynesideLife]

Thank you for the great message 👊🏻👍🏻

[@kw0my827]

Sadly just another example of broken Britain

[@shysociety39]

This government rather spend 5 billion a year on putting illegal migrants in hotels making our towns look more hostile and unsafe its look more like a third world country every day....

[@philgray1023]

It is a disgrace. However not all of Britain is broken. Tower Bridge looks like the day it was built.

[@Westhamsterdam]

@@philgray1023 It depends on material used. Probably the base isn´t made of reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete came after the Victorian era. No doubt the iron gets a paint every 7 years.

[@stevemarks9360]

14 years of Tory corruption will do that!

[@RelaxandChill53]

I’ll never understand how things like the Tyne bridge and other major infrastructure don’t just have an ongoing maintenance pot for upkeep, going begging for money is just ridiculous these things should be in progress constantly what an utter shambles

[@jimmytraveller2970]

the petty cash goes in their pockets

[@garytoner4563]

The problem is always that when money is tight in councils or similar organisations the ' just in case /rainy day fund' for things like this tend to get raided because they'll say 'the bridge is fine this year , we'll borrow this cashpot temporarily and I'm sure there'll be extra next year so we'll just put it back out of next year's budget' but of course they never do.

[@johnkelly1083]

Unfortunately, this is the UK where ongoing maintenance of infrastructure doesn't happen.

[@alisonwilson9749]

@jimmytraveller2970 Go to the police if you have evidence, that is your public duty. Otherwise, don't make up accusations you can't back up.

[@JohnG-x9d]

This is happening elsewhere to similar structures built in the 1960’s. In West London the elevated A4 roadway in Hammersmith and Chiswick have also been crumbling and it’s unclear as to how long the repairs will last. I suspect that neglect and poor maintenance are largely to blame.

[@marlls1989]

Maybe this is a change for better, part of the reason the city centre is so decrepit is because it is isolated from the surrounding residential areas by these pharaonic structures. I hope they remodel the motorway, in a way that connects the city centre with the surrounding areas.

[@dylanmeyer6614]

Thanks for the onsite update. I had to use the replacement bus service while visiting family. Hard to know what is really going on. I did not fully understand why the metro line had closed. Great explanation. I hope the Metro line is cleared for use in the next couple of days for you. On one of my days I visited Sunderland. Never been there before. I am not usually a fan of shopping centres, but the Bridges shopping centre is excellent. I also went for a walk to Roker beach from there. I great day out. I would be interested in you doing a video blog of similar?

[@keithhigh7773]

@@dylanmeyer6614 Next time you get to Sunderland try to visit the National Glass Centre and walk on the glass roof.

[@neiloxley7229]

Traffic seems to flow better from the Felling Bypass to Tyne bridge with the flyover shut.

[@raffaz66]

Apparently, the flyover was built as part of a larger scheme that didn't get completed, and it has always created congestion.

[@diddydave2707]

Great report Eddy better update than the council.

[@TheSpragz]

Corruption corruption corruption. Gateshead council is riddled. Seen it first hand.

[@evanleebodies]

Well, someone has to keep the Hebes happy.

[@NFAQ1]

Oh really? How ?

[@joppadoni]

Glad you are feeling better Eddy. I had no idea there was a problem with this section of road until your video.. Thanks for the video!

[@TynesideLife]

Aye, wiped out for a fortnight with a flu virus 🥴 all the best bud 👊🏻👍🏻

[@joppadoni]

@@TynesideLife You and Helen too. Best wishes for the new year👍

[@cheesemuncher6138]

Does anyone else think that its very strange how quickly Gateshead Council managed to secure the contract for the company to do the underpinning? North East Mayor Kim McGuiness had a meeting with the Transport Secretary and local MP etc on 23rd December, and it was at that meeting that they decided the priority was to get the Metro tunnels open asap. On 27th December the company started work to carry out the underpinning. Given that we had Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in between that is an absolutely remarkable turnaround for a contractor to be given notice to start work.!!

[@Fran-sf6vh]

There will be mitigating circumstances due to imminent collapse. Also, there would be hell on if they had to spend months on an open tender.

[@simonbutterfield6665]

I'll hazard a guess and say that one of the reasons that a contract was secured hastily is because it costs an absolute fortune for the council to provide a metro replacement service. They would have requested this metro replacement service at such short notice that the privately owned bus operators would have gouged the councils eyes out. So if your bus service was missing or cancelled at the last moment now you know why its easy to drop a service 56 or x1 to service a lucrative contract for metro replacements.

[@juliadixon5575]

Gateshead council leaders, especially Gannon, have allowed central Gateshead to become very run down.

[@Dw91-k8n]

Its a shithole like

[@georgearcher5696]

The council are shite

[@22NL22NL]

Great reporting! have a great new year 🎊

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@normanrichardson144]

I remember it being built in the mid-1960s and it destroyed Gateshead High Street at a stroke.

[@heatherboardman7004]

Yea I remember that. Gateshead high street looks a right mess now when I was a kid it was bustling.

[@deanetheridge4259]

Thanks for letting us know Eddie 😊

[@andyreid2773]

The whole thing needs ripping down, the roundabout totally removed and turned into a junction like heworth. To help traffic flow, the rounabout at the top of the civic centre should also be turned into a junction. It is not hard or difficult as both are 4 way, like heworth. However, im sure this council will be able to totally mess things up again and do it wrong. Oh, and lets not forget, the rest of Askew Road that they haven't managed to ruined..... Yet, it is going down to one lane adding to the misery. You really can't make this crap up...!

[@custa73burner]

Nice one mate, another good report.

[@justbobsopinion]

I believe that Gateshead council gained approximately £18 million from central government during covid. Then put cycle lanes everywhere including the Gateshead fly over, where they cause traffic chaos.

[@ibana8449]

Trendy claptrap with public money. Whitley Bay -Tynemouth has them.

[@Trevor_Austin]

I’m a cyclist (and car driver and motorcyclist) and if you are suggesting that cycle lanes are a waste of money I think you are understating the problem. Not only are they a waste of money, most are unusable. They are unclean, full of debris, too short, have constant sharp turns, run too close to pedestrians and as you say, bugger up every other road user. If you want cycle lanes then put them in as shared road, priority cyclist (so no parking etc.) and make the useable.

[@BCCletts]

I cycle or walk for most of my local trips as this is much faster than driving a car Typically during peak hour congestion I & most other cyclists are overtaking around 3000 car drivers per hour & naturally because we move so efficiently using a twelfth of the space that a driver & car takes up there's rarely a traffic jam on a cycle lane & it looks empty even when '000's of cyclists have passed through

[@1951GL]

@@ibana8449 Tynemouth has become a shambles, while Whitley Bay cyclists cycle on any road that does not have cycle lanes. Utter madness.

[@danielbarton9291]

Thank you for reporting the facts and happy new year

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@AnthonySmith-nv7jo]

My answer is enough is enough. Stop voting these people into office, they couldn't give a s**t about you and I.

[@tonyharkness6446]

Stupid comment

[@edeledeledel5490]

What - the Tories? The Tory government controlled how much budgets councils get... austerity, remember. And I wonder what political type of council was hit the hardest when money was being allocated...

[@heatherboardman7004]

@@tonyharkness6446his is it stupid. Both the Tories and now Labour have/are destroying the country. I have heard so many times that Gateshead is a safe Labour seat. The people who keep voting for them then act surprised when they get the same old crap. It has been the same for nigh on 50 years.

[@nwcitroen2222]

@@edeledeledel5490 Quite- the current state of the UK is entirely self-inflicted- 14 years of Tories, the lunacy of Brexit. If only more people realised that the consequences of their votes do in fact impact them just as much as the people they despise.

[@edeledeledel5490]

@@nwcitroen2222 My cousin liked Boris because he made her laugh. That's the short of sh!t that gets the rest of us into trouble.

[@Flynn410]

Glad you’re feeling better mate, great video as usual 👍

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@Yama4646r1]

We’ve gone backwards in construction cheap and nasty couldn’t last 60 years but have Victorian buildings churches cathedrals that were built hundreds & hundreds and some pushing nearly 1000 years ago use proper materials and we wouldn’t have short life span constructions

[@HenrysAdventures]

Interesting video and sorry to hear this. I hope things can be sorted and at least get the Metro running again.

[@waltdisnenycopyright8048]

Im sure that the councillors will be up for a knighthood for failing to maintain the flyover

[@alanscott7798]

Happy New Year Edward. Much love from Mexico.

[@TynesideLife]

All the best 👊🏻👍🏻

[@LorraineRiedlsperger]

They are too busy lining their own pockets. When council executives give themselves a huge pay rise which doesn't coincide with what they do,and the council workers don't get the pay rises they are due to, let's just remember a female council worker getting a promotion and giving herself a massive pay increase before she had done anything, by the way what has she done except line her own pockets with tax payers money. While, everything else crumbles that you have mentioned in your video. ITS A TOTAL DISGRACE.

[@alanmccloy2739]

Thanks Susan.

[@paultranter3285]

There is so much around the north east built in the 60s from concrete that looks like it has concrete disease. I fear there is going to be a major problem with zero funds. The galleries in Washington looks like it's falling apart. As a nation we seem to be atrocious at major civil engineering projects. I'm sure if this was happening near London it would be sorted in no time though.

[@aurumgold9145]

Complete shambles trying to get through Newcastle from my side, great info mate 👍and happy new year 🎉

[@TynesideLife]

🥳👍🏻

[@garybradley2171]

TBF it was in the press years ago that they had their begging bowl out for central government to help deal with it. There are other similar problems with similar age structures all over the country. Back in the day local councils had plenty money to build and maintain stuff like this… that was decades ago.

[@HoggRyan]

The problem is that in the long term, road infrastructure such as this never pays for itself; it is built and then becomes a permanent millstone around the neck for maintenance/repair, draining budgets of councils lumbered with them. What is the economic gain (if any) that the flyover provides? I'll guess that an economic assessment wouldn't make it worthwhile to replace it.

[@garybradley2171]

@ is that an analysis over its 60 year life? Will it take into account the integral part it was supposed to play in a much wider network? TBF Gateshead council talked about removing it years ago and creating a tree-lined boulevard. Until we get London-levels of infrastructure funding we won’t get decent infrastructure… the fact that the only new “class 555” metro train has broken down is just one example.

[@Gillmeister2465]

Cheers for sharing this information Eddie, much appreciated pal 😊

[@vanishingpoint7411]

Another example of Gateshead council incompetence. The old town hall building was to be sold . Fell through due to sale was a scam . They wasted money on other useless road schemes. . Gateshead sold it town centre to Tesco. Left half of Bencham derelict for over a decade . Incapable of keeping the streets clean .

[@philgray1023]

Another example of a comment from a person ignorant of how government works in your own country.

[@vanishingpoint7411]

@ funny , As I worked at Gateshead council ( who sold their refuge site to a French company but can’t keep their own streets clean) And a friend of mine was a counsellor . You’re trying to defend The indefensible . Are you a council troll 🧌? So I’m well aware just how incompetent that council is .

[@procta2343]

@@vanishingpoint7411 sunderland council just like to flatten every bit of history we have, i think English heritage or something, ended up stepping in to save some of the history, the last few years. As the council just don't seem to want to know, and just want to tear it all down. They have just installed a new car park there for the train station, but they tore down a well liked pub, that's part of sunderland's history, rather than flatten the eyesore of a building directly opposite and putting the car park there, like Durham have with their station.

[@kevinbrewis6014]

on about the bridge, myself and four lads went to Las Vegas in 1993, a bloke said hey you lads, I see you have a T-Shirt with the Tyne Bridge on there, class! all recognised with my 1982 toon top on too

[@smorkeyyy9845]

Starving the North of infrastructure funds for decades I think would cause this.

[@driving_all_over]

Great video mate and I agree with you on the council. Given that flyover exists because of the Newcastle motorway plans (the flared bit at its northern end is where it would have become a bypass for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway) and these were cancelled a decade or so after it was built it should have really been removed or had some maintenance done much earlier than this. I want to say it’s a good lesson learned not to leave something for this long but I doubt it’ll be learned. Thank goodness it didn’t collapse before the closure tbh as like you said that could have been catastrophic! If they can’t open the flyover then hopefully they can get it stable enough to open not only the Metro tunnel but also the road underneath it as whilst that won’t eliminate the congestion completely it’ll mean that at least part of the through route will be available again

[@TynesideLife]

👊🏻👍🏻

[@chriswarburtonbrown1566]

Great video as usual Eddie! But people need to understand how shafted local government has been since 2010. There is literally NO MONEY. Several councils (including Tory ones) have gone bust, most are just holding on. The revised funding formula has hit the poorest places, like the north east, the hardest.

[@TynesideLife]

Cheers Chris. Aye, I mention the financial haemorrhaging of councils in the video

[@petersmith9470]

The reason councils have gone busy is due to the pure wastage of accessable excess money in years gone past, when it dried up they took out Lobo and vanilla loans to balance the books and this bankrupted them.

[@rxvvy_]

​@@petersmith9470fundamentally not true. That might have been one factor, but when councils have had reductions of tens to hundreds of millions of pounds of funding over the last decade how can you account for this without services being majorly impacted?

[@RobertMccloud-n7x]

Bits have been falling off the flyover for decades, yet you blame only the past 14 years. How convenient for your narative.

[@joppadoni]

@@RobertMccloud-n7x How the F is that convenient? An what narrative do you think Eddy has?

[@juliadixon5575]

The council leaders need to be held accountable for their negligence in regarding the lack of maintenance on the flyover. Money needs to be spent to fix the flyover, NOT demolish it.

[@adrianrutterford762]

I’ve been getting notifications that the Metro is closed Monument to Heworth. Good to know what’s causing the problem.

[@plantfoot6672]

Metro runs underneath the flyover ,

[@mransom94]

I drove over the flyover 3 days a week to get into Newcastle City Centre until it closed, it was already terrible with the Tyne Bridge refurbishment - I've had to start going over the Redheugh instead with the flyover being closed, and it's going to be horrific.

[@bettyblue6668]

The whole country is falling apart not just the gatesheed flyover..... its embarrassing.....

[@69nisab]

Sad to see this happening. Thankful I don't have to cross the Tyne. Cannot believe how bad the commute will be for some people. Hope it gets sorted quickly. Great video.

[@TheWiseJames]

I live near the flyover. Walk past it every day, it's been a lot quiter if I am honest. Call me selfish. My home is more peaceful. I think it needs to be torn down and the space turned into something that would generate income in the centre of Gateshead to help revitalize it. The whole place needs money and it won't come out of thin air. Should get the lads who manage saltwell park to start managing the greenery and scenery around the town centre. Having a national park level of greenery and life around the town centre would be a good start. Saltwell park always looks smashing all year round. If they can do it, why cant the council? Then there is that football pitch next to the council building in the centre. That could be making money by being a pitch people can rent out to use. Rather than letting nature reclaim it and call it tresspassing if anyone goes on it. Total waste of central city land, has been since covid and they stopped playing football on it.

[@SeanSmith-f3t]

@@TheWiseJames Obviously that won’t happen. They will need the space to build a new road at ground level.

[@TheWiseJames]

@@SeanSmith-f3t There might be better alternatives. If they do build it at ground level. I would accept it. If they made it look nicer lol. Sick of Gateshead looking run down. Least they can do is make the place look nicer

[@SeanSmith-f3t]

@@TheWiseJames They have said in the past they would like a tree lined boulevard. It may look nice but the traffic won’t flow as easily as it did with the flyover.

[@TheWiseJames]

@@SeanSmith-f3t Whatever they do, it needs to be about focusing on the people of Gateshead. Not the traffic. In my humble opinion. Alot of people round Gateshead could do with walking more anyway lol

[@craigcampbell3520]

Excellent as usual, Eddie and more insightful than the local news and The Chronicle. Water, salt, iron and concrete = decay. Can't help but think that the recent spells of extreme rainfall over the past decade or so have contributed too, along with obviously a huge increase in slower-moving traffic and road freight. Question marks perhaps over the original wisdom of channelling surface water through a support pillar? I was going to try to be positive and hope that the powers-that-be seize this opportunity to deliver a project that genuinely improves the transport infrastructure in Gateshead for current and future generations with some actual joined-up thinking and longer-term strategic vision. However, the local councils' funding situation nationally would suggest that any solution here is going to be at best, compromised by cost and at worst, a quick, sticking plaster fix. The quick-fix ironically will improve things in the short term and get the roads moving again but it will just kick the can down the road. A major, major headache this one.

[@TynesideLife]

Great comment Craig ☝️👊🏻👍🏻

[@oumuamua1963]

The government has no money because of innoficient government spending and corruption in the form of incentives and wasteful government contracts, we need open source accountancy for government spending and a department of government efficiency.

[@alun7006]

That's the National Audit Office.

[@StevenHuntington]

The only reason why the flyover was never completed was because they decided to build the Metro instead of upgrading whole of the old A1 to dual carriageway through both Gateshead and Newcastle with a new bridge over the River Tyne directly north of the flyover where The Glasshouse (The Sage) is now.

[@californiadreamin8423]

In the 70’s the government….a Tory government…..increased the maximum weight of Lorry’s , justifying it because they would have an extra axle to distribute the extra load !!! I mentioned this in the office and a very experienced engineer immediately said “ tell that to the bridge supports”. How many times have you seen bridge supports all over the country being reinforced since then. Drainage has caused the problem ? Possibly.

[@davidc2444]

Was that you today near Pelaw metro picking rubbish while walking your dogs? Keep up the good work

[@TynesideLife]

Yeah mate. I litter pick every day when I’m out with the dogs 👊🏻👍🏻

[@JeffGains]

Labour council, let's spend money on cycle lanes instead of maintaining current structures. Not surprised at all, inept

[@philgray1023]

You don't understand how government works do you? Think it through like an adult would.

[@andrewdeans3686]

@@philgray1023 "Government" local and central is run by WEF-Minster and other non-elected and non-accountable bodies. Is that what you mean by 'thinking it through like an adult' ? ? ? ?

[@garytoner4563]

This happened in glasgow . They did a routine check of a main flyover thag carries the m8 motorway through the city around 2019 and it was meant to be an over the weekend tupe thing. Every single support had massive cracks running through them. They immediately had to reduce if from 8 to 4 lanes to begin emergency support works. Its still getting worked on now and they think it might be finished getting repaired some time in 2026.

[@david-bq2sd]

The problem with councils are the managers its about high wages and pensions first services last

[@andrewhowlett3048]

Ever thought about doing a video on Newcastle's old concrete walkways and the derelict area around the old snooker hall Eddie? I'd love that.

[@TynesideLife]

Already covered the old walkways in a ‘5 things about Newcastle’ video I done nearly three years ago 😅

[@lindseyfraser4408]

Thank goodness they have decided to close this off before possible loss of lives. They have had enough time to sort this mind you. Surveys done 5-6 yrs ago said there was a problem ( my mate did the survey ) Gateshead is a mess these days sad times.

[@keithhigh7773]

@@lindseyfraser4408 Collapsing bridges and flyovers seems to be affecting many countries, including America and China.

[@simonmcglary]

60s infrastructure struggling as regards maintenance. Hmm, Forth Road Bridge springs to mind! Understanding of everyone’s frustrations in the area. Think of the almost 30 miles of diversion when the FRB was closed and the chaos that caused!

[@damienwatson9102]

All these people complaining about the state of the roads... at least we have that cycle lane outside the RVI

[@joemckeough4770]

Absolute joke that road. Massive jams and never seen a cyclist yet

[@alexrobinson2281]

Got to keep cyclists happy , it’s called care in the community !

[@colinwatson6420]

Great vid and everything well said, I'm plsd someone has said exactly what needs to be said. That Tyne Bridge condition is a absoliute disgrace. Morso when you think about the revenue generated in parking fees/ fines and this money/ransom from the seizing & charging for road uas ie ULEZ etc. Then there's the millions spent/ wasted on these cycling lanes which to be honest I never noticed a bicycle using. I don't know why the issue of NEGLIGENCE and INCOMPETENCE hasn't been raised ? As a construction worker with decades of experience and certification it was often used against the trades and proscecutions took place by local authorities, yet here we have a possibility bona-fide example .

[@peterallan6354]

I think that they knew about it when the council made it into a cycle route

[@jacquiduffy9726]

That's what we have here at the coast now..endless cycle tracks and potholes..and very few cyclists!

[@arcadia1701e]

It did always amaze me how a 4 lane road was held up by such tiny pillars. They looked very undersized. Now there rotting, they are collapsing fast.

[@loucipher67]

Don't go to Gateshead.... Got it.