The looming demolition of the Gateshead Flyover will have no impact on this year’s Great North Run, it has been confirmed.
Gateshead Council is planning to start tearing down the closed A167 flyover in the autumn – a move which could have created a potential headache for the famous half marathon.
The Great North Run course briefly takes tens of thousands of runners under a section of the flyover, which has been shut to all traffic since last December due to structural concerns, as they turn left off the Gateshead Highway and head towards the Felling Bypass.
But bosses say that the demolition works will not begin until after this year’s race, which will be held on Sunday, 7 September, meaning the Great North Run will not have to divert from its traditional route.
Speaking six months on from the flyover’s closure, a spokesperson for the Great Run Company said: “We work closely with local stakeholders including Gateshead Council and its highways team throughout the event planning process each year. The council has assured us that demolition works on the Gateshead Highway will only commence after the Great North Run on Sunday, 7 September, so the race can go ahead as normal.”
The Park Lane roundabout which forms part of the Great North Run course has remained open despite the problems with the flyover, allowing traffic to keep flowing between Gateshead and Newcastle.
However, the section of road running directly beneath the flyover between the Park Lane and Five Bridges roundabouts has been shut.
Gateshead Council service director Iain Burns told the authority’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee on Monday: “With specific regard to the Great North Run, we are liaising with the Great North Run company. It certainly wont be affected or impacted, is what we are working towards. So, we are liaising with all relevant agencies who are in consideration in and around that area.”
Cllrs were told this week that initial works to prepare for the removal of the 1960s-built structure are set to be carried out in the coming weeks, before the demolition itself commences in September.
