The North East mayor has announced almost £15 million worth of funding to upgrade hundreds of bus stops, carry out a major revamp of two busy city roads, and modernise a County Durham bus station.
Plans unveiled by Kim McGuinness on Thursday include enhancements to 325 bus stops across Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.
£7.1 million will be used on measures including the replacement of brick, stone and metal shelters dating back to the 1970s, as well as new lighting, seats, timetable information, wider pavements, and raised kerbs.
Ms McGuinness, who has previously backed the installation of hundreds of new bus shelters in villages and towns across County Durham, said: “I promised in my manifesto we would put in new bus shelters in streets and neighbourhoods right across the region, and now we’re going to do that in places like Winlaton and Birtley, Dudley, Doxford and Hebburn.
“The local bus stop is where we all start our bus journey and this £7m investment will mean safer, brighter and more accessible places to wait for the tens of thousands of people who use the bus.”
It is expected that the new shelters will be installed between May 2026 and March 2027.
None of the funding will go to Newcastle, as the city’s shelters are managed through a commercial advertising concession rather than by Nexus.
Elsewhere, the mayor is also giving £4.9 million to Sunderland City Council for a package of works on the A183 Chester Road and A690 Durham Road.
Previous plans for bus lanes on the two busy routes were dropped last year following a public backlash, but there are other changes planned in both areas.
The final vision includes modern bus shelters along both routes, and resurfaced roads and paths.
On Chester Road, new traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing will be introduced at the Hastings Hill roundabout to replace the existing underpass. Improved road markings at the Grindon Mill roundabout are also planned.
And on Durham Road, the council will install a traffic light pedestrian crossing outside Bede College Campus and a zebra crossing outside Sunderland Children’s Centre.
Labour councillor Lindsey Leonard, the city council’s cabinet member for transport, said work could start in the spring or early summer.
She added: “The investments reflect what people said in the consultation about improvements for all highways users from new signalised pedestrian crossings at Hastings Hill and on Bede Bank to updated bus shelters.”
Finally, a further £2.5 million has been earmarked for a complete redesign of Stanley Bus Station by spring 2027.
The entrance to the station will be reconfigured to make it more open, while there are also plans to upgrade to digital and interactive passenger information displays, install new seating and a designated wheelchair area, and refurbish its toilets. New lighting, CCTV, and flooring is also proposed.
Reform UK councillor Tim McGuinness, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for rural, farming and transport, said the funding would “go a long way to helping us bring vital improvements to Stanley Bus Station so it can better serve residents and visitors”.
He added: “These works will bring improved safety and better accessibility meaning more passengers will be able to use the station more easily.”
