First phase of Queen Victoria Road improvements nears end

Overnight road closures this August as upgrades to key city route due to finish ahead of schedule.
Image
A wide-angled view of the junction between Queen Victoria Road and Richardson Road in Newcastle.

People are being advised that resurfacing work will be taking place on a key city centre route over the coming weeks.

The work will be carried out, starting from Sunday 28 July, on Queen Victoria Road as part of ongoing improvements being completed by Newcastle City Council.

This includes the introduction of new pedestrian crossing points and a two-way cycle track to make it easier and safer for people walking, wheeling and cycling in the area.

New traffic signals on Queen Victoria Road, at the junction with Richardson Road, have already been installed as part of the works. 

These new signals will ensure sufficient time is allowed for pedestrians to cross safely and are linked up to the city’s central traffic management system to enable better coordination of traffic movements.

The resurfacing work is one of the final elements of this first phase of the improvements programme, which is due to be completed ahead of schedule.

The city council is now considering how best to bring forward the second phase, which will involve further improvements at the junction with Claremont Road. The current temporary one-way restriction on Queen Victoria Road will remain in place at this time.

People are advised that during the surfacing works, temporary traffic signals and temporary road closures will be required.

  • Footway surfacing works will take place over two weeks between Sunday 28 July and Thursday 8 August. This will require temporary traffic signals and the one-way system that is currently in place on Queen Victoria Road will continue to operate.
  • Carriageway surfacing works will then be carried out between Sunday 11 August and Thursday 22 August. This will require temporary road closures with signed diversion routes in place wherever possible.

Cllr Marion Williams, Cabinet member for a Sustainable City at Newcastle City Council, said: “Work on this improvement scheme has progressed very well and is due to be completed ahead of schedule, which is good news for the travelling public, local residents and particularly for staff, patients and visitors at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

“The surfacing works will result in some further unavoidable disruption to journeys overnight but thankfully this does mean we are approaching the final stage of this phase of works and we will be making every effort to keep noise and disruption to a minimum.

“This is a busy and important city centre route and road safety for all users is paramount. I would like to thank everyone for their continued patience while we complete these improvements.”

All surfacing works are weather dependant and are planned to take place Sunday to Thursday between 7.30pm and 7am.

Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times and cyclists are asked to follow signed diversion routes or dismount and walk along adjacent footways.