(15 Dec 2024, 10:03 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Opening up the Askew Road Bus Gate to all traffic will not only have major impact on buses but general traffic on the Tyne Bridge approach too - the very reason Askew Rd east was made bus only in the first place.

To be fair I'd reopen it now but totally rejig the rest of the network.

What they need to do asap, is turn the whole of Gateshead into one gyrotory like the below, with the red bits being buses only:


It means you'd have all the traffic going in the same direction and kill of numerous crossing points including at the Tyne Bridge which would effectively become free flow onto the bridge since all the cross movements are now removed.

It just couldn't be done in the past because of where the flyover ended.

The likes of the X24/X34, 93/94 will have to find a longer route but they'll benefit by the area around The Sage no longer becoming a rat run as it brings you back to square one.

Is the tyne bridge works effecting buses crossing it? i know that may seem like a silly thing to say but i hadn't noticed any delays until Saturday when they numpties at GO NORTH EAST decided to turn an HOURLY SERVICE at gateshead leaving a lot of people stranded! A simple call to the x21 or x that were at eldon square telling them to tell CUSTOMERS to jump on and get the bus from Gateshead would have don but no they left their VALUED CUSTOMERS standing for an hour plus!!!

(15 Dec 2024, 10:03 pm)e14ne1 wrote Opening up the Askew Road Bus Gate to all traffic will not only have major impact on buses but general traffic on the Tyne Bridge approach too - the very reason Askew Rd east was made bus only in the first place.

Yep, and it's an extremely regressive step. Even with the Tyne Bridge part closure, the bus lanes in and out of Gateshead and across the Tyne, have been functioning brilliantly. I'm rarely delayed on the bus in to town, whilst colleagues are (or were!) sat on the Gateshead flyover for ages. 

It'll be gridlocked for cars, especially on Charles Street, but most motorists will still sit there like lemmings, whatever you try and do. It'd be a good opportunity for them to try public transport.

From what I've observed today via Bustimes, most of the X1s and 56s have made it in and out of Newcastle unscathed. Which I guess is as good an argument as any for keeping all the bus priority in place!