(14 Jul 2013, 9:43 pm)AdamY wrote A major mistake, in my opinion, that was made during that long period of time when the High Level Bridge was being refurbished was reducing the two-way traffic stream to one-way only. It was good that usage was restricted to buses, taxis and emergency vehicles but it would have been even more useful if it had remained two way. Perhaps one of the walkways could have been removed to provide passing places given more room for buses to maneuver. It would have allowed services from the South of the Tyne faster access into Newcastle City Centre.

While we're on the subject of the High Level Bridge and improved access. I would like to see West Street in Gateshead to be reopened for buses for this reason. You could extend this access on the Newcastle side too by converting both St Nicholas Street and the Bigg Market into bus-only sections (two-way) although this would probably prove to be more problematic with the existing traffic flows.

I believe, the main reason that it's only one-way over High Level Bridge is due to the cracks found in the girders during the restoration and the addition of the crash barriers.