As work continues on the development of the new HMRC office building in Newcastle's Pilgrim Street, Newcastle City Council has confirmed how road closure arrangements will change from next Monday (August 8).
Since the work began, Pilgrim Street has been closed to traffic to enable construction workers and vehicles to access the site - which was previously used as Newcastle's outdoor food and drink venue Stack. Now alterations to the road closures will see Pilgrim Street reopen, but other nearby roads shut as the building process enters a new phase.
Pilgrim Street will reopen to all vehicles in both directions between New Bridge Street West and Market Street - however there will only be one southbound lane, rather than two. The adjacent Market Street will close though. Traffic will be stopped in both directions between Pilgrim Street and John Dobson Street. This is to allow work on the south side of the new development.
Read more: See the huge change £155m HMRC offices will bring to Newcastle city centre
To mitigate for the impact of closing Market Street, the one-way traffic at Worswick Street will be reversed. This means traffic will travel eastbound from Pilgrim Street towards Carliol Square.
As for public transport users, bus passengers should note that southbound bus stops on Pilgrim Street will remain closed. This is because the pavement on this side of the street will remain inaccessible to pedestrians. While Market Street is closed, buses will instead stop in Worswick Street.
The taxi ranks on Hood Street will reopen, too - with the temporary rank in Worswick Street removed. The reopening of Pilgrim Street also means that service and delivery vehicles leaving the bottom end of Northumberland Street can return to their normal route. There will be revised loading restrictions in Worswick Street.
The council has advised that the temporary changes will be in place as long as the development requires. The construction work to build HMRC's new office development, which will see thousands of jobs relocated into Newcastle city centre, began in May.
It has already seen Commercial Union House - which towered over Pilgrim Street - demolished. The £155m new Pilgrim's Quarter development will see 9,000 HMRC jobs in the city centre and is Newcastle's biggest ever office development.
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