Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel £10m over budget amid Covid-19 delays

The unfinished refurbishment of the Tyne Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel has gone more than £10m over budget, a report has revealed.

Work was meant to be finished in 2015 but its latest delays have been caused by Italian contractors being unable to return due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will cost about £350,000 to finish work on two new inclined glass lifts.

The North East Joint Transport Committee said it was "working hard" to resolve the issue.

The project's budget was set at £6.9m, but new figures in a report for the committee reveal the total cost of the renovation was at £16.99m on 31 August.

The pedestrian and cycle tunnels, which connect Jarrow and Howdon and are Grade II-listed, reopened in 2019 after being closed for six years.

It was closed recently due to failures with its vertical lifts but was due to reopen on Wednesday.

The report to the North East Joint Transport Committee, which will meet on Thursday, said local officials have been "frustrated at the lack of progress" with the refurbishment this year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It said they had pressured Italian lift engineers Maspero to return but it was "difficult to force them back to site with the quarantine restrictions in place and the workers concerns regarding a 10 week stay in the UK".

Work should have been completed a month after the tunnel reopened in 2019.

Previous delays were blamed on its listed building status, the discovery of asbestos, and original contractor GB Building Solutions going bust.

A spokesperson for the North East Joint Transport Committee said: "Given the rising rate of coronavirus cases across Europe, it seems likely that the return to site will be further delayed until the new year." 

The crossing opened in 1951 at a cost of £833,000 and was once used by thousands of shipyard workers travelling across the river each day.

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