Commuter choas on road and rail

Oct 24 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

EMERGENCY services are investigating after two crashes brought rush-hour chaos to the North East yesterday morning. Commuters were stuck in jams described as “horrendous” after the accidents on separate sections of the A1.

One 10-mile stretch of the A1 suffered tailbacks that did not clear completely until 11.30am.

The first accident happened just after 5am, when a car and a lorry collided and burst into flames just south of the roundabout at West Denton, Newcastle, where the A1 meets the A167 Stamfordham Road.

No-one was hurt in the accident, but more than 80 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze which sent thick black smoke billowing above the carriageway.

It took an hour to bring the fire under control and a clean-up operation was launched to clear diesel on the carriageway.

The northbound carriageway of the A1 was closed for more than three-and-a-half hours between the A69 and the A696 Ponteland Road. It re-opened at 8.45am. The southbound carriageway was reduced to one lane, to allow for diversions between 5.30am and 6am. Massive tailbacks affected traffic on the surrounding roads, including West Road, the A69 and the A191.

A spokeswoman for Tyne and Wear fire service said: “The call came in at 5.14am and we were there by 5.23am. Crews have worked to remove debris from the road.”

The mayhem was followed by a second crash at 8.30am in the northbound lane of the A1 near Gateshead’s MetroCentre. The collision left traffic queuing as far back as the junction with Park Terrace, Dunston. The two accidents had wide-spread implications for commuters across the city. Motorists headed towards the Tyne Tunnel in a bid to avoid hitting city centre congestion, causing queues into South Shields that lasted more than one-and-a-half hours. It took until 11.30am for the congestion to clear.

Ian Sutherland, the assistant area manager of national traffic experts Trafficlink, said: “The congestion was horrendous. The accident had a knock-on effect around the city, especially at the Tyne Tunnel where people were trying to avoid the congestion.”

Meanwhile, early morning commuters using the Metro system suffered disruption for the third day in a row. Problems with cabling in the Gateshead Stadium area caused delays throughout the system with hold-ups of around 30 minutes at some stations. Metro operator Nexus warned passengers to be prepared for fewer and busier trains as staff worked to replace around a kilometre of faulty cabling.