Sandringham Drive faces a 12-day closure from 28 September, The Silverlink North shuts evenings from 30 September, and Cullercoats parking changes are proposed.

Getting around Whitley Bay runs on a short list of roads. The A1058 Coast Road into Newcastle, the A191 through Hillheads and Whitley Road, the A193 along the seafront towards Blyth, and the A19 with the Tyne Tunnel for anything south of the river.

This page tracks what is dug up, closed or changed on them right now. It also carries the evergreen facts that stay useful in between: the tunnel toll, station parking and park and ride. Every item comes from the public record, linked as we go.

First, this Sunday: Great North Run day

Sunday 13 September is the Great North Run, the Metro’s busiest day of the year. For crowd control, Jesmond and Manors stations close from 10.30am, Chichester closes from about 1pm, and Haymarket is exit only from 8am to 10.40am (Travel North East). The A19 exit slip roads at Lindisfarne Interchange, the junction for South Shields, close both ways from 9am to 11.59pm (National Highways). Coast line stations run as normal. Full detail in our Great North Run travel story.

The longest closure ahead: 12 days on Sandringham Drive

North Tyneside Council’s September batch of temporary traffic orders, notice dated 25 August, lists two Whitley Bay closures, and one is much longer than anything else on the list (council statutory notice).

  • Sandringham Drive and Wilton Drive, from 28 September, for a period not exceeding 12 days. Sandringham Drive would close from the Earsdon Road junction to the Wilton Drive junction, and Wilton Drive from that junction to outside number 1. The contractor is United Infrastructure. The signed alternative runs via Earsdon Road, Marina Drive, Braemar Gardens and Sandringham Drive.
  • Esplanade Lane and Esplanade Place Lane, from 16 September, for up to one day, behind numbers 39 to 64 Esplanade and 8 to 18 Esplanade Place. The alternative is via the Esplanade and nearby lanes.

Two points of care with these. First, the council says it “intends” to make the orders not less than seven days from the notice, so they are proposed rather than made. Second, closures bite as and when signage indicates, so the yellow signs on the road are the real timetable.

North Shields and Wallsend are on the same notice. Still to come there:

  • Howdon Road Lane, North Shields, from 14 September for up to two days.
  • Howard Street and Tyne Street, North Shields, from 16 September for up to seven days.
  • Simonside Avenue, Wallsend, between Wylam Gardens and Lesbury Avenue, for one day on 21 September.
  • Brewhouse Bank, North Shields, at the Union Road junction, from 22 September for up to two days.
  • Coronation Street, North Shields, on 28 and 29 September.

The early-September jobs on that notice, Kennersdene in Tynemouth and the lane behind Edith Street, have run their course. A separate made order has Shakespeare Street Lane in Wallsend shut from 21 August for around four weeks, so into mid September (council statutory notice).

What is happening in the next fortnight

  • Sunday 13 September, 10am to 2pm: Cliftonville Gardens closes between numbers 1 and 28 for a street event, between the back lanes parallel to Marine Avenue and Eastbourne Avenue (council statutory notice).
  • Regent Centre Metro station’s early evening closures for refurbishment continue, 9pm Monday to Thursday each week until 29 October; the next block runs 14 to 17 September. Trains run through without stopping and replacement bus 901 links Regent Centre and South Gosforth (Travel North East). The coast line itself has no planned closures on the updates page.
  • The A19 north of the Tyne is clear this week. National Highways’ closure report for 11 to 17 September lists no closures at Moor Farm, Killingworth or Dudley; the early-September overnight works there are finished. The nearest scheduled A19 works are nightly slip road closures south of the river at Hylton Grange, Sunderland, 8pm to 6am until 18 September (National Highways closure report).
  • Play street Sundays: the next monthly closures are all on 4 October: Amble Avenue between numbers 31 and 47, 1pm to 5pm (council statutory notice), Westward Green 2pm to 5pm (council statutory notice), and Hillfield 11am to 2pm (council statutory notice).

Proposed parking and speed changes: object by 16 September

The council published a batch of proposed variation orders on 27 August, and the window for objections closes on 16 September (council statutory notice). The local ones:

  • Cullercoats: all of St Oswin’s Avenue would join the CC2 resident permit zone, with 2-hour limited waiting (8am to 6pm, no return within 4 hours) on stretches of the street, and new double yellow lines at its junctions with Station Road and Marden Avenue.
  • Wallsend: David Street, John Street and part of Town Square would join the WD3 permit zone, with new junction protections around David Street.
  • Benton: the 40mph section of the A191 Whitley Road would shrink to the stretch between Station Road and Chollerton Drive, with the rest of Whitley Road dropping to 30mph.

Objections go in writing to democraticsupport@northtyneside.gov.uk by 16 September, and may be published in reports to councillors.

The borough resurfacing programme, until 31 October

North Tyneside Council’s 2026/27 resurfacing programme is the framework behind much of the disruption this autumn. A traffic order in force from 2 August to 31 October 2026 allows full carriageway closures, with signed diversions, on a rolling list of roads (council statutory notice):

  • A191 Hillheads Road, from Beverley Road to the Marden Bridge Middle School roundabout, the roundabout itself, and on to the petrol station exit.
  • A1058 Beach Road, from the Coast Road traffic lights to the cemetery corner at Preston.
  • Norham Road, from Sidmouth Road to the A1058 Coast Road slip road.
  • A191 Whitley Road sections through Longbenton and Benton.
  • A192, from the Hartley Lane junction to Front Street, Earsdon.
  • A193 Blyth Road, on the bend at the caravan park corner near St Mary’s.
  • The Silverlink North, from the Village Hotel entrance to the Silver Fox Way roundabout.

That last one now has dates. The Silverlink North closes 6pm to midnight on 30 September, 1 and 2 October, and again on 5 October for the resurfacing. Stagecoach services 22 and X22 will miss their Silverlink North and Silver Fox Way stops (use Cobalt Park Way by Greggs), and Go North East services 54, 309, 353, 354 and 356 will miss The Silverlink North (use Silver Fox Way or New York Road) (Travel North East).

The order’s wording matters. Closures happen only as and when signage goes up, section by section, not for three months solid. In practice one or two stretches are coned off at a time while the machines move through.

The Tyne Tunnel: what it costs and how to pay

The toll for a car, van or bus under 3.5 tonnes is £2.60. There are no barriers, and you have until midnight the day after you drive through to pay, online, on the app, by automated phone line (0191 574 0030) or in cash at a PayPoint shop (TT2). Forgetting is what generates the penalty letters, so regulars should open a pre-paid account, which also takes 10% off every crossing.

Station parking and park and ride

Driving to the Metro is often the fastest hybrid commute, and on the coast the parking is free (Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, Shiremoor station pages):

  • Whitley Bay: 76 free spaces off Station Square at Victoria Terrace, plus four accessible bays by the taxi rank and 16 cycle-pod spaces.
  • Monkseaton: 22 free spaces off Norham Road, with 20 cycle-pod spaces.
  • Shiremoor: 20 free spaces off Park Lane, with 8 cycle-pod spaces.
  • Northumberland Park is the nearest big paid park and ride: £1.80 a day, chargeable 6am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, free after 5pm and all day Sunday, with £24 four-week and £295 annual permits. Only the ground floor, about 25 bays, is currently open (Metro car parking).
Where to park for the Metro Car park spaces at coast-area stations, August 2026 Whitley Bay (free) 76 Nthmb Park (£1.80/day) ~25 open Monkseaton (free) 22 Shiremoor (free) 20 Source: Travel North East station and car-parking pages, August 2026. Chart by Whitley Bay News.
Chart by Whitley Bay News

What it means for you

  • If you live off Earsdon Road, plan for late September. Twelve days is a long closure for a residential street, and Sandringham Drive is the way many people reach Marina Drive and the Whitley Lodge shops.
  • Take the Metro on Great North Run Sunday, 13 September, and leave early: extra trains run but Nexus expects its busiest day of the year, with queues and crowd control at stations. Do not plan to leave the A19 at Lindisfarne.
  • Park on St Oswin’s Avenue in Cullercoats? The permit zone proposal would change that street’s rules. Objections close 16 September; details and the email address are in the section above.
  • Hillheads Road and Beach Road stay the ones to watch through the autumn. Both are on the resurfacing list and both are how Whitley Bay reaches the Coast Road. When the signs go up, allow ten extra minutes or take the Metro.
  • Cobalt commuters: the Silverlink North evening closures from 30 September start at 6pm, so a normal office departure may meet the cones. Check where your bus is stopping before you leave.
  • Tyne Tunnel users: £2.60, pay by midnight the following day, and a pre-paid account saves 10%. Set the app up once and stop thinking about it.
  • For a day out rather than a commute, the Metro connects the whole coast. Our things to do page is built around it.

Closures and dates change at short notice. The council’s statutory notices page carries its traffic orders as they are made, and National Highways’ closure report and Travel North East’s updates page are the live sources on the day.

Sources

Last updated 12 September 2026. Works move section by section under signage, so treat the lists above as the framework and the signs on the road as the timetable.