Rolling closures hit Hillheads Road and Beach Road until 31 October 2026. This month's roadworks, the £2.60 Tyne Tunnel toll and where Metro parking is free.

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 keeps track of what is dug up, closed or changed on them right now, and carries the evergreen facts, tunnel toll, station parking, park and ride, that stay useful between updates. Every item comes from the public record, linked at the bottom.

The big one: borough-wide resurfacing until 31 October

North Tyneside Council’s 2026/27 resurfacing programme is running now. 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, several of them in and around Whitley Bay (public notice, 17 July 2026):

  • A191 Hillheads Road, from Beverley Road to the Marden Bridge Middle School roundabout, the roundabout itself, and on to the petrol station exit, the road past the ice rink.
  • 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 order’s own wording matters: closures happen only as and when signage goes up, section by section, not for three months solid. In practice that means any given week one or two stretches are coned off overnight or for a few days while the machines move through. If a route above is on your school run or commute, watch for the yellow signs, which give the actual dates.

Smaller closures this month

Two short jobs from the council’s August order (public notice, 24 July 2026):

  • Maple Avenue, Whitley Bay: closed between the Sycamore Avenue and Chestnut Avenue junctions from 27 August, for up to one day, for a sewer camera survey. The signed diversion runs via Chestnut Avenue, Hillheads Road and Sycamore Avenue.
  • Percy Park Lane, Tynemouth: closed from 25 August, up to three days, for a new telegraph pole.

The Metro changes for nine days in August

If the roadworks push you onto the Metro, note that a revised timetable runs across the network from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 August 2026 while the Airport to South Gosforth stretch is closed for major work. Coast trains keep running, but times shift that week (Travel North East travel updates). Our Metro times and fares page has the normal timetable, and it is also the cheap answer while Beach Road is coned: parking at Whitley Bay station is free and a Pop pay-as-you-go single to Newcastle is £2.50.

Heading through Gateshead? Avoid the flyover works

The long-running Gateshead Flyover scheme is in its most disruptive stage: work on the Park Lane roundabout runs from 25 July to 21 August 2026, and the advice from Travel North East is to avoid the area if you can (travel update, 6 August 2026). The Five Bridges roundabout has reopened. For coast drivers this mostly matters on trips to the Metrocentre or the A1 south; going via the Tyne Tunnel dodges it.

On the A19 itself, National Highways’ closure report listed no planned closures for 7 to 13 August 2026 on the route (road closure report), though weekend overnight work appears at short notice, so check it before a late drive south.

The Tyne Tunnel: what it costs and how to pay

The evergreen fact every North Tyneside driver needs: the Tyne Tunnel toll for a car 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 (TT2).

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. Note that 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

  • Hillheads Road and Beach Road are 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.
  • Tyne Tunnel users: £2.60, pay by midnight tomorrow, and a pre-paid account saves 10%. Set the app up once and stop thinking about it.
  • The week of 15 to 23 August, double-check Metro times before relying on them.
  • 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 public notice portal carries the council’s 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 8 August 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.