Tyne tunnel for pedestrian and cyclists in hands of Tyne & Wear council for 50 years.

Tyne Tunnel for pedestrian and cyclist in 50 years with Tyne and Wear council The Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnels run under the River Tyne between Howdon and Jarrow in Tyne & Wear, England. Opened in 1951, heralded as a contribution to the Festival of Britain, they were Britain's first purpose-built cycling tunnels.[The original cost was £833,000[1] and the tunnels were used by 20,000 people a day They consist of two tunnels running in parallel, one for pedestrian use with a 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) diameter, and a larger 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in) diameter tunnel for pedal cyclists. Both tunnels are 270 m (884 ft) in length, and lie 12 m (40 ft) below the river bed, at their deepest point.The tunnels are over 60 years old and are Grade II listed buildings. Each end the tunnels were originally connected to surface buildings by two escalators and a vertical lift; however, as part of the tunnels' refurbishment, on each side one escalator was replaced with an inclined lift and the remaining escalator was made static, into a staircase. The Waygood-Otis escalators have 306 wooden steps each, and are the original models from 1951.