The end of almost two years of roadworks misery on one of Newcastle's busiest routes is finally in sight.
From 6am on Monday, drivers will at long last be able head down Killingworth Road on their morning commute once again.
The 10 things that have happened since Killingworth Road closed almost two years ago 7 amid a heavily-delayed £13.5m project to widen the road and install a new Metro bridge that should have been completed more than a year ago.
But it will be opening - albeit only to southbound vehicles, as well as pedestrians and cyclists - on Monday, before two-way traffic can use the route from mid-July.
After being given a sneak peak of the route on Friday morning, Newcastle City Council transport chief Arlene Ainsley says she expects the finished works to deliver "incredible" results.
Coun Ainsley said: "I can't even explain how impressed I am by it, it is absolutely brilliant and I am sure that once the road is fully open later in the summer, residents from all over will benefit from the changes we have made. It is going to be incredible.
"It has been a very long time in the making but I really do believe that the gains we will be taking forward will really be of benefit to everyone."
10 things that have happened since Killingworth Road closed almost two years ago
Before the road - part of the A189 in South Gosforth - closed it was used by up to 20,000 vehicles a day, with a further 9,000 using Salters Bridge, which will remain shut until Killingworth Road fully re-opens.
The complex works should have been completed by February 2018, but the scheme has been plagued by a string of setbacks - with the council and Northern Gas Networks blaming the discovery of asbestos, a "labyrinth of utility pipes and old infrastructure" beneath the city, bad weather and land slippage for repeated delays.
North Tyneside MP Mary Glindon recently attacked the council's "total incompetence" and "disregard" for residents, demanding an investigation into what has gone wrong.
But even the highly-anticipated end of the Killingworth Road nightmare will not mark the close of major roadworks in that part of the city.
Work on a reconfiguration of the Haddricks Mill roundabout is due to start in earnest in the coming weeks, while final designs for a revamp of the Blue House Roundabout are also set to be revealed this summer.
Coun Ainsley, the local authority's cabinet member for transport and air quality, added: "It is a long time coming and the delays with Killingworth Road have held the other projects [Haddricks Mill and the Blue House Roundabout] up.
"But we are here at the end of the Killingworth Road project now and we are starting Haddricks Mill, which is going to provide tremendous improvements again, and then we will look to the Blue House. That will smooth traffic right across the city once all of those junctions are upgraded."
Monday's partial re-opening will mean some changes to bus routes on Arriva 54, X7 and X8 services travelling towards Newcastle.
The 54 will revert to its previous route via West Farm Avenue, Salters Lane, and Killingworth Road between Quorum and South Gosforth.
The X7 and X8 will also go back to their old routes towards Newcastle via Balliol, Salters Lane and Killingworth Road between Qourom and South Gosforth.
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