Park and ride for free on 1 and 8 June

Council's park and ride service will operate for free on Friday 1 and Friday 8 June to help commuters get to work on time as disruption due to light rail construction reaches its peak.

Regular park and ride users are on track to save more than $1,000 annually by using the service. It's easy to park, ride and relax - just park your car at McDonald Jones Stadium and hop the convenient shuttle into the CBD.

Try it out on one of our free Fridays, and you can also receive a free coffee on Friday 1 June. Revitalising Newcastle's Street Team will be on site at the stadium from 7.30am-9am to give out vouchers for a free coffee from Darks Coffee Roasters.

Stewart Avenue will be closed over the next three weekends as part of light rail construction, with crews working around the clock to ease the impact of closing the busy road.

"We are working closely with Revitalising Newcastle to help commuters get to work with minimum disruption. Our park and ride service is an easy way to start and end your day that saves commuters time and more than $1,000 annually in parking costs," said Council CEO Jeremy Bath.

"Park and ride will operate for free the next two Fridays - 1 and 8 June - and this will coincide with significant traffic diversions and road closures in the city centre. Another option for CBD commuters is our Number 2 sportsground car park behind Marketown at just $6 for the entire day."

The work at Stewart Avenue marks the last few metres of road to be removed for light rail construction, with excavators then being replaced by pavers. Once this work is complete the community will start to see parts of Hunter Street open with improved traffic flow.

Stewart Avenue will be closed for construction from:

• 9:30am Friday 1 June to 5am Monday 4 June
• 7pm Thursday 7 June to 5am Tuesday 12 June (long weekend)
• 7pm Friday 15 June to 5am Monday 18 June.

Detours will be in place onto Hunter Street for northbound traffic and to Albert Street via Hannell Street for southbound traffic.

Changes to Park and Ride service until Thursday 7 June

The intersection at Watt and Scott streets is closed until Thursday 7 June, so during this time the park and ride service is unable to drop off or pick up at Customs House, Queens Wharf or Honeysuckle. The park and ride bus will loop around Bolton Street and return back to the stadium via King Street.

Park and Ride service details

Buses run weekdays from McDonald Jones Stadium every 15 minutes from 7am to 9am, with CBD stops designed to deliver you within a few minutes' walk of anywhere in the CBD. Buses make the return trip from the CBD to the stadium every 15 minutes from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

New to park and ride?
Just register your details and we'll issue you a park and ride voucher for your windscreen.

Our park and ride service is normally $2.20 per day and you can download our new smartphone app to quickly and easily make the payment. More information: newcastle.nsw.gov.au/parkandride