A few weeks back the Hoppings arrived to take over the Town Moor, not just the biggest funfair in Newcastle but one of the biggest in Europe regularly attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. For those of us in Gosforth, there’s an added bonus that it is practically on our doorstep.

In this blog we look at transport-related issues raised by this year’s event and hope that everyone involved in its organisation, including The Freemen, Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police, will learn and improve so that next year’s Hoppings can be safe and accessible for all visitors.

“No parking on verges”

Despite the many signs, many vehicles were parked on the footpath and grass next to The Great North Road, in some cases right next to the signs saying no ‘parking on verges’.

In some places the pavement, which is a shared footpath / cycleway, was almost completely blocked by parked vehicles.

To quote from the Council’s website: “Parking on pavements can also cause serious problems for people who have walking difficulties, people who are blind or visually impaired, wheelchair users and people pushing prams and buggies“

Also, for event organisers, “The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 gives disabled people equal rights to attend, participate in and enjoy organised events. Event organisers could face legal challenges from disabled people unable to access an organised event.“

Similar problems occurred on Grandstand Road, with drivers just ignoring the cones laid out to say no parking. In the distance you can see a cone that has been moved from the road onto the grass.

In our research for our response to the Police and Crime Commissioned consultation we found that “the risk of detection [by Police] as perceived by road users is generally held to be the most important factor in achieving successful deterrence” 

Northumbria Police were present at the Hoppings but completely ignored the obstructed pavements, despite having patrols walking along The Great North Road right past where vehicles were parked.

Parking on the Town Moor

The Hoppings did provide a car park for visitors arriving by car, with plenty of space, but this didn’t come without issues.

Vehicles exiting the Hoppings are directed to leave via the gate at the far side of the Town Moor onto the Central Motorway. This means, frequently fast-moving, vehicles on the Town Moor tracks that are normally traffic-free. 

Photo from 2022

Further along, drivers are directed to use the tarmac tracks by Exhibition Park, which are also the (usually traffic-free) route from Gosforth to the park via the Town Moor used by families and dog-walkers.

It is clear from the photo below that some drivers completely ignored the signs and drove straight across the Town Moor.

There also an incident where a man’s leg was broken by a van driver. According to the Chronicle Article “A white Vauxhall van which was being driven by a showman crashed into him and ran over his left leg and arm” while the victim was “was sat on grass enjoying the atmosphere and entertainment.”

The victim said “[The driver] went over my left leg and left arm, stopped and reversed back over me.”

Despite this, and without explanation, Northumbria Police released a statement saying officers were “satisfied it was an accident and no criminal offences had been committed.” 

A driver "crashed into him [the victim] and ran over his left leg and arm". @northumbriapol "were satisfied it was an accident and no criminal offences had been committed."

Eh? https://t.co/Ne9WjbUmYD

— space for gosforth (@space4gosforth) June 20, 2023

Event Management

The City Council issued a statement prior to the Hoppings saying they, Northumbria Police and NE1 were putting on extra staff to deter anti-social behaviour, but this appears – other than a few ineffective signs – to have completely overlooked anti-social behaviour related to event parking.  We hope the Safe Newcastle partners will learn from this. 

The Hoppings is back! 🎠🎡

We will be joining partners in deploying extra staff to ensure everyone enjoys themselves and stays safe

Find out more 👉 https://t.co/TMP4cgbpJq pic.twitter.com/wgghUJOzk4

— NewcastleCityCouncil (@NewcastleCC) June 16, 2023

We also hope that in future years there is a much greater emphasis on enabling people to attend the Hoppings without needing a car, consistent with the City Council’s plans to make “healthy active choices such as cycling and walking a first choice for everyone.”  

Many people did use the bus or Metro but, from what we saw, there was little promotion of either option. Nor was there any obvious engagement with Neuron eScooters. 

Likewise, we don’t believe there was any cycle parking nor any alternative route for anyone wanting to cycle east to west across the Town Moor.

I couldn't get to it because of all the cars parked in the cycle lane!

— Fat Lad (@geordiedashcam) June 27, 2023

Notes & Links

The Town Moor is required by legislation to be maintained as an “open space in the interests of the inhabitants of the city… to afford air and exercise for the enjoyment of the public”. It may also be used for exhibitions or entertainment like the Hoppings. 

Safe Newcastle “is a partnership working together to help make Newcastle a safe city to live and work.” Safe Newcastle covers a range of issues including hate crime and domestic abuse, but does not include traffic crime in its list of priorities despite there being over 3,000 injuries from road traffic collisions in Newcastle since 2018, including 26 deaths.

According to the Newcastle City Council website, all major events in Newcastle should have an Event Plan, which should include the management of transport and parking and how to keep people safe.

Newcastle City Council website links:

• Pavement Parking
• Events Guidance   
• Events Plan
• Additional patrols at The Hoppings to keep visitors safe
• Transport Improvements 

The post Hoppings Traffic Management appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

North Tyneside Council have recently completed a short 10 day consultation on options for regeneration of Station Road North in Forest Hall. Forest Hall is within easy cycling distance of Gosforth, only 15 minutes from South Gosforth Metro, though currently cycling to Forest Hall from Gosforth requires the use of a number of busy and unpleasant roads. It is also likely that anyone from Forest Hall seeking to drive into Newcastle City Centre would travel through both the South Gosforth Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and the City Centre AQMA.

The consultation states that the proposals “have been developed in response to feedback from ward members who highlighted certain issues within the area – the need for more parking, traffic calming measures, upgrading of the paving materials, replacement street furniture to create a pleasant area for visitors” and that the main choice is between a traditional option [above] or a contemporary look and feel.

According to the Chronicle, the budget for this scheme is £500,000.

SPACE for Gosforth submitted the following general feedback about the scheme with suggestions to improve the public realm and access to shops and local businesses.

Dear sir/madam,

We are writing in relation to the Forest Hall Regeneration Proposals, which North Tyneside Council are currently consulting on, and would like to provide some feedback based on our experience looking at similar issues in the Gosforth area. We understand that as we don’t live in Forest Hall our comments will carry less weight than those that do live nearby however we still hope that we may provide some useful input.

Broadly, we support the scheme aims to re-allocate space to pedestrians and cyclists, to create open spaces, create a more inclusive environment and increase business use. There are a number of aspects to the scheme that  support these aims including:

• new benches
• new cycle stands
• enlarging the pavement and
• adding tactile paving to crossings.

We also support the changes that will help calm traffic and make it safer to walk or cycle by encouraging slower vehicle speeds through the area including the removal of central line markings and the raised table at the junction with station road.

We believe however that there are further opportunities for improvement that could also be made in support of the stated aims and which would require little or no additional investment. These are set out in the attached diagram and in the text below.

SPACE for Gosforth improvement suggestions

1. Parking

We understand that parking is an important consideration for any retail centre and why the Council may wish to consider adding additional capacity. This does mean however that space that was allocated to pedestrians has been lost, apparently in opposition to the scheme’s aims. A quick look at the local map suggests that actually there is a considerable amount of parking in the vicinity, both in the centre itself and in nearby streets, and that little of this is restricted. On that basis we suggest that before any additional spaces are created, and pavement space lost, further analysis is undertaken to confirm that such demand exists and cannot be met through demand management as set out in the North Tyneside Parking Strategy. This might include improvements to walking and cycling facilities or changes to parking regulations.

It will also be useful to consider experience from elsewhere, including locally in Jesmond, where footfall has increased following public realm improvements enabled by the removal of parking spaces. https://www.bikebiz.com/retail/increased-footfall-convinces-hardware-store-owner-to-support-cycling

We also note that Google Maps shows Briar Edge, which has unrestricted parking, as having cars parked blocking the pavement making pedestrian access harder. Addressing this would improve pedestrian access to the shops. 

Google Maps showing Briar Edge

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.0224211,-1.5686597,3a,37.5y,144.26h,81.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFgpwxE8cmw-XGbGLIXYDzw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

2. Improvement for Walking

As shown in the attached diagram the biggest potential improvements are likely to be gained

1. in tightening corners to reduce crossing widths and making crossing safer due to slower traffic speeds, including at the east end of Station Road North.
2. by implementing continuous pavements across junctions to Burn Avenue and the private car park next to Sainsburys, similar to that proposed here for Gosforth High Street: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/pedestrian-priority/
3. restricting vehicle access on Burn Road to create further pavement space
.
4. address local access issues due to pavement parking
.
5. removing unnecessary pedestrian guard rails.

3. Improvement for Cycling

Making cycling improvements has also been shown to improve business performance, for example as summarised here: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/bike-business/ We note that North Tyneside Council’s draft cycling strategy states that “cycling is considered as part of all highway and regeneration projects and any new infrastructure is in line with best and emerging good practice.”  https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/sites/default/files/web-page-related-files/Cycling%20Strategy%20Draft.pdf

Best practice in these circumstances would require the provision of traffic-free cycle paths usable by all ages and abilities and we have sketched out a potential layout in our attached diagram. For Lansdowne Road we note that the Council has proposed one-way access heading south to north. Our suggestion would be to reverse this but also to allow contraflow cycling via a parking-protected cycle lane.

Any changes at this location should also have due regard to North Tyneside’s future Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). According to LCWIP technical guidance Station Road, in particular the crossing over the railway line, is likely to be a major route connecting the communities that live either side of the railway line and providing onwards access to Killingworth, Longbenton and into Newcastle. We have written about this in relation to Gosforth here: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/gosforth-safe-cycling/

4. Public Realm

By restricting vehicle access on Burn Avenue and retaining pavement space rather than adding additional, and possibly unnecessary parking spaces, this creates additional space which might for example be used for:

1. additional planters in the entrance to Burn Avenue
2. up to seven additional trees on the south side of Station Road North
3. additional cycle parking locations and
4. further additional seating, including potentially for street cafes similar to Hawthorn Road in Gosforth.

5. Other considerations

The other key issue left unaddressed by the current plan is the footbridge connecting the shopping centre with Albany Avenue which isn’t compliant with the Equality Act 2010 due to its steep steps. Improving this link will help those living west of the railway line to access local shops and businesses. We have written about a similar situation on the Great North Road in Gosforth: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/great-north-road-proposed-toucan-crossing/

Forest Hall Railway Footbridge – Picture from Google Maps

We hope you will consider these suggestions as we feel there is an significant opportunity to improve the Forest Hall area and attract more people to use local shops on foot and by cycle, and to make it a more pleasant environment for everyone.

More widely, we hope that North Tyneside Council will look to implement further improvements to walking and cycling to give North Tyneside residents the best possible choice of travel options and to address air quality and other public health concerns.

Kind regards,

SPACE for Gosforth.
www.spaceforgosforth.com

The post Forest Hall Public Realm appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Poor air quality is well known for its ability to make people ill and to shorten lives and has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and dementia. You may have heard of Alive After Five, the late night shopping initiative in Newcastle City Centre that has free parking as a major feature to attract shoppers.  SPACE for Gosforth has had a long-standing concern that driving is the only means of transport being promoted for access into the city at this time and that this is contributing to illegal levels of air pollution in Newcastle City Centre.

SPACE wrote to Newcastle NE1 Limited (the Business Improvement District) in July 2017 and again in September 2017 about these concerns. As of the date of publishing this blog we have received no reply.  This has led us to launch our new campaign – Alive After 65 – Live Long with Clear Air – that calls on NE1 and Newcastle City Council to promote access to our City Centre by ways that will not endanger people’s health.

In our last blog, we shared Newcastle’s official air quality monitoring for 2016 which showed illegal levels of air pollution across the City Centre and South Gosforth Air Quality Management Areas.

Newcastle, like other cities with illegal air quality, has been required to meet air pollution limits in the shortest possible time or potentially face financial penalties. Two of the most effective means of doing this, according to Newcastle City Council’s 2017 Air Quality Annual Status Report (due to be published here) are:

1. Restricting access to AQMAs for highly polluting vehicles (measure 12) and
2. Use of car parking charges to encourage alternatives to car use (measure 22).

By the same logic, cheap or free parking such as is currently provided in the city centre, without any restriction on the most polluting vehicles, is likely to make air pollution worse. So why, given the City Centre and South Gosforth AQMAs are almost ten years old and air quality is still breaching legal limits, is there a policy to subsidise car parking out of Council funds?

Advert for Alive After Five free city centre parking

According to the NE1 Business Improvement District (NE1BID)  funding proposal (p44) Newcastle City Council parking subsidies for Alive After Five between 2014 and 2019 will amount to £400,000 in addition to £825,000 from the BID.

Based on NE1BID’s visitor estimates however, the subsidy, funded indirectly by shoppers and residents, could be significantly more. 13.7m visitors over 7 years suggests the subsidy is based on a very low total parking charge of less than 13p per visitor or 21p per car (see footnote for calculation).

A three hour advanced booked parking space at NCP Newcastle John Dobson Street by comparison would cost £6 (advance purchase). Based on this commercial parking rate the Council subsidy could be as high as £16.4m over five years rather than £400k. This is money that could be spent on reducing air pollution, or on essential services if air pollution is no longer an issue.

For example, this money could be used to subsidise bus and Metro travel into the City Centre in the evening to encourage people to use public transport rather than private vehicles. We’ve helpfully updated the Alive After Five advert to show what this approach focused on clear air and better health would look like.

Alternatively, this money could be used to pay for cleaner buses, to improve walking or cycling facilities or to grit cycle routes in winter so that people who wish to can reliably ride into the city.

There is no reason why initiatives such as these should not encourage even more people to visit Newcastle city centre, especially now that the evening economy is well established. At the same time they would also help improve air quality in the city and reduce the financial burden of ill health caused by poor air quality that we all pay for through taxes, currently estimated at twenty billion pounds per annum for the UK as a whole.

Barras Bridge traffic for a Christmas special event in 2016 blocking access for buses.

The Costs of Free Parking

Studies of the consequences of free parking show that even without the impact on air quality there are issues with this approach. Not having a price to limit demand leads to queues (just like traffic jams on free-to-use roads) and a poor customer experience because spaces are hard to find. It also leads to more traffic caused by people driving around looking for spaces and because it is cheap to visit multiple times rather than shopping once for multiple items, or car-sharing with friends.

It also encourages low spending visitors to use up parking spaces at the expense of visitors who might spend more, and for visitors to stay longer preventing others who might want to shop from using the same parking space. Free parking, rather than being the cause of additional spending in the city, could be putting off exactly those people businesses want to attract.

Poor air quality itself is a risk to City Centre businesses. Who wants to visit or go shopping in a place with a reputation for poor air quality when there are other easier or healthier options? In other parts of the country businesses have realised this and are stepping up to lead on the changes needed to reduce air pollution to within legal limits.

It’s also an opportunity. Without subsidised parking the city may be able to release land currently used for parking to be used for housing or further retail or leisure facilities. This, and cleaner air, will also help it compete with out of town shopping centres like the Metro Centre where there are few good choices but to use a car and where cleaning up air pollution is likely to prove much harder.

We hope our campaign will encourage NE1BID and Newcastle City Council to take an urgent lead on tackling our air pollution, by focusing how to get more people (rather than just cars) into the city by less polluting means; on how to make Grainger Town and the rest of the City Centre a beautiful, lively, vibrant place for people and businesses without adding to air pollution, road danger and other negative consequences of excess traffic.

Footnotes

A. Health Impacts of Air Pollution

In the report “Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution” by the Royal College of Physicians, they summarise that “Each year in the UK, around 40,000 deaths are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution which plays a role in many of the major health challenges of our day. It has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia. The health problems resulting from exposure to air pollution have a high cost to people who suffer from illness and premature death, to our health services and to business. In the UK, these costs add up to more than £20 billion every year.”

B. Planning Policy to improve air quality

One of the other most effective means of improving air quality is measure 41, “Consideration of the location of essential services such as housing and employment.” Updates to the City’s Local Plan covering planning guidance are being consulted on until 20 November 2017 including new policies on locations for employment sites, District and Local Retail Centres, and locations for Housing Sites. None of these policies make reference to air quality as part of their objectives although there is a separate (though fairly vague) policy relating to environmental protection.

C. Estimating the Council’s parking subsidy per visitor, per car and in total.

1. 13.7m extra visitors over 7 years (October 2010 – October 2017) suggests 1.96m extra visitors per year.
2. Funding per year in the BID proposal is £165k from BID + £80k from the Council (£400k spread over 5 years). Total funding per year = £245k
3. Based on these figures, the subsidy per visitor arriving per car = £245,000/1.96m = £0.125
4. This is likely to understate the number of visitors as 13.7m was extra visitors so not the total number, and is likely to cover a shorter period ending prior to October 2017. If using total visitors this estimate of subsidy per visitor would be even less.
5. It is possible to convert this to a subsidy per car using DFT’s vehicle occupancy statistics, which suggest an average of about 1.7 people per car for shopping and leisure trips. £0.125*1.7 = £0.213, approximately 21p per car.
6. Note also these are not actual costs but rather are estimates of lost parking fees. Almost certainly these are based on the parking fees that were in place prior to 2010 when there was no late night shopping and relatively little demand for evening parking. As an introductory offer this makes sense however the current subsidy needs to be calculated based on the total parking charges that the Council would receive now if parking charges were set using market rates, and therefore the amount the Council is forgoing by allowing free parking.
7. A more realistic estimate of the lost parking fees can therefore be calculated by multiplying the number of vehicles by a commercial parking rate. E.g. John Dobson Street parking fees from the NCP website from 6-9pm on 2 November 2017 would cost £6 or £9 on 23 and 30 November. We have used the lower of these two prices below. These are for advanced purchase tickets for NCP members. Non-member on the day prices are significantly higher.
8. 1.96m visitors /1.7 visitors per vehicle = ~1,150,000 vehicles per annum. Assume half of these still come if parking was priced at a commercial rate of £6 for 3 hours and lost parking fees in total would be 1,150,000/2 * £6 = £3.45m per annum.
9. This also assumes 575,000 fewer vehicles trips into the city centre over a year which would make a significant difference to air quality. This doesn’t imply fewer visitors, only that fewer would arrive by car. With a similar level of subsidy available to encourage visitors by other less polluting means then possibly there would be more visitors (and more money spent) than now.
10. NE1BID fund £165,000 per annum so the Council subsidy would be £3.45m – £165k ~= £3.29m per annum or £16.4m over 5 years.

The post Alive After 65 – Live Long with Clean Air appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

New proposals for Gosforth High Street have been released  by Newcastle City Council today. These proposals include pedestrian-priority crossings on side streets, revised parking arrangements and a reduced speed limit.

While the ‘Red Route’ plans are still officially on the table, the Council has agreed to work with SPACE for Gosforth and local business owners to see if alternative approaches can be found that address issues such as the High Street’s poor safety record, air quality and traffic congestion, and which will help make Gosforth High Street an attractive and vibrant destination that people want to visit. 

The proposals released today, which we describe below, are the first step in this process. The proposals have been released for ‘technical consultation’ which means any feedback needs to be submitted to the Council to be considered, but we would like to know what you think as well.

We have included links to the plans and press release at the end of the article.

1. Pedestrian Priority

Raised crossings will be familiar to most people who use the High Street, in particular the raised crossing at the end of Ivy Road opposite Sainsbury’s. This allows people to cross the street without having to go up or down at a kerb, which is easier for people with wheelchairs or buggies. The crossing also acts as a speed bump to slow turning traffic.

Ivy Road, junction with Gosforth High Street

While Ivy Road is a raised pedestrian crossing it does not, unlike Causey Street further south, appear to give priority to pedestrians. The indented kerbline directs drivers into Ivy Road, while the presence of road markings right at the junction and the double yellow lines running through the crossing both indicate a road rather than a place where pedestrians have priority.

In contrast, at the crossing of Causey Street the kerb line continues in line with the pavement and road markings do not enter the pedestrian area, indicating to drivers that pedestrians should have priority at this crossing.

Causey Street, junction with Gosforth High Street

On the other side of the High Street there are some existing pedestrian priority crossings that you might not even have realised are crossings.

Just next to The County is the entrance to Roseworth Terrace. It should be clear to any driver here that when they cross the pavement they need to give way to pedestrians, just as if they were exiting their own drive at home.

The entrance to Roseworth Terrace, next to The County

At the north end of the High Street is another entrance, to the Gosforth Memorial Medical Centre, that again has continuous pavement.

Entrance to the Gosforth Memorial Medical Centre

You can also see this design of crossing where Back Grove Avenue meets the High Street just opposite Elmfield Road.

Back Grove Avenue, junction with Gosforth High Street

The proposal includes new pedestrian-priority crossings at Elsdon Road, High Street Back, West Avenue, Hawthorn Road, Elmfield Road, The Grove, Graham Park Road, The Poplars, The Drive and Moor Crescent as well as at the entrances to the Salters Road and St Nicholas Avenue car parks.

Although we have information on road traffic casualties for these junctions, we are still interested to know your experience of using these crossings. Do you feel safe? Where have vehicles given way to allow you to cross? Would more of these crossings help make the High Street more pedestrian-friendly?

There is one further option that is not included in the current proposal. That is the junction between the High Street and Woodbine Road where through traffic has been removed and pedestrians have complete priority.

Woodbine Road

2. Narrowed Street Entries

Another important factor for pedestrian comfort and safety is the width of the crossing. Having a wide ‘splay’ at the end of the street means the street takes longer to cross, leaving a pedestrian vulnerable for longer, while also allowing cars to maintain a higher speed when turning, making any injuries sustained in a collision more serious.

Narrowing the street ends reduces the time people need to cross, improves visibility and reduces the speed of turning vehicles. All these make it safer for pedestrians by making it less likely that a pedestrian would be hit by a vehicle and by reducing the likely severity of any injury if they are.

The roads where narrowed entries are proposed are The Drive, The Poplars, Graham Park Road, The Grove and the entrance to the St. Nicholas Avenue car park.

If you look at Causey Street and Ivy Road you will notice that the splay is very small – the width of these streets where they meet the High Street is virtually the same as the width further along the road.

Causey Street

Ivy Road

Compare this to The Drive where there is a large cut out on the South side that currently forces pedestrians to cross away from the normal desire line / most direct route.

The Drive

At Graham Park Road the splay makes it harder for people wanting to cross to see approaching vehicles. Walking in the direction shown in the photograph below, you have to walk to the bollard on the right of the picture before it is possible to see vehicles approaching from Graham Park Road. At that point, it is harder to see vehicles that might be turning from the High Street. This also means that despite having a raised crossing most people do not use it.

Graham Park Road

At The Poplars, the current crossing is almost twice as wide as the width of the road.

The Poplars

It is worth noting that even with a narrowed entry it will still be possible for bin lorries and other larger vehicles that need to access these streets to do so, though in some cases they may need to make a wider turn.

3. The Elmfield Road Cycle Bypass

Another part of the proposal is to relocate the Elmfield Road Cycle Bypass (pictured below). The current location has the cycle route crossing exactly the same space as where pedestrians wait to cross Elmfield Road. Moving this slightly further away from the corner will remove this conflict while still allowing cyclists to turn into this road from the south.

Elm field Road Cycle Bypass

4. Parking

Parking changes include:

• Amending current spaces outside Loco (the post office) on Ivy Road and at the end of Salters Road to be short stay making it easier for people to ‘pop in’ to these shops by car.
• Creating loading bays at the end of Elsdon Road and Elmfield Road. (The shops at the southern end of the High Street, unlike the rest of the High Street, do not have rear access.)
• Removing some no parking restrictions on Woodbine Road, West Avenue and Hawthorn Road to create additional spaces (see below for details). These additional spaces are all proposed to be for a maximum 2 hour stay with no charge.
• New yellow lines on the north side of Salters Road and at St Nicholas Avenue where it joins Church Avenue (near South Gosforth Metro).

Whilst SPACE for Gosforth has some concerns about allocating additional parking spaces in residential streets and the potential for some extra traffic on those streets as a result, we understand that these proposals will have a much reduced impact compared to the changes approved with the Red Route scheme. We hope that the residents of the streets involved will engage with this consultation to share their view on these proposals.

On Hawthorn Road the proposal is to replace the yellow line on the left of the  picture with parking spaces, with some further spaces created in the back lane just visible on the left of the picture.

Hawthorn Road

On West Avenue the yellow line pictured on the left below will be replaced by residents parking and a number of residents’ spaces at the end of the street nearest the High Street will be rebadged as 2 hours only (currently these spaces can be used by residents as well as shoppers).

West Avenue, site of new resident’s parking

On Woodbine Road some of the yellow line next to the Old Chapel will be replaced by parking spaces.

Woodbine Road, by the Old Chapel

If you wish to respond on the parking changes you may wish to consider who the parking is for (shoppers, residents, disabled, loading for businesses etc.), what the waiting restrictions are (e.g. 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours), when those restrictions apply and whether the spaces should be free or a parking charge applied. These parameters will guide the use of the spaces, with shorter waiting and/or higher prices likely to lead to more vehicles being able to use the spaces on any given day, but each for a shorter period.

SPACE for Gosforth previously completed a parking survey of spaces near Gosforth High Street in which we counted 1,482 spaces within a short walk of the High Street.

5. Reduced Speed Limits

A separate proposal on speed limits along the entire length of Great North Road, from the city centre to the A1, has also been released. This will include a 20mph speed limit on Gosforth High Street between The Grove and Salters Road.

As we set out in our post 20 mph – the right speed for Gosforth’s children, speed is the key factor both in the likelihood of impact and the consequences if the worst does happen, and that if the speed of impact in a collision involving a pedestrian is reduced by 10mph, the chance of being killed or seriously injured is halved.

Commenting on the Proposals

You can see the proposals described here. The Council have also issues a press release. 

You can comment on these plans by writing to gosforthti@newcastle.gov.uk. It is just as important to write in if you support these plans as if you have suggestions for how they may be improved. To be sure that your comments are considered you should submit them prior to 25 July 2016. 

We would like to thank the Council for supporting this approach, Councillor Nick Cott for helping to get the different groups together and Duncan Young, Peter Thorpe and the other High Street traders for also agreeing to give up their time to be part of the discussions. 

The post Pedestrian Priority on Gosforth High Street appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The outputs from these American studies confirm what the Dutch and Danish, amongst others, have known for a long time – that safe liveable streets make for healthy, attractive and vibrant communities. They also mean we now have data we can use to predict the impact of making similar changes in Gosforth.

In particular we can see how businesses on Gosforth High Street might be impacted if protected cycle lanes were to be installed. Protected cycle lanes were one of SPACE for Gosforth’s four key asks for the High Street. This is what the studies say.

Seattle: A study in Seattle, which has very similar weather to Newcastle, used retail tax data to look at the impact on businesses in two locations where cycle lanes were installed. As the authors say “numerous businesses wrote to the city in opposition to the new facilities planned on their streets“.

What happened? In one location there was no impact, the businesses continued to perform in line with rest of the neighbourhood. In the other, “NE 65th St experienced a 350% increase in sales index, followed by another jump to 400% sales index the following quarter“.

Retail Sales in Seattle after 12 parking spaces are replaced with a cycle lane

Source: http://seattletransitblog.com/2013/08/06/seattle-case-study-economic-impacts-of-bike-facilities

Salt Lake City: “On Salt Lake City’s Broadway, replacing parking with protected bike lanes increased retail sales. A general street upgrade removed 30 percent of the auto parking from nine blocks of the major commercial street but improved crosswalks, sidewalks and added protected bike lanes. In the first six months of the next year, retail sales were up 8.8 percent over the first six months of the prior year, compared to a 7 percent increase citywide. After the changes, 59% of business owners on the street said they supported them; only 18% opposed.”

Source: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/salt-lake-city-street-removes-parking-adds-bike-lanes-and-sales-go-up

New York Union Square: “A redesign of New York’s Union Square to include a protected bike lane resulted in 49% fewer commercial vacancies, compared to 5% more throughout Manhattan.”

On Gosforth High Street fewer commercial vacancies means fewer empty shops.

Source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2012-10-measuring-the-street.pdf

New York Columbus Avenue: “The 20 blocks of Columbus Avenue that received a protected bike lane and pedestrian safety islands saw sales increase 20 percent over two years, while adjacent sections of Columbus that did not get a bike lane saw sales increase by only 9 percent.”

New York Vanderbilt Avenue: “On Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, retail sales more than doubled in the three years after a road diet [fewer traffic lanes] brought bike lanes and pedestrian islands to the street.”

New York Ninth Avenue: “Sales along Ninth Avenue in Chelsea were lagging when compared to similar nearby retail streets, but after a protected bike lane and pedestrian islands were installed in 2007, sales increased 49 percent over three years, outpacing both its neighbors and the rest of the borough.”

While all these studies show varying levels of improvement, the key thing is that in all cases businesses do benefit, even if installing cycle lanes results in fewer traffic lanes or fewer on-street parking spaces.

Source: http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/12/20/dot-bennett-midland-study-economic-impact-retail-sales-bike-lanes-plazas-sbs/

Other studies give insights into why this might be the case. Two key results stand out.

1. Protected cycle lanes encourage more people to cycle

More people cycling means more people passing and stopping at shops. This graph from Washington DC, shows the number of people cycling trebled after protected cycle lanes were installed on 15th St NW.

Cycle numbers treble after installation of a protected cycle lane

Source: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/how-high-can-they-go-dc-bike-counts-show-continuing-surge-in-protected-lane

Other studies such as this one from the University of British Columbia in Canada also show that protected cycle lanes (cycle tracks) dramatically improves the safety for people using them compared to no cycle lane or white lines painted on the road.

Installing protected cycle lanes can also improve the experience for pedestrians. On Gosforth High Street this should mean that bollards used to prevent pavement parking can be removed, freeing up 2 feet of additional pavement space.

2. People don’t spend less just because they travel by bike

In Portland they did a separate study on spending habits. This found, not surprisingly that at supermarkets drivers spent more than cyclists, pedestrians and bus users over a month – but for smaller shops, bars and restaurants, cyclists outspent drivers in every category.

Cyclists spent more than drivers at restaurants, bars and convenience stores

Source: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2012/12/cyclists-and-pedestrians-can-end-spending-more-each-month-drivers/4066/

Gosforth

All high streets are different of course but there is no reason these same positive business outcomes can’t happen on Gosforth High Street.

Encouragingly many businesses we have spoken to, while having reservations about other aspects of the Council’s proposed schemes, have been supportive of making the High Street safer for cycling as well as for other improvements for pedestrians and overall safety.

And if you still don’t believe this is possible, this video from Holland shows just how easy it is to shop by bike when the right facilities are in place.

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* The website http://www.codeminders.com/weather_similarity/ shows world-wide cities with similar climates. The default is to show San Fransisco but if you zoom out then scroll east (right) you should be able to find and click on Newcastle. Port Angeles, which is about 80 miles north west of Seattle, has a 99% match with Newcastle.

The post Can protected cycle lanes be good for business? appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

SPACE members have concerns about these proposals however because Station Road, and its junction at Haddricks Mill Roundabout, are also well known in Gosforth as an accident blackspot.  Concerns SPACE members have raised about this location include cars driving through the pedestrian crossing at Haddricks Mill without noticing pedestrians, concerns about cars speeding up Station Road, and cars driving and parking on the pavement.

Crash Map for Station Road showing casualties from 2005-2014

This area of Gosforth has one of the worst safety records in Newcastle. The biggest safety problems are associated with the roundabouts at Haddricks Mill. Major alterations are expected here soon and SPACE wants to see substantial safety improvements provided for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. However, Station Road also has a substantial safety problem throughout its full length and we also want to see measures taken to improve safety along this very important key route. We certainly do not want to see anything done which will make the situation worse.

The proposals, which are currently out for consultation (closing date 3 February 2016) include a plan to create five additional car parking spaces on the south side of Station Road. According to this research, adding parking to a major road almost doubles the risk factor for cyclists. On this basis this proposal is likely to increase the number of casualties. On Station Road, because of the gradient and the existing poor safety record, this would be particularly dangerous.

While the research is specific to cyclists the increased risk will be felt by all road users. By reducing visibility, the parking is likely to make the street more hazardous for pedestrians to cross and it will also impact sight-lines for cars wishing to turn out of Sandringham Road.

SPACE is keen to support local businesses however, not least as the availability of good local shops helps people to walk or cycle, rather than having to drive. Safe access and a pleasant shopping environment are also key factors in a business’ success and case studies show that business can benefit by adding protected cycle lanes or improving conditions for pedestrians, even when doing so requires the removal of parking spaces or limiting access for vehicles.

We also know that businesses can do well in this location without the proposed additional spaces, including local bike shop, M. Steel Cycles, which has been trading since 1894 and on Station Road since 1984.

When we met with Cllr Gallagher, he explained the background to the proposal and the concerns of the local traders, and we discussed with him alternatives which we hope will go some way to helping out local traders in such tough times.

Following the meeting Cllr Gallagher posted the SPACE for Gosforth Facebook page:

“I think we had a very positive meeting tonight. I explained the needs of the traders and Bill, Liz, Rupert and Scot went through the issues that can be created by this type of design. Me and my fellow East Gosforth councillors are arranging a meeting with council officers after the close of the consultation. We will discuss the objections with them and look at whether a strategic solution involving the Haddricks Mill junction is possible. I am also going to speak to some of the traders and sort out a chat between a couple of the SPACE people and them.”

This we hope will result in tangible ideas that will benefit the local businesses, including by providing safe access for customers who travel on foot or by bike, as well as discussing suitable locations for parking.

Because of the consultation process though, we will only be able to have this discussion if the current proposals are rejected. It would be good if people could write in to Newcastle Council opposing the proposal. Key points are:

The post Station Road: SPACE meets Cllr Gallagher to discuss members’ concerns about parking plans appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

For some, cars are a necessity of modern life, especially for those with limited mobility. Finding space to park though is not always easy, and with reductions planned in the popular Salters Road car park it is no surprise that people are concerned.

At SPACE for Gosforth we want to assess the impact of the changes to Salters Road car park, in particular on those who need to drive and on those who live or work nearby.

This isn’t just about shoppers or about residents. This includes parking spaces used by traders and shop workers, by office workers, by city centre commuters parking to get the bus, by those visiting the swimming pool and library or the cricket ground or the gym, by those going to churches or to restaurants, to cafes or pubs, by those dropping off children at school and by those using the Metro park and ride. All these uses need to be balanced somehow within the total spaces available, and managed to minimise disruption to residents whose support the High Street relies on.

To make this assessment we need to know what parking there is in Gosforth, so we did a survey – and this is what we found.

In total we counted 1,482 spaces. The 2014 Council plans to straighten the Salters Road/Church Road junction would result in a loss of 40 parking spaces, which would reduce this from 1482 to 1442, a drop of 2.7%, albeit that the 40 spaces are amongst the most popular with shoppers. This is how those 1,482 spaces were made up.

Below is a further break-down of spaces including charging, maximum parking times and time and use restrictions. These factors, along with location, are what determine which spaces are most used and which are left empty.

Gosforth’s Main Car Parks

All car parks are 30p per hour with a maximum stay of 2 hours at Sainsbury’s and  St Nicholas and 3 hours at Salters Road. Sainsbury’s is free after 4.30pm but closes at 9pm midweek and 8pm on Saturday. Salters Road and St Nicholas are free after 6pm.

Regent Centre Car Parks

Regent Centre charges are £1 per day or free after 5pm. The car park is open 07:00 to 00:45. The Regent Centre is, according to Google, a 7 minutes walk away from Salters Road or there are buses every 3 minutes.

Gosforth Library and Swimming Pool car park charges are 20p per hour up to 3 hours maximum. Charges apply 8am to 5pm.

Bulman House and Eagle Star Office Car Parks are for office staff only between 8am and 6pm but are generally unused after that time.

Gosforth On-Street Parking

On-street parking was counted within a square bounded by Linden Road on the west, Salters Road and Church Road on the north, Moor Road on the east and Elmfield Road and The Grove on the south, with additional spaces counted at the south end of Elsdon Road (north of Salters Road) and at the west end of St Nicholas Avenue east of Gosforth Central Park. Most of these spaces are on residential streets and many, but not all, are directly outside residential properties.

Google maps estimates that Linden Road to Trinity Square is 0.2 miles or a 4 minute walk and most spaces counted, and some that were not, will be within this distance of the High Street.

Parking we haven’t counted

The 1,482 spaces don’t include:

• Parking owned by specific businesses such as The County, Have To Love and Loco.
• The car parks at the Gosforth Memorial Medical Centre on Church Road, at Trinity Church on Ivy Road or BT’s own-use spaces next to the South Northumberland Cricket Club.
• All-day permit only parking.
• Single yellow lines, which become unrestricted after 6pm.
• On-street parking north of Salters Road or north of Church Road other than the south end of Elsdon Road, some of which will be less than 0.2 miles from the north end of the High Street.
• On-street parking south of Elmfield Road or south of The Grove, some of which will be less than 0.2 miles from the south end of the High Street.
• Office car parks north of Regent Farm Road.

Together, if included, these could add a further few hundred spaces.

The post How much Parking is there in Gosforth? appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Gosforth High Street is one of the busiest, most polluted streets in Newcastle. It is also a busy shopping centre in a neighbourhood with a high proportion of families and older people – exactly those most at risk from the effects of air pollution.

There are a number of ways to deal with these risks, falling broadly into four categories:
1) Replacing or upgrading existing vehicles to run on less polluting fuels or have more efficient engines.
2) Managing traffic flow to minimise stopping and starting which burns more fuel and produces more pollution.
3) Making driving less attractive e.g. by blocking off streets for cars.
4) Encouraging alternatives such as the use of buses or cycling.

The 2015 Tyneside draft Air Quality Plan (1) gives 48 different initiatives, spread across these categories, being taken by Newcastle Council to reduce pollution. While some will be more effective than others, it is the combined effect of all these measures that will allow Newcastle to ensure air quality for its residents, to meet EU law and to avoid financial penalties.

The High Street plan also includes a mix of these measures:

• new linked traffic lights are being introduced to manage traffic flow
• the reduction in parking spaces, while potentially causing other issues, may have a beneficial effect on pollution
• and a cycle lane – if done correctly – will give a further option to commuters and an alternative non-polluting means to get to the shops.

Generally carrots are preferable to sticks. If we can make the cycle lane (the carrot) as attractive and as safe as possible to encourage the most people to use it then we might be able to limit further reductions in parking or higher parking fees (the sticks). If the cycle lane does not have this effect then the Government and EU law will force the Council to act and the “sticks” will be imposed anyway. Vehicle improvements need to happen as well in parallel but, as we have seen from the unfolding Volkswagen news story (2), it may not be wise to rely on this for an immediate solution.

Pollution has the worst effect on the old and young, but no-one is immune. If we want our High Street to be safe for our families, our friends and our neighbours, this is our opportunity.

(1) Draft Air Quality Plan for the achievement of EU air quality limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Tyneside (UK0005) September 2015

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/no2-consultation-2015/AQplans_UK0005.pdf

(2) Volkswagen’s diesel recall, explained

http://www.vox.com/2015/9/21/9365667/volkswagen-clean-diesel-recall-passenger-cars

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