Comments on: John Dobson Street: a Safe Pedestrian And Cycling Environment

By: H meers

H meers — Fri, 10 May 2019 07:33:19 +0000

In reply to John Griffiths. You were correct there are now massive delays on this street also accidents are up to pre road work levels

By: Kitty

Kitty — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 18:25:35 +0000

Appreciating the time and energy you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I believe that more people should quit driving their cars and start riding bikes instead.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 09:40:17 +0000

In reply to SPACE for Gosforth. I was hoping for permission to mow down the mobile phone zombies, but thanks for the response.

By: SPACE for Gosforth

SPACE for Gosforth — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 20:56:52 +0000

In reply to Paul. Hi Paul, I might be wrong but I don't believe there is an official rule either way but I tend to treat them as if they were Zebras and give priority to people walking unless they wave me past. That seems to work fine.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 17:30:35 +0000

I use the cycle lane frequently but am totally unclear whether cyclists or pedestrians have right of way on the numerous “zebra style crossings”. Please can you advise?

By: SPACE for Gosforth

SPACE for Gosforth — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 19:23:46 +0000

In reply to Kieron.

Hi Kieron, lots of points there.

The public services point is down to Government funding which is allocated for specific purposes.

Style is a matter of taste but I don’t recall anyone ever saying the old John Dobson Street was stylish. Compared to most of the city centre it’s very much the poor relation and still is to be honest although the new trees and additional pedestrian space should help.

People do say they don’t see cyclists but I wonder if that is more because people on bikes are generally unobtrusive as in they don’t take up much space, they don’t make any noise and crucially for the city centre air quality management zone they don’t create any air quality issues. From a numbers perspective, the Strava heat map website shows John Dobson Street is already a fairly major cycling route. http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14/-1.62542/54.97604/blue/bike

For pedestrians there is clearly more space and the pedestrian guardrails that used to hem people in on crossings and make you walk further have all gone. I’ve seen people crossing all over the place which suggests people feel safer there as that never used to happen. I’m sure there still could be issues though and we’re happy to take them up with the Council if you have any (other than style).

Turning buses has been quoted as a problem a few times but when I’ve watched I’ve not seen any buses have any trouble so possibly this was just a teething issue? The tighter corners will stop cars and buses flying around the corners – it is supposed to – and that helps make the street safer for people on foot. The figures the Council quote on bus times are that having the bus gate has sped up journeys for buses which is by far the most common way for people to get into the city centre. Clearly there must have been something holding them up before otherwise this wouldn’t have happened?

Drivers who are using the street to access the car park or other destination should now have a quicker journey for the same reason the buses do. Almost certainly anyone using it as a through route to somewhere else will be finding that it was better to stay on the Urban Motorway in the first place so I’m not convinced anyone’s journey will have been particularly effected unless travelling between destinations within the city but that’s not going to be that common.

Not sure about the speed bumps – I don’t recall any on John Dobson Street but I might be wrong?

By: Kieron

Kieron — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 13:34:34 +0000

Absolutely ridiculous. A waste of money, as I don’t see much money being spent on public services but I do see a lot of annoying roadworks that no one asked for throughout Newcastle all the time. I very rarely see a cyclist use it & yet this is the only group of people that dont completley lose out!This is just adding journey times for drivers. The new layout of the road means that it’s harder for buses to turn onto New Bridge Street. As a pedestrian in Newcastle City Centre I don’t like the look of it, it looks like a mess of a street, the old John Dobson Street looked more stylish & nicer. There was never a problem with traffic on this Street unless there were roadworks. The added speed bumps are another massive inconvienience. The council won’t be happy until every road in the City Centre is a bus lane which the majority of Newcastle hate!

By: Josephine Ellis

Josephine Ellis — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 12:45:53 +0000

I understand that the cycle path already takes hundreds of trips per day. How popular it is now, however, isn’t the main point: the most important thing is how it fits into a citywide network. At the moment, user figures on JD Street are suppressed by the fact that people are scared to cycle in general because the roads don’t feel safe.
It’s going to take a while to put that right through better onward links, particularly to the strategic cycle routes leading out of town, and that’s going to have to be a gradual, incremental process, but JDS is a start.
In the meantime, the JDS route already feels like a potential lifesaver: I used to cycle down the street a few years ago when you had to cross two lanes of traffic, including buses, HGVs, etc. to get from the Civic Centre to the Monument, and it was horrible.

By: Michael Gordon

Michael Gordon — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 11:33:56 +0000

The roadway has been narrowed too much. North and South cycle lanes could have been introduced within the previous road layout cheaper than the £1.1 million this has supposedly cost.
Perfectly good paving has been ripped up and replaced. The paving outside the city library has been extended unnecessarily into the roadway and not finished off to the same standard. Too much black tarmac has been used. Because of the new cycle lanes the space for buses is very tight and I have been on buses that are having difficulty turning right from JDS to New Bridge Street. Cars turning right from JDS into Durant Road hold up buses going North so again very poor road design. Buses also have difficulty getting past anyone stopped at a bus stop.
There’s also the matter of skateboarders now having a field day round here and cyclists conspicuous by their absence!
Finally, the bus lane camera is a cash cow and the signage is sub-standard.
Not a road which should bear John Dobson’s name!

By: TT

TT — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 16:05:09 +0000

A complete waste of money. I see about TWO cyclists a day. However it is a haven for noisy skate boarders and of course the bus lane cameras are a nice little cash cow for the council. Buses and traffic have very limited space and its an accident waitimg to happen. Also once a bus stops then theres nowhere to go for emergency vehiclles. Not very well designed but hey look at the disaster that is the blue carpet.