A family cycle ride on quiet roads and cycle paths meet @ Gosforth Central Park to ride to the Civic Centre with SPACE for Gosforth in order to meet up with other riders from Heaton, Fenham and Arthur’s Hill, finishing at the Journey Cafe for Coffee and cake.

There are other rids coming from Fenham or Heaton you could join instead if you prefer. Details below.

The post Kidical Mass Sat 18th Dec 1pm appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

From November 2020 to January 2021 Transport North East held a consultation on their draft transport plan for the North East up to 2035. This is the SPACE for Gosforth response.

We looked at the plan’s vision and objectives, and we looked at the schemes proposed. The vision talks about carbon reduction, health, reducing inequalities, safer streets and sustainable travel. The schemes include link roads, corridor improvements, capacity upgrades, addressing vehicle pinch points, dual carriageways and junction upgrades. These clearly don’t align.

We fully support the plan objectives, but the schemes need to be re-evaluated to select and expand those that support the objectives and reject those that do not.

Transport North East say they are working to “deliver game-changing transport schemes and initiatives.” and “to greatly improve the lives of everyone living or working in our region.” The current plan won’t do this, but we hope our and other’s feedback will be taken into account to produce a revised plan that will achieve the stated objectives.

Transport for the North East itself provides “strategy, planning and delivery services on behalf of the North East Joint Transport Committee (NEJTC)“, where the committee is made up of the region’s two Combined Authorities (North of Tyne Combined Authority covering Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland, and the North East Combined Authority covering Durham, Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside).

Update 13 March 2021: Transport North East have produced their final plan for approval by local authorities. You can see the final plan and a “You said – we did” document explaining what changes have been made here.

The letter below is our group’s response to the original consultation in January 2021.

Dear Transport North East,

Re: North East Transport Plan Consultation – January 2021

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the North East Transport Plan. It is extremely positive to see The North East Combined Authority and The North of Tyne Combined Authority working together on a single coherent plan for the region.

We welcome and acknowledge the need, as you say, to “deliver profound and lasting improvements that will shape the North East and its people for decades to come.” We are in the midst of a Climate Emergency, a health crisis made worse because of existing high levels of poor health in part caused by inactivity, and scandalously we have still have not met legally-binding targets for air quality that came into force in 2005.

Between 2010 and 2019, 511 people were killed and 6,450 people were seriously injured on the North East’s roads. These are not just statistics, they were mums, dads, children, friends and neighbours. Almost half of those killed or seriously injured on the region’s roads were under 35 years old. Change is needed, and it is needed quickly, by 2025 not by 2035.

“The truth about a region’s aspirations isn’t found in its vision. It’s found in its budget.”

We’ve looked at the plan’s vision and objectives, and we’ve looked at the schemes proposed. The vision talks about carbon reduction, health, reducing inequalities, safer streets and sustainable travel. The schemes include link roads, corridor improvements, capacity upgrades, addressing vehicle pinch points, dual carriageways and junction upgrades. These clearly don’t align.

Carbon reduction, improved health and more sustainable travel all point to less vehicle traffic in future, not more. Building for more traffic while at the same time forecasting less traffic is just throwing money away, and will lead to more emissions and poor health outcomes.

While we acknowledge many of the schemes included do support active travel and public transport, for a region of two million people they could be substantially more ambitious than proposed, and achieve benefits far more quickly if funds weren’t being diverted to expensive schemes to create unneeded additional vehicle capacity.

The vision should define the destination

The plan vision needs to establish and make tangible what the end goal is and start to build towards that, so people understand the destination rather than only seeing individual steps on the journey. This will support both community buy-in to the plan and provide better focus for the initiatives that make up the plan.

It is not hard to envisage what this would look like. As a minimum it would need to include:

• Accessible and inclusive local streets with pavements that are not cluttered or used for parking.
• A defined road network for essential vehicle journeys, with reduced capacity compared to now, as fewer journeys will need a vehicle in future when other better options become available.
• Local roads that are not part of that main-road network that can be used for walking, cycling, socializing and street play, but not for through traffic (low traffic neighbourhoods).
• Junctions designed to prevent high-speed collisions and speed limits set to ensure collisions do not lead to serious injury or death.
• A region-wide network of safe walking and cycling routes to connect homes to shops, schools, parks and other local destinations and which support inclusive cycling and allow children to travel independently.
• An efficient high-frequency bus network with good quality interchanges and integration with walking and cycling routes for longer multi-modal journeys.

These alone would substantially achieve all the plan objectives with money to spare. The question for Transport North East is how quickly it can move to achieve this vision, so that everyone who lives in the North East can start to see and feel the benefits.

Transport North East has work to do to demonstrate this is not a ‘business as usual’ transport plan.

Substantially the objectives in the plan do speak to the serious economic, climate, air quality, health and wellbeing issues that are today caused by road transport, and need to be addressed through changes to the transport system. Good intentions though are not enough to achieve good outcomes.

As we have said, many of the actual schemes proposed are very much business as usual.

We therefore want to challenge Transport North East to come up with a revised set of schemes, including those on the list above, that will demonstrably prove this is not a ‘business as usual’ plan.

To be genuinely transformational, and not just business as usual, the plan should very clearly:

• Enable the five of seven local authorities that have set a target to be carbon neutral by 2030 to achieve that by substantially decarbonizing the transport system by 2030.
• Achieve zero killed and seriously injured on the region’s roads by 2025. (This should be part of the safe, secure network objective, not hidden away on page 33.)
• Create safe networks of routes leading to a step-change increase in walking and cycling for local (< 5 mile) journeys throughout the region.
• Demonstrate that Transport North East and the constituent authorities can act with the necessary pace and urgency to make these happen, with substantial progress by 2025 or sooner.

There’s no such thing as a ‘two minutes late for work emergency’

There is a Climate Emergency. Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. Physical inactivity is responsible for one in six UK deaths.

Choosing how the budget is allocated is a moral and political choice. Transport North East can either deliver profound and lasting improvements by prioritising the budget to address transport poverty, health, climate, economy and environment, or it can build more link roads to make driving marginally more attractive for a few years for people who can afford it. Almost certainly it won’t be possible to do both.

Please choose wisely.

We enclose our response to the consultation questions below.

Yours faithfully,

SPACE for Gosforth

www.spaceforgosforth.com

SPACE for Gosforth North East Transport Plan Questionnaire Response

2. Are you responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

We are responding on behalf of the SPACE for Gosforth group, based in Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne. SPACE for Gosforth is a residents’ group with the aim of promoting healthy, liveable, accessible and safe neighbourhoods where walking and cycling are safe, practical and attractive travel options for residents of all ages and abilities. We are residents of Gosforth, most of us with families and we walk, cycle, use public transport and drive. SPACE stands for Safe Pedestrian and Cycling Environment.

6. Do we support the Vision Statement: “Moving to a green, healthy, dynamic and thriving North East”

Yes, we support the Vision Statement.

This needs to be brought to life and explained properly so people understand where the plan is, or should be according to the objectives, leading us. For example:

• Accessible and inclusive local streets with pavements that are not cluttered or used for parking.
• A defined road network for essential vehicle journeys, with reduced capacity compared to now, as fewer journeys will need a vehicle in future when other better options become available.
• Local roads that are not part of that main-road network that can be used for walking, cycling, socializing and street play, but not for through traffic (low traffic neighbourhoods).
• Speed limits set to ensure collisions do not lead to serious injury or death, and junctions designed to prevent high-speed collisions.
• A region-wide network of safe walking and cycling routes to connect homes to shops, schools, parks and other local destinations and which support inclusive cycling and allow children to travel independently.
• An efficient high-frequency bus network with good quality interchanges and integration with walking and cycling routes for longer multi-modal journeys

How much do you agree with each of the following objectives?

What do you think are the barriers to achieving each of these objectives?

The following are common barriers and / or risks that are likely to apply to all the objectives. We suggest these are included in a NE Transport Risk log to be tracked along with appropriate mitigations.

Governance and Leadership Risks

• Lack of political leadership and/or lack of alignment between political leaders.
• Lack of urgency to achieve committed timescales e.g. carbon neutral by 2030.
• Focusing on, and getting bogged down in, small incremental changes at the expense of the more widespread changes needed to achieve the objectives.
• Delays due to schemes not being initiated until the overall plan is agreed.
• Lack of clear prioritisation between objectives e.g. air quality limits need by law to be met ‘in the shortest possible timescale’ and the target for five of seven authorities is to be carbon neutral is 2030.
• Poor quality governance that means schemes, especially those that increase vehicle capacity, are implemented even if they don’t meet the NETP objectives.
• Failure to account for the longer-term impact of Covid in reducing demand for transport.
• Weak planning policies that lead to the creation of new car-dependant suburbs with no local facilities.
• Not exploring alternative revenue raising options for traffic demand management such as a workplace parking levy.

Risks relating to the selection of schemes

• Insufficient portion of the overall budget allocated to meet specific objectives.
• Too much focus on ‘encouragement’ rather than making changes to make streets safer to enable people to walk or cycle.
• Inappropriate allocation of the budget to the wrong schemes that either will not support the objectives or prevent budget being allocated to more effective, more strategically aligned, cheaper or quicker to deliver schemes.
• Over-reliance on traffic management changes, which are unlikely to achieve the objectives and risk inducing increasing traffic volumes and adding to pollution and emissions.
• A lack of measures to manage and reduce the demand for private vehicle travel.
• Promotion of headline-grabbing ‘mega-schemes’ that sound impressive but are less effective than using the same budget for a package of smaller measures.
• Continued over-reliance on traditional ‘predict and provide’ planning for new roads that assume increasing traffic levels even though the NETP objectives implicitly require that in future fewer vehicle miles will be driven than now.

Risks relating to Public Engagement

• Failing to make the case for urgent change through lack of, or poor quality public communications.
• Poor quality or overly-long consultations that delay implementation.
• Too much weight given to relatively minor objections, or issues that can be mitigated, compared to the benefits from achieving the plan objectives.
• Mixed messages vs other council policies e.g. free parking offers.

Risks relating to Implementation

• Over-reliance on modelling vs trialling changes.
• Lack of training and expertise within councils and suppliers to make the necessary change to move quickly from traditional vehicle-led design to people-led design of road schemes.

Further barriers and / or risks that apply to specific objectives are set out in the table below.

12. Are there any objectives you would have liked to see which are missing? If so, what are they?

Yes:

Better places – streets as places where we all live, play, socialize, exercise, shop & where people want to live.

13. Do you agree that individual projects will be required to submit Monitoring and Evaluation Plans?

Yes, we agree. The monitoring and evaluation plans need to assess whether schemes support achievement of the NETP objectives.

How much do you agree with the following policy statements?

31. Are there any comments you would like to make on the policy statements?

See table above.

32. Are there any policy statements which you think are missing?

Please see alternative proposals in the table above. In addition we would like to propose:

Active Travel – Streets are easier and safer to navigate for residents or visitors with limited mobility and for residents or visitors with disabilities or conditions for whom travel is a challenge.

Active Travel – There is good walking and cycling access to local community destinations including schools, shops, medical centres, work-places and transport hubs.

Active Travel – Streets are valued as places where people live, meet and socialise, and not just for travelling through.

33. What do you think of the timeline for the delivery of schemes up to 2035?

The pace of change in the plan is massively too slow and risks not achieving set targets especially:

• Achieving air quality legal limits ‘in the shortest possible timescales’.
• Achieving no fatalities or serious injuries on the regions’ road network by 2025.
• Achieving carbon neutral transport by 2030.

34. Are there any schemes which you feel are missing from this timeline? 


Schemes that support these urgent time-bound objectives should be prioritised and delivered early in the plan timescale. These can include:

• Widespread (region-wide) implementation of low traffic neighbourhoods and school streets.
• New main road crossings, in support of new safe walking and cycling networks.
• Narrowing lanes on urban main roads to 3m maximum width for improved safety for all users.
• Trial schemes to reallocate space on main roads to create wider pop-up protected cycle lanes.
• Review of speed limits to meet Vision Zero principles: 20 mph speed limits in cities, 40mph limits on rural minor roads.
• Clear Air Zones where air quality limits are currently not met.
• Using parking charges to manage and limit traffic demand in busy city centres, including workplace parking levies.
• New bus lanes, where space is not needed for walking and cycling facilities.
• Tightening entrances and exits from junctions to prevent vehicles from travelling through those junctions at high speeds, putting other users at risk.
• Better enforcement of traffic offences, including via the use of ANPR cameras.
• Improved winter maintenance of pavements and cycle lanes.
• On-street secure cycle storage (e.g. cycle hoops)
• Definition and implementation of a minimum viable cycle network that connects homes to major destinations and can then be expanded and improved on.
• Creation of a plan for a regional cycle network including traffic-free cycle links between adjacent urban areas e.g. Newcastle to Ponteland, Killingworth or Cramlington.

SPACE for Gosforth has previously submitted evidence-based suggestions for how to reduce carbon emissions to the Newcastle City Council climate change consultation, which can be found here: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/evidence-about-climate-change/

SPACE for Gosforth has also completed a literature review to find what type of measures have evidence to show they are effective to reduce air pollution, which can be found here: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/air-quality-what-works/

SPACE for Gosforth’s response to the Newcastle City Council Breathe Clean Air consultation, which proposes schemes to address air pollution in Newcastle can be found here: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/tag/breathe-clean-air/

We would also like to propose the inclusion of this walking and cycling scheme by Regent Centre in Gosforth: https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/regent-centre/

35. Are there any schemes in our programme which you feel should not be included? 


Yes. Building for more traffic while at the same time forecasting less traffic is just throwing money away, and will lead to more emissions and poor health outcomes.

Link roads, corridor improvements, capacity upgrades, addressing vehicle pinch points, dual carriageways and junction upgrades are how we ended up with a climate crisis and illegal levels of air pollution. More of the same won’t address the climate crisis, won’t solve air pollution, won’t make it safer or more attractive to walk or cycle, won’t address transport poverty, and will further decimate local High Streets as people who can drive are incentivised to travel long-distances to out of town shopping centres rather than supporting local shops.

All the schemes that increase vehicle capacity and encourage more driving need to be re-examined to assess whether they will actually support the objectives or if there are better options including the use of traffic demand management to keep roads clear for those that need to drive most.

Schemes that should be re-evaluated and removed if not consistent with the objectives or if better options exist include:

• Schemes for new car parks, access roads and link roads,
• Additional lanes, dual carriageways, bypasses and any scheme that claims to improve ‘flow’,
• Junction changes designed to increase vehicle throughput, and ‘pinch point’ schemes,
• Changes to vehicle capacity made as part of ‘all user improvements’ or ‘strategic corridor improvements’, and
• Relief roads and new vehicle bridges.

36. Are there any other comments you would like to make? 


In our response to the NECA Walking and Cycling survey in 2017 we said the following, which is equally relevant to the NE Transport Plan.

The strategy [Plan] needs to recognise that every journey driven that could have been undertaken by foot or by cycle:

• Increases travelling cost for the person travelling, money that might otherwise have been spent in the local area.
• Adds to the overall cost of road maintenance.
• Worsens air quality and creates risks for other road users.
• Increases carbon emissions.
• Is a lost opportunity for fresh air and exercise.
• Creates additional demand for parking which means less land available for housing and other more productive uses.

Likewise for every neighbourhood designed to prioritise traffic over place we find:

• Children unable to play outside
• Teenagers not able to travel independently
• Older people stuck alone in their home
• And a community weakened through lack of on-street social interaction.
• Local shops and services diminished because of competition from out of town shopping centres.

Whether or not these are part of the thinking for the transport strategy, or part of its aims, these are the real life outcomes. Nor are these just words. Tens of thousands of people die early each year due to poor air quality near roads. Many more die due to other conditions and illnesses related to how we travel. For example “regular cycling cut the risk of death from any cause by 41%, the incidence of cancer by 45% and heart disease by 46%” (https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/cwis2017/)

By prioritising walking and cycling, the NECA Strategic Transport Plan can deal with air pollution, it can reduce social isolation, it can improve choice for how we travel and make neighbourhoods more accessible for those with reduced mobility. It can reduce road injuries and deaths and reduce the fear that people feel when travelling on foot or by cycle. It can enable children’s independence so they can travel to go to school or play outside with their friends. It can enable people to travel to work and make them feel better when they get there. And it can align individual and community-wide incentives to ensure the transport system as a whole is as efficient as possible.

We hope that Transport North East will seize this opportunity and put in place a robust and well-funded plan to address all these issues as a matter of urgency.

For reference, we have previously responded to two NECA consultations and a consultation by Transport for the North.

The 20 year transport manifesto for the North East, in April 2016 – https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/neca-2016/

The July 2017 NECA Walking and Cycling survey – https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/neca-survey-2017/

Transport for the North Strategic Transport Plan April 2018 – https://www.spaceforgosforth.com/tfn_consultation_questions/

The post North East Transport Plan Consultation – January 2021 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The Government and Council’s initial response to COVID-19 has been, quite rightly, to ensure people are safe and well, protect jobs and critical services, and to minimise the spread of the virus. Already by mid-April 2020 the virus has killed thousands of people in the UK alone, and left unchecked would kill many many more.

On March 23rd the Government announced lock-down, telling many businesses to close and no one to leave their house other than for a few essential reasons. Schools were also to close, other than for children of key workers, including those that work in the NHS, local and national government and key government services.

With schools closed and many of us now working from home, traffic levels in Newcastle have dropped substantially, as seen in the graph below from the Urban Observatory. Buses and Metro are running almost empty and instead many more people are out walking and cycling on local streets on their way to work, to shop for essentials or for exercise.

Air quality has started to improve (see the graph below for PM2.5 fine particulates on Gosforth High Street from the Urban Observatory). This would be beneficial for health under normal circumstances, but is especially so now as air pollution is correlated with a higher coronavirus death rate. According to a Harvard University study “an increase of only 1 μg/m³ in PM2.5 is associated with a 15% increase in the COVID-19 death rate.”

COVID-19 Transport Challenges

City Transport Planners no longer have to focus on managing high volumes of traffic through constrained urban junctions, or worry about vehicle delays and traffic jams.

The transport ‘behaviour change’ that Council Policy has long advocated for people to walk or cycle more to improve health has started to happen as traffic levels have declined, although speeding vehicles are still an issue.

People, especially doctors, nurses and other key workers still need to be able to travel though and, if walking or cycling, deserve to be protected from road danger. And the wider impact of how we travel on health needs to be considered to give us the best chance to beat the virus and minimise the burden on the NHS.

These all lead to some new questions for transport planners to answer, and in some cities they are already answering with physical changes being implemented.

1. How can key workers, and others that cannot work from home, travel to work given the recommendation to avoid public transport? This is especially important for those without access to a car.
2. How to ensure people can follow social distancing rules, in particular the 2m rule, and minimise transmission of the virus?
3. How to enable exercise with all its physical and mental health benefits to offset the impact of isolation, and reduce pressure on parks and open spaces?
4. How to minimise the number of traffic collisions to reduce non-COVID-19 pressure on the NHS?  (“Lowering the Baseline“)
5. How to get air pollution lower still, to minimise its impact on COVID-19 death rates and further reduce pressure on the NHS?
6. How to plan for when restrictions are eased but social distancing still means many fewer (perhaps only 20% or 1 in 5 of pre-virus) people can use public transport?

https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1250672383490473984?s=20

How are Cities Responding?

Newcastle City Council has responded with a very generous offer of free parking for key workers, potentially costing the Council millions of pounds in foregone charges, as it is not clear that this is something the Government will refund.

This would make no sense under normal circumstances but, now traffic volumes are much smaller, parking charges are not so important for managing traffic levels or air pollution.

To continue to support key workers we are extending free #parking in all of our on and off street spaces in #Newcastle while #coronavirus #COVID19 lockdown arrangements are in place.

Read all about it: https://t.co/mAWzCqzles pic.twitter.com/k2FraTVS7y

— NewcastleCityCouncil (@NewcastleCC) April 14, 2020

Berlin, on the other hand is massively expanding safe traffic-free bicycle lanes to enable doctors, nurses and other key workers to travel to work, making roads safer, reducing hospital admissions due to traffic collisions and helping to minimise air pollution. As well as helping those without access to a car, it gives an additional cheap and healthy option for those that do.

This also creates a further option for exercise and, if retained as lockdown is eased, enables others without access to vehicle a way of travelling longer distances within the city without having to use public transport.

A lot of cities are talking about making wider bike infra during the #coronavirus crisis. In Berlin, they're going ballistic doing it. @PBroytman sent me this amazing gallery: https://t.co/jYR1nqOL7T AMAZING. pic.twitter.com/wAwhNat0CV

— Mikael Colville-Andersen (@colvilleandersn) April 10, 2020

In Sydney, Australia, pedestrian crossings have been changed to give an automatic green light rather than needing to press a button. Surfaces that are touched frequently, like pedestrian crossing buttons, lift buttons, petrol pumps or door handles are a known transmission risk, so this has the potential to reduce transmission of the virus. This is also why it is important to wash hands when returning home and avoid touching your face.

https://twitter.com/andrewconstance/status/1241872088249413632

In the West Midlands, NHS workers have been offered free travel on buses and trams. This is clearly a welcome gesture for those that have no choice but to use local buses or trams but of limited use given Government guidance to avoid public transport if at all possible.

I am pleased to announce that all NHS staff can now travel for free on buses and trams in the West Midlands. NHS workers are putting their lives on the line day after day to tackle Coronavirus, and we should be doing all we can to support them.https://t.co/bphffqxknZ pic.twitter.com/9cmyAODeBj

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) April 2, 2020

On the Isle of Man, the maximum speed limit including on rural roads has been set to 40mph. Reducing the speed limit means that crashes are less frequent and, when they do happen, less severe. This again helps reduce hospital admissions due to traffic collisions.

Reducing speed limits is one of the suggestions made by the Lower the Baseline campaign as outlined in this British Medical Journal blog. Baseline, in this case, meaning the number of hospital admissions for reasons not related to COVID-19 so that the NHS can maximise resources available to treat people who do have COVID-19.

To ALL motorists on the Isle of Man.

Please be advised that as of midnight tonight, there will be a maximum speed limit of 40mph on all roads over 40mph. You should observe 20mph and 30mph signs as normal.#40ToSaveLives pic.twitter.com/2L3jXvOdBR

— TweetbeatIOM #RespectIOM (@TweetbeatIOM) March 27, 2020

A number of American cities have closed streets to through traffic, substantially reducing traffic levels on those streets but retaining access for vehicles that need it. In our blog Lots of children want to cycle to school, but hardly any do. How do we make space for child cycling in Gosforth? we shared UK research that showed this was one of the types of roads that parents would be happy to use cycling with their children.

Boston, Minneapolis, Oakland and other cities have temporarily banned through traffic on streets, giving pedestrians and cyclists extra elbow room during the coronavirus pandemic-Cities Close Streets to Cars, Opening Space for Social Distancing – The NYT https://t.co/D8DQSPIHqB

— IFPedestrians (@IFPedestrians) April 12, 2020

In  Hackney, East London, a similar approach is being taken showing that it is possible to implement access-only streets quickly in the UK.

#Hackney (#London) announces plans to "filter" streets, to protect people from rat running drivers & ease pressure on parks & open spaces during #COVID19 crisis – https://t.co/nZQc5kEHZy https://t.co/d8U3P4uNhp thanks @laura_laker

— IFPedestrians (@IFPedestrians) April 12, 2020

In Liverpool, the no-cycling restriction on the Queensway Tunnel is being relaxed so people who need to can use the route for essential journeys.

To assist key workers making essential journeys cross river, the Queensway (Birkenhead) Tunnel will temporarily be open to cyclists

Before using your bike in the tunnel, please check the information on our website👇https://t.co/LjVlqgv0rc pic.twitter.com/sfWXfDMRV3

— Merseytravel (@Merseytravel) April 14, 2020

In Barnes, in London, local businesses have taken the initiative to cone off part of the road for people to use on foot or when queuing for shops.

Good feedback to this great initiative by local businesses with help from @BarnesCommAssoc & @FriendsBC -reallocating road space for pedestrians to allow residents to respect social distancing guidelines while queuing outside shops.Hope @LBRUT are watching. Pic by @charliecampion pic.twitter.com/X6WAyoTUNB

— Raphael ZY🇪🇺 (@raphaelzy3) April 10, 2020

In Washington DC, cones and barriers have been used where there are narrow pavements, to allow people to pass without having to step into the road. Now there is much less vehicle traffic, it makes sense to reallocate space to where it is most needed.

https://twitter.com/CatrionaSwanson/status/1248876216758796289

Perhaps the two most impressive responses so far are from France and New Zealand.

In France, the government has confirmed that it is planning on cycling being the principal transport mode once restrictions are eased. Certainly if the vast majority of public transport users were to drive instead, as may well happen if cities do not intervene, then congestion, pollution, road danger and greenhouse gas emissions would all increase substantially. For the UK, that in addition to COVID-19 would place a substantial burden on the NHS.

https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1250401656870703104

In New Zealand, the government has confirmed a new ‘tactical urbanism’ fund. People have already changed how, when and why they travel as a result of COVID-19. This fund will support cities to implement changes that support these new patterns of movement.

Seizing an opportunity for rapid and radical change. Tactical urbanism in New Zealand to fund pop-up bike lanes, and widened sidewalks during lockdown https://t.co/4wxSvS7RcX

— Tom Rushby (@tom_rushby) April 14, 2020

These are all just examples of what cities are doing. We have included a longer list below and the American Pedestrian and Bicycle Information centre is also maintaining a list here. If you are on Twitter, you might want to follow @BrentToderian, @citycyclists and @MikeLydon, all of whom have shared multiple examples on their Twitter feeds.

What is perhaps most striking about these changes is how quick they have been implemented. Covid-19 is a genuine crisis, and in an emergency authorities need to react quickly expediting normal processes if required.

COVID-19 vs Air Pollution deaths

Many of the changes proposed above and in the longer list below will also support a reduction in air pollution, and as a result a reduction in people suffering and dying from conditions caused by air pollution. Reducing air pollution will also help reduce chronic respiratory and heart diseases that make it harder for someone to recover from COVID-19.

Right now, COVID-19 is the absolute priority and the graph below illustrate why. 40,000 deaths per year in the UK from air pollution equates to approximately 12 deaths per million per week vs 40 per week from COVID-19 and accelerating fast in week 7 in the USA.

Over time though, air pollution is still a substantial threat to health so Governments and Local Authorities need to ensure that in responding to COVID-19 they are not delaying further the urgent action that is required to address the threat from air pollution. It is likely that there will be further future COVID-19 outbreaks, after the one we are in now, and if air pollution can be cut that will help reduce death rates in those future outbreaks.

Source: https://twitter.com/VincentRK/status/1251140496870735872

WHO Technical Guidance: Moving around during the COVID-19 outbreak

Link: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-technical-guidance/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak-technical-guidance-europe/moving-around-during-the-covid-19-outbreak

ACTIVE TRAVEL CHANGES

Sydney, Australia
Automated pedestrian crossings.
Source: https://twitter.com/andrewconstance/status/1241872088249413632

Queensland, Australia
Automated pedestrian crossings.
Source: https://twitter.com/TMRQld/status/1244746383262912519

Brussels, Belgium
Brussels adapts >100 traffic lights in favor of cyclists and pedestrians. Waiting times reduced by 20sec (average), some up to 40sec.
Source: https://twitter.com/dimitristrobbe/status/1246092862653153280

Brussels is putting massive plant pots in the streets to create extra space for walking and cycling
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1250157191778222080

Seattle, Washington, USA
Changing signal times to reduce wait times for people walking and cycling.
Source: https://twitter.com/seattledot/status/1248762875025465346

Bogotá, Columbia
22km of new in-street bikeways are being created “overnight,” by turning a lane for cars into two-way bike-lanes
Source: https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1239581801279942659

Calgary, Canada
Testing weekend road closures on 6 major roads, disabled 50 pedestrian ‘beg buttons’
Source: https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1244000505262563330

Berlin, Germany
Replacing car lanes with new cycle paths
Source: https://twitter.com/philipoltermann/status/1244189207867854848
Also: https://twitter.com/colvilleandersn/status/1248645263457214464

Bristol, UK
Replacing part of the road with a running lane (unofficial)
Source: https://twitter.com/DrLouisRice/status/1243913532544028679

New Zealand
Government fund for pop-up bike lanes and widened sidewalks
Source: https://twitter.com/tom_rushby/status/1250033398053289984

Denver, Colorado, USA
Some Denver streets will close to cars
Source: https://twitter.com/MikeLydon/status/1246500510116577281

Budapest, Hungary
Budapest to install bike lanes will help traffic during the pandemic, and encourage greater use of cycling as people start to return to work.
Source: https://twitter.com/PatrickDuce/status/1247807344517369856

Oakland, California, USA
74 miles of street closures
Source: https://twitter.com/ashk4n/status/1248442190017122304
Also (video): https://twitter.com/carltonreid/status/1249987195324239872

Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
Sidewalk widening
Source: https://twitter.com/MassDCR/status/1248670215300358152
Also: https://twitter.com/BlineTransport/status/1250512090617516032

Washington DC, USA
Wider sidewalks
Source: https://twitter.com/CatrionaSwanson/status/1248876216758796289

France
Bicycle to be the principal transport mode to enable social distancing
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1250401656870703104

Berkeley, California, USA
Repurposing streets for essential traffic only (unofficial)
Source: https://twitter.com/WalkBikeBerk/status/1250278699645067264

Liverpool, UK
To assist key workers making essential journeys cross river, the Queensway (Birkenhead) Tunnel will temporarily be open to cyclists
Source: https://twitter.com/Merseytravel/status/1250077816345047042

London, UK
TfL considers measures during lockdown to help physical distancing
Source: https://twitter.com/EmmaGibsonLTW/status/1250343251552305152

Hackney, London, UK
Filtered streets to protect people from rat running drivers and ease pressure on parks and open spaces.
Source: https://twitter.com/london_cycling/status/1250065125933043717

Burlington, Vermont, USA
17.5 miles of slow streets.
Source: https://twitter.com/MikeLydon/status/1250054691347738627

Manchester, UK
Filtered neighbourhood streets
Source: https://twitter.com/NQForum/status/1249315086684106752

Brighton and Hove, UK
Roads reclaimed by pedestrians and pedal power
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1249607388883279872

Montreal, Canada
A parking lane will be closed along a 2.7km stretch of Mont-Royal Avenue, to make it easier for people to walk to shopping.
Source: https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1248076792683888640

North Vancouver, Canada
Road closed other than to cycles
Source: https://twitter.com/jordanback/status/1248670445743661057

Edmonton, Brampton, Montreal, Kitchener, Vancouver & Winnipeg, Canada
Bicycle / active transportation routes.
Source (see thread): https://twitter.com/g_meslin/status/1248434325692923904
Also (Vancouver): https://twitter.com/cfulgham/status/1248326654537195525

Barnes, UK
Pavement widening next to shops
Source: https://twitter.com/raphaelzy3/status/1248604675764436996

Austin, Texas, USA
Removing car lanes to create cycle lanes
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1248908428963131392

San Francisco
Rapid transformation to prioritise transit and cycling
Source: https://twitter.com/KCGrock/status/1248019256282738689

DesMoines, Iowa, USA
Opening streets around a park for social distancing.
Source: https://twitter.com/LenaGReynolds/status/1250127581535404037

Milan, Italy
Turning 35km of streets over to cyclists and pedestrians
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/21/milan-seeks-to-prevent-post-crisis-return-of-traffic-pollution

PRIVATE VEHICLE / PUBLIC TRANSPORT CHANGES

London, UK
Road user charging suspended
Source: https://twitter.com/TfL/status/1241085664050937860

Isle of Man, UK
Reduced speed limit to 40mph max.
Source: https://twitter.com/TweetbeatIOM/status/1243579094207520769

Vienna, Austria
Reduced speed limits, people asked to walk in the streets
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1248708352064045056

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Free parking
Source: https://twitter.com/NewcastleCC/status/1250121831517958147

West Midlands, UK
Free bus and tram travel for NHS workers
Source: https://twitter.com/andy4wm/status/1245752164208836610

SUMMARY ARTICLES

Can we improve the NHS’s ability to tackle covid-19 through emergency public health interventions?
Source: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/24/can-we-improve-the-nhss-ability-to-tackle-covid-19-through-emergency-public-health-interventions/

TOP 10 WAYS cities can create NEW space on streets for people walking & biking close to home while #PhysicalDistancing during the #COVIDー19 pandemic, video by Brent Toderian
Source: https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1248289951868801024

Op-Ed: Let’s Build a Network of ‘Quiet Streets’, John Massengale, StreetsBlogNYC
Source: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/03/30/op-ed-lets-build-a-network-of-quiet-streets/

To help get essential workers around, cities are revising traffic patterns, suspending public transit fares, and making more room for bikes and pedestrians. CityLab article
Source: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2020/04/coronavirus-city-street-public-transit-bike-lanes-covid-19/609190/

World cities turn their streets over to walkers and cyclists
Source: https://twitter.com/dbornat/status/1248890401634779136

Coronavirus: Cycling numbers in Scotland jump during lockdown
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52269964

Massive shift from public transport to private car in China as a result of Covid-19
Source: https://twitter.com/giulio_mattioli/status/1248969813776633858

Financial Times: “The growth in demand for bikes reflects in part a reluctance among healthcare staff to commute on public transport services”
Source: https://twitter.com/citycyclists/status/1248899401248133120

Opinion: the magic of empty streets – New York Times
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/opinion/coronavirus-tips-new-york-san-francisco.html

Transport in the time of the Coronavirus crisis: what we need to do NOW, Road danger reduction forum
Source: https://rdrf.org.uk/2020/04/11/transport-in-the-time-of-the-coronavirus-crisis-what-we-need-to-do-now/

How Councils and Transport professionals can work on active travel to address the impact of Covid 19, Mark Strong.
Source: https://twitter.com/ibikebrighton/status/1249830229369069573

Tracker for how cities respond – Mike Lydon & ITDP US
Source: https://twitter.com/ITDPUS/status/1249788874118791168

US National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) COVID-19: Transportation Response Center

The post How are city transport planners responding to COVID-19? appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Earlier this year, Newcastle City Council updated its proposals for High West Jesmond as part of the overall Jesmond Streets for People plans. The council signalled that it was considering other options for how the budget might be used to improve walking and cycling.

The new plans published in March are set out on the High West Jesmond Residents’ website. This blog is about SPACE for Gosforth’s input to the process, which was shared with the Council at the end of March 2019. The original scheme is (at the time of writing) still available on the Streets for People website.

In this proposal we have considered a wider area bounded by Gosforth High Street, Church Road/Station Road and Haddricks Mill Road/Jesmond Dene Road, rather than just High West Jesmond. Looking at one area in isolation would have the potential to push traffic onto other residential streets, whereas looking at a wider area helps to avoid this.

We are sharing this as a draft and would welcome any feedback on the proposal itself and on the approach taken, which we have explained below. Although we don’t have detailed costings, our belief is that what we have proposed would lead to much greater benefits over a wider area at a much reduced cost, and at the same time would minimise the impact on residents who do need to drive for some journeys.

Streets for People – High West Jesmond

The Streets for People project overall aims to enable more people to walk and cycle in three areas, each of which has a budget of £1m funded by a grant from the Department of Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Fund.

The Council’s new proposals retain the cycle lane on Ilford Road between Moorfield and Jesmond Dene Road but other than that seem to have little benefit for walking or cycling. We were surprised the Ilford Road cycle lane was included in the Streets for People proposals as it was part of the recommendations from the Blue House working group so we expected it would be funded from that budget rather than diluting the Streets for People funding.

The other new proposals were to include speed bumps on Moorfield and at the junction with Ilford Road and continuous pavement on the north side of Moorfield. Based on experience elsewhere in Gosforth (Hollywood Avenue, Regent Farm Road), we wouldn’t expect speed bumps by themsleves to make any great difference to the liveability or safety of the street. Continuous pavement is usually used along main roads so may have the opposite effect and encourate people to believe that Moorfield is to be used as a main road for through traffic.

Issues and Concerns

There is a reasonable amount of data to describe issues in the area east of Gosforth High Street, including high or illegal levels of air quality on the surrounding main roads, and high volumes of traffic, much of which is speeding, on residential streets.

This data is backed up by comments shared by residents during the Streets for People and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) consultations. Ilford Road, Moorfield and Moor Road South are frequently mentioned as problem streets with high traffic volumes and speeding.

High West Jesmond Residents’ Group held a meeting that resulted in similar comments shown in the slide below. This we previously reported in the SPACE for Gosforth blog about the original proposals. High West Jesmond Residents also produced their own blog setting out their concerns and thoughts in a bit more depth.

These broadly align both with the data and LCWIP / Streets for People consultation feedback.

The idea of a trial also makes sense as that would allow residents to evaluate changes to determine if concerns will be realised or if proposals might be improved prior to more permanent implementation.

Objectives and Opportunities

We also have data from the SPACE for Gosforth Your Streets – Your Views survey, which gives an  indication of what people will support and shows that reducing through traffic and safe walking and cycling routes to schools could be popular.

Separately, we know local Councillors support similar aims, below from the 2018 local Council elections. These include the option to trial interventions.

Bringing these together we can come up with some objectives for this proposal before even looking at what measures might be implemented.

So, for this proposal we are aiming to meet the Streets for People objectives, reduce speeding traffic, make it safer to walk and cycle to schools and reduce traffic on residential streets.

We have also noted concerns about displacing traffic on to other residential streets and longer journey times by car.

By residential streets we mean streets that enable access to people’s homes but aren’t designated for through traffic. In the map above red lines show the routes of ‘primary distributor’ roads for through traffic including Jesmond Dene Road and Haddricks Mill Road. Orange lines show ‘secondary distributor’ roads including Gosforth High Street, Church Road and Station Road. These define the boundary of the area we are looking at, which goes beyond the current scope of Jesmond Streets for People but needs considering as one.

None of Moorfield, Moor Road North or South, Ilford Road or The Grove are designated for through traffic but all carry relatively high volumes of vehicles, many of which are currently using those streets as if they are main roads.

Analysis

Looking at a map of this area, it is noticeable how the area is already split by the Metro line and an east-west line including The Valley and the grounds of South Gosforth First School. Travel between these areas is limited to one or two options whether you are walking, cycling or driving.

To help with the analysis we have split the area into three sub-areas each with limited connectivity to the other. So, High West Jesmond forms one of these areas connecting north via either Moor Road South or Ilford Road.

We haven’t included areas west of Moor Road or The Admirals (Beatty Avenue, Sturdee Gardens, Keyes Gardens) as these are already quiet streets with little through traffic.

For each of these areas we have used Google Maps directions to determine how long it would take to travel to Blue House, Haddricks Mill and to the High Street / Salters Road junction, and what options there are for routes. All journeys to or from the area by car would have to go through one of these junctions.

For example, Google Maps gives three different options for travelling from High West Jesmond to Haddricks Mill. One via Moor Road South / The Grove, one via Ilford Road and a third via Haddricks Mill Road. At 8.30am on a Monday morning the Haddricks Mill Road route is the quickest. We have used 8.30am on a Monday so that we take account of peak traffic on main roads and as this is also when children are travelling to school.

Travelling from High West Jesmond to Gosforth High Street, two routes are equally quick by car. One via Gosforth High Street and the other via Moor Road North. Of these it would be preferable to route traffic via Gosforth High Street which is designated for through traffic rather than Moor Road North which is a residential street.

In the other direction, the quickest route calculated at 5pm on a Monday afternoon is via Blue House roundabout.

Using these calculations and a few others not shown, we can determine the quickest vehicle routes to and from High West Jesmond. These do not require the use of Ilford Road and only use Moor Road South in a northerly direction.

The map belows shows what happens when the same analysis is repeated for the areas marked out by purple and orange dashed lines. From the purple area the quickest car journeys are via Church Road/Church Avenue/Station Road to the High Street and Haddricks Mill, and to Blue House via The Grove. The orange area is the same except that the quickest journey to Blue House is via Haddricks Mill Road.

Having completed this analysis we can draw some conclusions.

1. If Ilford Road south of Rectory Avenue and Stoneyhurst Road at the Metro bridge were closed to vehicle traffic it would make no real difference to journey times by car. Some people who previously used those routes but change to using quicker routes may see their journey time reduce.
2. If the southern end of Moor Road South was made northbound-only that also would make no difference to journey times.

Continuing the analysis, making the southern end of Moor Road North south-bound only where it meets The Grove would stop north-bound traffic using Moor Road North as an alternative to the High Street, again without impacting journey times. Residents returning to St Nicholas Avenue, Belle Vue Avenue and Rectory Grove from Blue House can travel via the Grove / Church Avenue.

Making these changes would dramatically reduce the amount of traffic on the estate while making very little difference to journey times by car for residents. The one exception would be The Grove but this could be closed to through traffic between Grove Park Crescent and Stoneyhurst Road West. In this case residents of St Nicholas Avenue, Belle Vue Avenue and Rectory Grove would use Grove Park Crescent to access their properties. Although this would displace some traffic to Grove Park Crescent it is likely to be fairly small.

Reducing through traffic also makes the roads safer and more pleasant for walking and cycling, and safer for children travelling to local schools.

Proposal

Clearly any analysis like this won’t capture every consideration, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. We would also like your feedback, as described at the end of this blog, to help us refine and improve this proposal if possible.

Our draft proposal submitted to Streets for People was to use temporary measures to stop through traffic on Ilford Road, make the south end of Moor Road North one way going south, and the south end of Moor Road South one way going north. These could be made permanent if the trial is successful. The remainder of Moor Road North and South would still have two-way traffic.

We would also propose stopping through traffic at the Stoneyhurst Road Metro bridge on a similar basis along with a “school street”  on Alnmouth Drive to further improve safety for children travelling to and from school.

Possibly some of the traffic that was using residential streets might re-route via the local main road network, but given closing Killingworth Road didn’t lead to an increase in traffic on The Great North Road nor Benton Lane, the impact is likely to be minimal.

While any initial implementation is likely to use temporary materials to confirm the approach works, longer term we hope the closures might be used to introduce more greenery. A good example of how this has been done is at Ampton Street nor far from Kings Cross Station, where part of the road has been replaced by gardens with planting and seats.

Evaluation and Feedback

Looking back at the objectives, we think this proposal would do what we set out to achieve. With less traffic, local streets become quieter and more liveable and better for walking and cycling. A similar scheme at Waltham Forest resulted in increased levels of walking and cycling, and is expected to lead to substantial health benefits for those living in the area.

That’s our view but we would like to hear your feedback as well. Specifically:

1. If you live in the area, would the proposal make it easier or harder for you to travel or encourage you to travel differently?
2. If harder please do give us details of the journey that might be worse. E.g. starting street or area and approximate destination and how and when you travel.
3. Any other related concerns not met by the proposal.

The post East Gosforth – Streets for People appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Disabled people cycle too you know!

It came as news to me that some people with disabilities find cycling easier than walking. They say it takes less effort and puts less strain on painful joints. Jenny Gristock wrote in the British Medical Journal describing her experience and there are many others like her.

But there is a problem when disabled cyclists come across a ‘Cyclists Dismount’ sign or a kerb or gate or even a cycle rack that isn’t wide enough. People sometimes cannot simply get off and walk.

Wheels for Wellbeing have published a guide to inclusive cycling covering what disabled cyclists need. It’s worth a look and is a good reference.

Many use ordinary bikes but there are lots of especially adapted cycles. The Tim Lamb Centre in North Tyneside have some examples and very kindly let us borrow them. Adapted cycles tend to be longer, wider and lower so smooth, flat, wide paths are best.

A recumbent tricycle and a wheelchair adapted cycle from The Tim Lamb Centre.

SPACE for Gosforth thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the paths and facilities in Gosforth and Newcastle through the eyes of disabled cyclists and feed the results into the Local Cycling and Walking Investment Plan (LCWIP).

We set out one rainy November day in high spirits to ride some familiar local routes. We looked for obstacles on the way. We checked the new routes and the old. We looked at what it’s like to go to the park, the shops and cafes as well as some main city destinations such as the Universities, the Library and Laing Art Gallery.

And what did we find? We found that cycle routes and facilities that are good for disabled people are exactly those that are good for everyone. Wide, smooth, flat routes free of bollards, gates, kerbs and speed bumps. These are what disabled people need…..and also what children need, and mums and dads, and older people and indeed everybody else.

High quality cycleways suitable for disabled cycling at John Dobson Street and Brandling Terrace.

Nice facilities at the university but there is a kerb and the racks are too close for a wider adapted cycle.

Sometimes the button is just out of reach………….or you have to get off and open a gate.

The post Inclusive Cycling in Gosforth appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Newcastle City Council is after feedback about your experience of walking and cycling around Newcastle and how that experience could be improved. This might include better pavements, better crossings, more space for cycling, improved junctions, lower vehicle speeds or less traffic.

This is being done in support of the national Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which outlines the Government’s ambition “to make cycling and walking a natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of longer journeys by 2040”. Ultimately this should result in a network of good quality walking and cycling routes where people feel safe and which can be used by all ages and abilities.

Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and ideas on the consultation website. Please do also read through comments other people have made about the routes you use and, if you agree, ‘like’ those comments to show your agreement. Every comment or like is a piece of evidence the Council can use to determine what improvements are most needed and the order in which they should be implemented.

The consultation is open until 8 March 2019.  There are drop-in events too during February.

How will this feedback be used?

The rest of this blog is to explain the process from gathering information in the above consultation through to the creation of a prioritised list of improvements that together will form the Newcastle Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). This is based on the Government’s LCWIP Technical Guidance.

Newcastle is one of 38 Local Authorities that have been asked by the Government to produce a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.

The Government’s LCWIP Objectives

These are the objectives included in the LCWIP technical guidance that set out for Local Authorities what each LCWIP should aim to achieve.

These align with SPACE for Gosforth’s own aims for healthy, liveable, accessible and safe neighbourhoods.

Key amongst these are “streets where cyclists and walkers feel they belong, and are safe”, “places designed for people of all abilities and ages so they can choose to walk or cycle with ease”, and “more networks of routes around public transport hubs and town centres, with safe paths along busy roads”.

Process

The technical guidance also sets out the process in which the key actives are network planning for walking and network planning for cycling, which we will focus on below.

Planning for public and stakeholder engagement is part of stage 1.

Gathering Information

The LCWIP guidance identifies a range of data sources, many of which SPACE for Gosforth has already looked at including traffic volumes and speeds, air quality and collision data. Newcastle City Council has also commissioned its own surveys including the Bike Life Report and sought residents input via its Streets for People project covering Jesmond, Heaton and Ouseburn, Arthurs Hill and Fenham. Information from the consultation referenced at the top of this blog will also be fed into the process.

Network Planning – Origins and Destinations

Network planning for walking and cycling are similar in that both require the identification of origins and destinations. Typically origins will be residential areas and destinations will be shops, schools, workplaces and transport hubs. The walking and cycling networks should support journeys from residential areas to destinations but also between destinations e.g. for someone walking or cycling from the offices at Regent Centre to the High Street for their lunch.

Once origins and destinations have been determined, the next step is to group those that are close together e.g. Gosforth library, swimming pool and Regent Centre offices might all be in one cluster.

We have created a map of destinations for Gosforth. If you think we have missed any destinations please let us know via the comments below.

Core Walking Zones and Key Walking Routes

To determine where to focus walking improvement, the technical guidance suggests identifying Core Walking Zones, which are locations where there are multiple destinations in the same area.

Having identified the core walking zones, the next steps are to identify the main current and potential walking routes to and from the core walking zones.  Part of the analysis is to look at ‘severance’ where a walking route has a dog-leg as a result of some sort of barrier, which in Gosforth might include Metro lines, boundaries of housing estates and the Town Moor. Potential improvements to reduce severance might include new footpaths or a new bridge over the Metro line.

The diagram below shows the SPACE for Gosforth proposal for a Gosforth High Street “Core Walking Zone” and other nearby destinations.  Potential improvements for walking are listed at the end of this blog but for the High Street could include removing street clutter, additional planting or seating, and reducing traffic speeds.

Network Planning for Cycling 

For cycling, the aim is to create a network of routes that connect origins and destinations, with the aim that adjacent routes within the network should not be any more than 400m apart. Routes should be of a consistent quality so that they can be used by all ages and abilities.

We set out the process for creating a cycling network in our SPACE for Gosforth blog: Building a Safe Cycling Network for Gosforth. The LCWIP process is very similar to this. The key stages are:

1. Identifying and grouping origins and destinations.
2. Identifying desire lines between origins and destinations.
3. Converting desire lines into preferred routes.
4. Considering additional requirements such as signage and cycle parking.

We have used the Government guidance to produce what a potential cycle network map covering Gosforth and nearby areas could look like.

Any routes proposed, including those in the map above, would need to be assessed against the following specified design standards.

• Coherent: i.e. to be of consistent quality, easy to navigate and linking places where people want to go, such as the local destinations on the map above.
• Direct: to encourage people to use the routes rather than shorter alternatives that may not be so suitable for cycling and “to make cycling preferable to driving“.
• Safe: especially reducing vehicle speeds and removing the need for people cycling to come into close proximity with motor traffic.
• Comfortable: minimal stopping and starting and avoiding conflict with other road users.
• Attractive.

The guidance also states that “As well as the key routes that join origin and destination points, there is a wider network of quiet streets. While it can be assumed that conditions generally are acceptable for cycling due to lower speeds and volumes of motor traffic, some routes will require infrastructure improvements. For example at junctions with busy roads, or to cross physical barriers such as rivers, canals and railway lines.”

We can see in Gosforth that the network developed so far falls short of these measures, for example on the Great North Road and Gosforth High Street there are a wide variety of different route types some of which involve cycling in heavy traffic.

In our blog Building a Safe Cycling Network for Gosforth we included the following assessment showing protected / traffic-free cycling routes in green and low-traffic neighbourhoods enclosed in blue.  It is clear from this that there is a substantial amount to do in Gosforth to meet the Government’s ambition for cycling to be a natural choice for shorter journeys.

Prioritisation and Local Policy

The final stages of the LCWIP cover prioritisation of improvements based on ease of implementation and likely benefit, and embedding the LCWIP into Council policy.

The LCWIP is already referenced in the Council’s Development and Allocation Plan, which SPACE for Gosforth has written about previously, and once the LCWIP has been produced, new developments will be required to link into the LCWIP walking and cycling networks.

Please don’t forget to add your comments!

Appendices

A – Potential Improvements for Walking 

B – Potential Data Sources for the Information Gathering Stage

C – Core Design Outcomes for Cycling (and Walking)

The post A Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Gosforth appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

There are lots of cycling activities in and around Gosforth over the summer including family cycle rides, children’s cycle coaching, Dr Bike sessions, challenge rides and even a Shakespeare play by a cycling theatre company.

If you know of any other related events please do let us know so we can add them into the programme, and keep checking back as we’ll be updating the list with more activities as they are confirmed.

Dr Bike*

Come along to a free Dr Bike session and get your bike fit for the summer.  During the Dr Bike session, the mechanic will give the bikes a general check over and will give advice and recommendations if needed.

HSBC UK Let’s Ride Newcastle

Sunday 29th is the annual HSBC Newcastle City Ride – where a loop around the City Centre is closed off to vehicles – so totally safe.

SPACE people are planning to ride in together, meeting at Gosforth Central Park War Memorial at 10:30 leaving at 10:45. We’ll be heading down through Jesmond on quiet roads and the new cycle paths near Jesmond Metro.

Link to our route below, do come and join us, always nice to ride in a large crowd.

Route map for Newcastle Let’s Ride Meetup Route 2018 by Peter Macdonald on plotaroute.com

The City Ride itself starts by the Civic Centre and does a loop around the centre of Newcastle including pitch-side at St James’ Park. Further details on the Let’s Ride website.

The BIG BIKE Revival 
The Big Bike Revival has been running for four years to inspire the 42% of people who own bikes, but who don’t cycle, to start riding. With events across England and Scotland, people attending benefit from free cycle checks, servicing, cycle maintenance workshops, cycle training and accompanied rides.

Cycling Without Age

Cycling Without Age – Newcastle upon Tyne will be joining us at Gosforth Central Park. He’s a video from BBC Newcastle showing what they are all about.

"It's living again" – The project helping older people to feel the wind in their hair 🚴 pic.twitter.com/t7PSdhsVYs

— BBC Sport Tyne & Wear (@bbcnewcastle) February 5, 2018

The Handlebards – Twelfth Night @ The Cycle HUB, Saturday 11 August 6.30pm

The world’s first cycling theatre company, The HandleBards, pedal from venue to venue with all the set, props and costume necessary to perform environmentally sustainable Shakespeare across the globe.

The post Gosforth Summer of Cycling 2018 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The post Family Cycle Ride appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Grandstand Road used to be one of the worst places to cycle in Gosforth, even with marked cycle lanes. With heavy traffic, often travelling in excess of the 40mph speed limit, cycle lanes barely wider than a set of handlebars and deteriorating surface, it was both scary and unforgiving. 

The picture above shows how it is now (May 2018) with a new road surface, and slightly wider cycle lanes provided by removing the central hatching which previously separated the two traffic lanes. The square bracket in the picture is to show where you and/or your family are expected to cycle.

What does this mean?

Clearly the changes are an improvement, though arguably not by much:

• The newly finished road surface is more comfortable to cycle on.
• The extra width of the cycle lane, now just meeting current minimum standards, gives a little bit more space.
• Removing the central hatching might help reduce the speed of the fastest vehicles.

Google Street View from 2012 showing the previous layout with central hatching.

The main thing that hasn’t changed is that people cycling are still expected to share the road with vehicles including buses and lorries, which can travel legally up to 40mph. Although collisions are thankfully rare, partly because few people would want to cycle in such conditions, if someone was to be hit by a vehicle at 40mph then nine out of ten times that would be the end of their life. If the vehicle is larger, say a bus as in the title picture, or is travelling faster, or the person is frail, a child or an older adult, then the chances of their survival would be even less.

Driving in the cycle lane

If everyone drives in the main carriageway and cycles in the cycle lane then there wouldn’t be a problem of course, but as with the title picture we know that won’t always happen. Plus, because the lanes are advisory, marked as a dashed line, it is perfectly legal for cars and buses to be driven in the cycle lanes.

Logically we know that if there was someone cycling, the bus driver would most likely have taken more care, slowed down and given additional space, as required by the Highway Code which says to give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room when overtaking as if overtaking a car. It is doubtful though that a parent deciding whether to cycle along Grandstand Road with their child would take much comfort from that.

So was the bus a one-off, or do lots of vehicles drive in the cycle lane? We went to have a look to see. The following four photos show four vehicles all driving in the cycle lane. See if you can guess how long it took to take these pictures – there’s a clue in the photos.

Did you spot the clue? On the first photo you can see a person walking towards the camera on the pavement just by the electronic sign. By the fourth photo he has walked three lampposts from where he started. So how long between the photos? About one minute or one vehicle in the cycle lane every fifteen seconds.

Cycling in the driving lane

Again, it’s perfectly legal to cycle on the main carriageway, but why would anyone do so given the choice? The lane itself is sufficiently wide (just) for a normal cycle and the surface is ok too.

Conveniently in the few minutes we spent watching, someone came past to illustrate exactly why. To be fair to the person cycling (who we don’t know) for most of the length of the road they were in the cycle lane. About where he is in the photo though it ceases to be of much use if travelling straight on towards Blue House roundabout.

Here’s a photo a few seconds later. Because the cycle lane stays to the left of the left turn lane, anyone wanting to go straight on who stayed in the cycle lane would have been trapped.

If that’s not very clear, here’s another photo. This bus is about to turn left.

The cycle lane isn’t a lot of help for anyone wanting to turn left onto the shared path either. A better design might have allowed left turns for people cycling bypassing the traffic signals, which is the standard approach for “cycle-proofed” junctions, though this would make little difference overall.

We also saw someone heading in the opposite direction heading up Cow Hill, quite sensibly avoiding the traffic by cycling on the pavement. Although pavement cycling is not ideal, Government guidance suggests this is acceptable where cycling on the road doesn’t feel safe, as is likely to be the case for many on Grandstand Road,  so long as the person cycling also shows consideration to other pavement users.

What if you don’t want to cycle or drive?

Back in 2015, in our letter to the Council about Blue House, we said Blue House should “be linked to footpaths and cycleways that traverse the length of the Northern Access Corridor from Cowgate in the west to Killingworth Road and Benton Park Road in the North so that those that wish to use this route have a full set of choices for how they do so“.

Travel planning via Google Maps shows that if you want to take public transport from Fenham to Gosforth/Haddricks Mill the only way to do so is to take two bus journeys via the centre of Newcastle, which wouldn’t be especially cheap or quick.

Actually cycling is competitive for this sort of distance, or at least would be if there was a cycling route that more people were willing to use. Whereas the bus journey is predicted to take 23 minutes, cycling is 13 minutes, car 8-18 minutes depending on traffic and 52 minutes to walk.

Who would use this route?

As we said on our Twitter feed back in 2017, if this route was made into a traffic-free path it could be used by children travelling from Gosforth to schools in Fenham such as Sacred Heart and St Cuthbert’s High schools. Many people will be travelling in the other direction to work in Gosforth and Longbenton.

With only one current viable travel option for most people – to drive – it is no wonder that Grandstand Road and Blue House are so busy. If we want to avoid increases in traffic here, then at the very least there need to be alternatives that give people options so they can choose to cycle or take the bus even if only for a few days each week.

… this isn’t suitable for children, but @StCharlesPrimNE & @StOswaldsRCgos kids could go to Fenham secondaries & others go to @DameAllans… pic.twitter.com/UwgDBSzmSI

— space for gosforth (@space4gosforth) June 6, 2017

The good news is that we know there is space to make a wider shared path on the Town Moor side of the road using the space that would no longer be required for the on-road cycle lanes. This would most likely also make it more pleasant for people who are walking. The Fenham side of Cow Hill already has a good quality shared path so should not require any further upgrade.

… & would really help with #BlueHouse issues especially as Fenham side of Town Moor really nice for roadside route https://t.co/LBFkRcyZt4 pic.twitter.com/gKcMjNCrTE

— space for gosforth (@space4gosforth) June 6, 2017

We hope that this simple upgrade, to enable travel between Gosforth and Fenham, can be completed as part of the overall Northern Access Corridor works that includes changes to Haddricks Mill and Blue House junctions.

Thanks to the Cycle Embassy of Great Britain for their ‘Insert loved one here‘ tool used in the title picture.

The post Grandstand Road appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

In January 2018, SPACE for Gosforth, together with SPACE for Heaton and SPACE for Jesmond wrote to Newcastle City Council to express our concern that no cycle ways and few pavements are cleared of ice in winter, despite it being the Council’s own policy to encourage people to walk and cycle more often.

– Letter to the Council January 2018
– Update 9/11/2018 Winter Service Policy November 2018

UK Roads Liaison Group best practice for local authorities suggests that snow and ice clearing approaches should be developed with local stakeholders and so we asked that this be discussed as part of the Cycle Stakeholder Forum on Thursday 25 January 2018.

We also shared the following map that shows that if you were to try to cycle using the currently gritted network you would have to use either 40mph+ or multi-lane roads  to enter the city from the north, east or south.

Following discussion at the Cycle Stakeholder Forum, we understand that:

1. The Council does have a winter service plan that covers current operation including some pavements but not cycle lanes.
2. The Council will do a review after March of the service plan and will consider the points raised in our letter as part of that review.
3. The output from that review will be brought back to the Cycle Stakeholder forum for further discussion and action.

Details for the Newcastle Cycle Stakeholder Forum can be found on the Newcastle City Council website.

This is the letter that we sent to the Council.

Re: De-icing pavements and cycle routes in winter.

We are writing as we are concerned by the Council’s current stance that no cycle ways and few pavements are cleared of ice in winter and that this is leading to a number of negative consequences, not least the potential and actual injury of people cycling or walking.

From speaking to Council officers we understand that budget is a significant issue, although also a matter of prioritisation as clearly the Council does have a budget for gritting including via its contract with Colas Ltd (1). That prioritisation however seems to be largely at odds with the Council’s own strategy. It is also at odds with UK Roads Liaison Group best practice guidance (2) as applied to the implementation of section 41 part 1A of the Highways Act 1980 which states that Newcastle Council as a highways authority is “under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.” (3)

Clearly under current policy, safe passage for people walking or cycling is endangered, and many might consider advice for people cycling to stick to the gritted network to be unacceptable given the only gritted routes into the city are dual carriageway and often with speeds that mean any collision would lead to serious injury or death.

It is also easy to determine that it would be reasonably practicable to de-ice the City’s main cycle routes and pavements both from the fact that a number of other local authorities do so and from the legal definition of ‘reasonably practicable’ that requires that risks must be averted unless there is a gross disproportion between the costs and benefits of doing so (4). In this case the benefits are obvious in reducing harm, in supporting Council strategy to promoting sustainable transport choices (Policy CS13); in meeting national air quality targets; and in maintaining access to the city for people who wish to, or have no choice but to, walk or cycle.

If the Council is serious in its wish to support the growth of active travel to improve the health, environment and economy of the City and its residents, then this is an issue that needs to be addressed. The question is not if but when, and planning for this should start immediately.

We are grateful that the Council has already taken up our request to publicise the lack of ice clearance so that people wishing to cycle are aware of the potential dangers.

In addition we ask that the Council prepares a target Winter Service Policy for walking and cycling networks with stakeholders (as suggested in the UK Roads Liaison Group best practice) including the Cycle Stakeholder Forum. This should include routes to be cleared, effective approaches for how they are to be cleared and also consideration of funding, though work on the former should not be delayed while funding is sought.

To support this work we have included below links to Highway Authorities in London, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham and Cambridgeshire, all of which have plans for clearing snow and ice from their cycling networks.

I would be grateful if you could include this on the agenda for the next Cycle Stakeholder Forum along with a draft plan from the Council for how it will develop the Winter Service Policy.

Kind regards,

SPACE for Gosforth, SPACE for Heaton, SPACE for Jesmond.

Notes

(1) Newcastle City Council’s contract with Colas Ltd. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/news/keeping-city-moving-winter-weather

(2) UK Roads Liaison Group, Well-maintained Highways – Code of Practice: http://www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org/en/utilities/document-summary.cfm?docid=C7214A5B-66E1-4994-AA7FBAC360DC5CC7  See in particular section 13.2

(3) Highways Act 1980 Section 41: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/41

(4) Legal definition of ‘reasonably practicable’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_v_National_Coal_Board

Update 9/11/2018 Winter Service Policy November 2018

The revised Winter Service Policy is to be presented to Council Cabinet on Monday 19 November. Details can be found on the Council’s website.

The updated policy (item 6 on the agenda) includes statements on both walking and cycling.

Certain walking routes will be treated if frost or ice is expected to last more than 48 hours, or if snow is expected to remain for more than 24 hours.

Most of the walking routes to be treated are in the city centre but they also include Gosforth High Street, Ashburton Road, Kenton Park shops, Park Avenue shops, Brunton Park shops, Melton Park shops and Wansbeck Road shops.

Cycling routes will not be treated except where they are on a road that will be gritted e.g. a shared bus and cycle lane, or where they share a pavement with one of the named footpaths.

The updated policy also contains a statement in a section on legal responsibility (page 3) that says that “it is recognised that it would not be practical for a Highway Authority to treat every road and footpath in the event that ice forms and/or snow falls.”

This does not exactly align to Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 that says that Highway Authorities must “ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.”  We would welcome any input from any legal professionals to assist in clarifying the extent of the Council’s legal responsibilities.

The post Snow and Ice appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.