Station Road – May 2022

Residents have reported high volumes of motor traffic and delays on Station Road, with this often being attributed to the effect of closing a number of minor roads to through traffic in 2020. In this blog we take another look at local traffic count data to see what is going on.

Closing local bridges – Recap

In May 2022, we looked at traffic levels on Station Road after local bridges were closed to through traffic. We found that traffic levels on Station Road did not increase after local bridges were closed to traffic, and in fact stayed at a similar level to 2018, as shown in the graph below.

Traffic Volumes on Station Road, measured 30m west of Bowsden Terrace – Data Extract May 2022

Traffic levels remained similar right up to March 2022, the latest month we had data for at the time, 19 months from when the bridges were closed in August 2020 and 12 months from when schools reopened (and traffic fully returned to normal) following Covid lockdowns in March 2021.

What happened then?

Now we have another year of data and we can see traffic levels on Station Road did increase after April 2022, by up to 10% in some months. This is shown on the red line (2022) and higher blue line (2023) in the graph below.

Traffic Volumes on Station Road, measured 30m west of Bowsden Terrace – Data Extract May 2023

In November 2022, traffic levels on Station Road were extremely high, averaging 18,525 vehicles per day over the month.

Why did traffic increase?

If the bridges were to have an effect it would most likely have been immediately after they were closed to traffic i.e. August/September 2020, and not at some random time over two years later, and they wouldn’t explain the unusually high traffic levels in November 2022.

One explanation could be overall growth in traffic, and consequently growth in traffic jams, aided by the Government’s fuel duty freeze. Since the start of the freeze in 2010 up to 2019, miles driven in Newcastle increased by nearly 7%, but again this would not explain the unusually high traffic levels in November 2022.

There was a local traffic ‘event’ in the autumn of 2022 – emergency roadworks for gas repairs on Jesmond Dene Road. These works lasted from May to December 2022, with the main works (and greatest disruption) between 24 October and 2 December.

A189 Jesmond Dene Road, reports of failed temp traffic signals at the junction of Moorfield for the works being carried out by @NGNgas #Newcastle pic.twitter.com/9roIBPVP0k

— North East Live Traffic (@NELiveTraffic) November 29, 2022

Between 4 – 14 November Jesmond Dene Road was closed to all traffic at the junction with Moorfield.

🚧Jesmond Dene Road (A189) will be closed to all traffic at the junction of Moorfield from midnight (4 Nov) for up to 10 days for emergency repairs by @NGNgas

✅ Access remains open for people on foot. Diversions will be in place. pic.twitter.com/rYaS5Wjp0K

— NewcastleCityCouncil (@NewcastleCC) November 4, 2022

We reported at the time that Google Live Traffic was showing heavy traffic on The Grove and, to a lesser extent, Ilford Road. The maps in the tweets below also show slow moving traffic on Station Road.

Google Live Traffic shows lots of driving on residential streets. We need low traffic neighbourhoods so that main road traffic stays on the main road network. pic.twitter.com/rWFzwKLdS8

— space for gosforth (@space4gosforth) November 7, 2022

Residents of The Grove also reported traffic was very busy, as well as higher noise levels and a collision as a result of the additional traffic.

Comment on Gosforth Traffic Facebook 11 November 2022

Traffic using The Grove as an alternative route would have been picked up by the Station Road traffic counter, explaining the increase in traffic levels between May and December. We can see from weekly traffic counts that the most traffic on Station Road was the week where Jesmond Dene Road was closed completely (7 November).

Displaced traffic

We also have traffic volumes for Haddricks Mill Road for the same period. The graph below shows that, from the start of roadworks in May 2022, there is a corresponding reduction in traffic levels on Haddricks Mill Road.

This may come as a surprise to residents of Haddricks Mill Road, for whom this whole period (apart from when the road was fully closed) was marked by continual traffic jams due to the road works.

This is to be expected though, as a temporary reduction in road capacity caused by temporary traffic lights will cause both traffic jams and a reduction in traffic volumes on the affected roads as some people take alternative routes.

Total gridlock (and CO2 galore) outside our homes EVERY morning in #SouthGosforth. I guess it makes a change from the dangerous speeding… @NewcastleCC any plans to address?? This isn’t sustainable. pic.twitter.com/iwiPrByUf6

— Ciara Small (@SmallWorldNE) May 24, 2022

This contrasts with permanent or longer-term road capacity reductions where it has been found that “significant reductions in overall traffic levels can occur, with people making a far wider range of behavioural responses than has traditionally been assumed“. This is why traffic changes are often trialled over a 6-18 month period, and why other long-term local road closures have shown no increase in traffic volumes on parallel roads.

Following completion of the road works, traffic counts also show that Haddricks Mill Road traffic levels didn’t immediately return to where they were, taking until March 2022 to return to previous levels.

Conclusion

• Traffic levels did increase on Station Road in 2022, up to about 10%, with a corresponding decrease on Haddricks Mill Road. The most likely reason for this was the road works on Jesmond Dene Road.
• Some of the traffic that would have used Haddricks Mill Road rerouted to use Station Road via The Grove. Roads east of Stoneyhurst Bridge remained largely traffic-free.
• This contrasts starkly with previous local road closures. No additional traffic was recorded on parallel routes following Stoneyhurst Road, Castle Farm Road or Killingworth Road closures. This may be because the roadworks on Jesmond Dene Road were announced with very short notice, and were only for a short period, so people weren’t able to or didn’t feel the need to adjust.
• Traffic using The Grove instead of Jesmond Dene Road will have created additional delay for people travelling by car/bus from Gosforth High Street to Haddricks Mill.
• Where there is short-term disruption, traffic will divert via whatever routes are available. While these routes are open to through-traffic, neither residents nor people wishing to walk or cycle away from heavy traffic can rely on them remaining low-traffic routes.
• Traffic levels on Station Road and Haddricks Mill Road appear to be returning to closer to historical (still very busy) levels since March 2023, however while motoring is relatively cheap compared to public transport and there is a lack of safe cycling routes, traffic levels are likely to continue to rise. Higher levels of traffic contribute to increased pollution, carbon emissions and danger for other road users, much more than localised congestion.

Reference – Other Traffic Reports

• Temporary traffic lights due to gas main work and roadworks on A189 Jesmond Dene Road at Moorfield – May 2022.
• Temporary traffic lights due to gas main work on A189 Matthew Bank at Jesmond Dene Road – September 2022
• Temporary traffic lights due to gas main work on A189 Jesmond Dene Road at Moorfield –  December 2022

The post Station Road traffic went up – what happened? appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Looking south down Haddricks Mill Road – Photo from Tyne and Wear UTMC

In our last blog we looked at traffic levels on Station Road. We found that neither Station Road nor Sandy Lane were busier or more congested following the closure of Stoneyhurst and Salters bridges.

In this blog we assess the impact of Haddricks Mill roadworks and closing Dene Bridge to motor vehicles.

Just like for Stoneyhurst Road and Salters Bridge, a large proportion of people who responded to the Dene Bridge consultation thought that it would result in displaced traffic and additional congestion on surrounding roads.

Dene Bridge Closure: Main Themes from ETRO Correspondence

Key Points

Traffic levels on Haddricks Mill Road are now back to (but not higher than) pre-2017 levels. This suggests that closing Dene Bridge to motor traffic hasn’t led to additional traffic on Haddricks Mill Road.

While the roadworks were clearly inconvenient to many, they had some positive side effects of fewer injuries, reduced traffic levels on Haddricks Mill Road and most likely a substantial, though temporary, cut in carbon emissions from less driving.

Traffic levels and air pollution measurements on Station Road (measured at the entrance to Haddricks Mill roundabout) remained high during the roadworks, but did reduce in 2020 due to Covid.

What has changed?

Three major changes have been implemented.

1. Between 2017 and 2019, Killingworth Road and the Metro bridge were widened allowing the addition of a bus lane and separate cycle path.
2. During 2020, Haddricks Mill roundabouts were moved slightly to increase traffic throughput. New traffic lights have a dual function of helping people cross, and controlling traffic flow to prioritise the busiest vehicle routes. Pavements have been widened and made to be shared between people walking and cycling.
3. From August 2020, Dene Bridge on Castles Farm Road can no longer be used by motor traffic, but can be used by people walking or cycling.

The locations of these changes are shown on the map below.

Roadworks timeline

The new Haddricks Mill junction was completed in the summer of 2020, marking the end of three years of roadworks at Haddricks Mill and on Killingworth Road.

• January 2017 – Northern Gas Networks (NGN) carry out initial exploratory work
• July 2017 – Killingworth Road and Salters Bridge close to traffic
• May 2019 – Killingworth Road opens southbound
• July 2019 – Killingworth Road open in both directions
• October 2019 – Salters Bridge re-opens to traffic
• October – December 2019 – Single lane operation on Killingworth Road
• November 2019 – Drivers warned on Salters Bridge
• February 2020 – Resurfacing works Haddricks Mill
• March 2020 –  Further warnings issued on Salters Bridge
• July 2020 – Resurfacing Haddricks Mill
• August 2020 – Castles Farm Road closes to motor traffic

Haddricks Mill Road Traffic

It is clear that the roadworks had a substantial effect on traffic on Haddricks Mill Road. Almost as soon as Killingworth Road was closed, traffic levels on Haddricks Mill Road dropped from about 17,500 vehicles per day down to 12,000 – 14,000. This is shown on the graph below.

While there are some big gaps in the data between 2018 and 2020, the counts we have remained low until mid-2021.

As carbon emissions are correlated with total miles driven, this is also likely to have temporarily reduced overall carbon emissions from traffic.

Since July 2021, traffic levels have been back where they were before 2017, but no higher. This suggests that closing Dene Bridge to motor vehicles has not caused any extra traffic on Haddricks Mill Road.

This is consistent with traffic counts that showed there was no increase in traffic on Station Road when Salters Bridge and Stoneyhurst Road were closed to motor traffic. We also previously found that traffic did not increase on either Great North Road or on Benton Lane after Killingworth Road was closed for roadworks.

These are all examples of ‘disappearing traffic’.

Haddricks Mill junction from Killingworth Road

Road Safety

Using the TADU Road Safety dashboard we counted injuries due to traffic collisions at Haddricks Mill junction. Between 2005 and 2016, there were 12.4 injuries on average per year making this one of the most dangerous junctions in the NE.

In 2018 and 2019 there were only two injuries in total, and only two in 2017.

The number of injuries remained lower in 2020 and 2021, which might be due to there being less traffic due to Covid, or possibly the changes the Council believed would improve safety at the junction are having an effect.

In 2019, we wrote to the Council to express our concerns that the new junction would not reduce collisions as (a) cycle routes were too slow and wiggly so people who already cycled would most likely continue to use the road, (b) multiple entry lanes are known to make roundabouts less safe, and (c) high corner radii mean vehicles can enter and exit the roundabout at a higher speed.

The new pavement, cycle lane and bus lane on Killingworth Road

Air Pollution

With traffic back to pre-2017 levels, and no obvious mitigations to reduce pollution in place, we remain concerned that pollution will return to previous levels.

Fears pollution levels will be dangerously high again at controversial Killingworth Roadhttps://t.co/eAJBUIAUOb

— The Chronicle (@ChronicleLive) June 4, 2019

There are two sites where Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) air pollution is monitored near Haddricks Mill. These are at the end of Station Road and by Dene Park House on Killingworth Road.

The graph above shows that the road works had little effect on air pollution on Station Road. This is perhaps not surprising as traffic levels on Station Road were fairly constant throughout.

While pollution wasn’t measured on Killingworth Road between 2018 and 2020, almost certainly it would have been much lower due to the complete absence of traffic. Pollution measurements for 2021 should be released in the autumn.

Summary

• Traffic has returned to 2016 levels now that the Haddricks Mill and Killingworth Road roadworks have finished.
• The roadworks had a positive side-effect in that, between 2017 and 2020, fewer people were injured in road traffic collisions and there was a temporary reduction in carbon emissions.
• Pollution levels, where measured, were largely unchanged due to the roadworks.
• Consistent with what we found for Salters Bridge and Stoneyhurst Road, closing Dene Bridge to motor traffic did not lead to any additional traffic on Haddricks Mill Road.

The post Haddricks Mill – Return of the Traffic appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Although our own movements are as restricted as everyone else, we have been able to use the on-line traffic cameras from the Urban Observatory to see how people are using streets in certain locations.

Any intervention by the Council needs assessing against other priorities, of which there are many. For that reason our suggestions have been chosen specifically for being cheap and easy to implement.

An overhaul could be on the wayhttps://t.co/gO8Ov4G4J0

— The Chronicle (@ChronicleLive) April 21, 2020

Gosforth High Street

In our blog from January 2016 “Everything wrong with our High Street starts here” we described how we had done a ‘blind walk’ with the help of local Guide Dogs and RNIB groups. This showed very clearly how sections of Gosforth High Street are narrow and cluttered, proving a challenge to those with visual impairments.

Substantially nothing has changed, all the challenges remain the same, except that the lack of space now impacts on all of us.

On Gosforth High Street it’s easy to find examples of people now walking in the road to ‘physically distance’ themselves from others.

This is actually one of the wider bits of the High Street but passing another person, or two people still requires you to walk on the road.

Cashpoints where people are waiting also seem to lead to people walking on or waiting on the road.

We’re not making a judgement of whether what people are doing is right or not, or if they could have been doing something else. It might be possible to place markers for people to queue along the High Street but that will only work up to a point and people will still have to walk on the road to get past the queue.

We should also remember these photographs are just snapshots in time so we cannot judge how long people were in the road, only that they were for a short period.

Lack of safe space to physically distance is an issue all along Gosforth High Street. The section highlighted below is one of the narrowest and in more normal times is busy with people waiting for buses.

On the other side of the road this is just as much of an issue.

Reallocating space for people to walk outside the former McColls shop would not even require a change to the road layout as it is already hashed out.

The same is true the other side of the bus stop.

The pictures also back up Council data that shows a substantial drop in traffic levels on Gosforth High Street. We have always argued that the High Street should be one vehicle lane in each direction to give more space for people walking, cycling and shopping. Now we have the additional need to give people more space for physical distancing.

Lower traffic levels combined with a very wide road is also leading to people driving too quickly, putting those using the road to ‘physical distance’ at risk of harm. Those walking on the road themselves are not causing anyone else any harm, and arguably are being responsible citizens by following government guidance.

As well as walking along the road, people also seem to be taking advantage of the reduced traffic levels to cross where they want to, rather than walking to a formal crossing, as seen in the examples below.

A simple arrangement with a few cones, similar to those shown below from roadworks to replace the crossing lights in April 2017, would quickly and easily add space where people could ‘physical distance’ and could also be used by people cycling.

Because the traffic lanes are narrower it would also be easier for people to cross the road. Narrower lanes have been shown as well to lead to a reduction in speeding traffic making the High Street safer for everyone and reducing the risk of collisions or injuries. Implementing the Council’s existing proposals for reduced speed limits on Gosforth High Street and the Great North Road would also help.

Enabling people to cycle safely, doesn’t only help key workers travel to work, but also to keeps pavements clear for people walking. There might be less traffic but the High Street still feels dangerous, not least because of the large number of buses and heavy vehicles.

The picture below from Leicester shows just how quick and easy it is to create a ‘Keyworker’s Corridor’ pop-up bike lane.

We’re creating a Keyworkers’ Corridor, close to @Leic_hospital #LRI – helping new and returning keyworker cyclists get to where they need to be quickly and safely #tacticalurbanism #leicbikeaid 🚲 #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/gaWTReRtFq

— Adam Clarke 🌹 (@OweniteAdam) April 27, 2020

In our previous blog How are city transport planners responding to COVID-19? we gave examples of what cities around the world are doing in response to COVID-19, to make it easier to walk and cycle to enable key workers to travel safely and create additional options for exercise, which is essential to keep us all fit and healthy.

Regent Centre

By the Regent Centre there are a number of pinch points. The pavement on the east side of the road is both narrow and hemmed in by railings, so even if people did want to use the road to ‘physical distance’ they would not be able to do so.

The central island is too small to allow people to ‘physical distance’. This could be fixed simply if the traffic lights were reset to allow people to cross the road in one movement. It would also help to make the sequence automatic so people don’t need to touch the push buttons and to increase the crossing time to allow people to keep their distance while crossing.

By Marks and Spencers, the combination of a queue for the shop, a bus stop and a busy pavement means people are frequently walking into the road, while traffic levels are still relatively high because Salters Bridge remains open to through traffic.

Just as on Gosforth High Street, we’ve also seen people wanting to cross the road where it is convenient to them rather than walking a longer distance to a location determined to be convenient for people driving.

In both pictures, above and below, the railings have created a risk because it is not possible to walk from the road onto the pavement.

Haddricks Mill

At Haddricks Mill, the junction is only partly built but is being used by people walking to and from work and on their daily exercise.

The key issue here is the size of the ‘sheep pens’ where people are forced to wait for opposing traffic flows in a space where physical distancing isn’t easily possible. These were bad for walking and for cycling under normal circumstances, and even worse now.

Just like on the High Street and Regent Centre, people will cross where it is convenient for them to do so. In this case also to maintain a distance from the other people crossing.

Given the World Health Organisation advice is now, when people need to travel to walk or cycle wherever possible, we hope the Council will take advantage of this pause in work to reconsider its proposal for Haddricks Mill. We have set out our observations and suggestions in two previous blogs: Horrible Haddricks and Horrible Haddricks – part 2.

Elsewhere in Gosforth 

Traffic cameras are only present on designated key routes for motor traffic but the same is happening all over Gosforth, both on main roads and on local streets. More people are walking and cycling for work or for exercise.

Hollywood Avenue is almost certainly the worst of the local streets for still having high volumes of speeding traffic conflicting with people, including children, who need to be out on foot or travelling to the Freeman. The Council have a ready made, cheap and proven solution to this problem.

Just a tiny illustration of what’s going on in our residential street. Lovely weather but as unsafe as ever. pic.twitter.com/GW31kyHxJ7

— Welovesalters (@welovesalters) April 21, 2020

Without taking steps to create more safe space, busy routes will be come difficult to use and existing safe routes like the Town Moor and the bridleway east of Melton Park risk being overcrowded.

The Town Moor, as well as being used for leisure, is a main route for people walking and cycling to the RVI. Creating some alternative safe routes, such as via Grandstand Road, would help.

Local residential streets are currently relatively quiet, but this may not last once restrictions ease if the Council does not intervene, especially if government guidance remains to avoid public transport. We set out an example of what might be possible for the streets east of Gosforth High Street in our blog East Gosforth – Streets for People.

If you have any other examples of streets in or around Gosforth that could be made better or safer for people to maintain physical distancing, please let us know via the comments below.

Bikes certainly are the new toilet paper! We're struggling to keep pace with demand, please bear with us! Unlike other bike shops we can't order more stock, all of our bikes are donated and then fully refurbished, a process which takes time. https://t.co/jPsXpt8EgM

— Recyke y'Bike (@RYBike) April 23, 2020

The post Physical Distancing appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Newcastle’s Grey Street: “One of the country’s most beautiful car parks”

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) air pollution is easy to miss. It’s invisible and odourless but kills 360 people a year in Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside and makes many more ill from asthma and other heart and lung conditions.

This blog summarises the official NO₂ air pollution measurements for the calendar year 2018, which were published in October 2019.

Key points

• In 2018, illegal levels of air pollution were recorded in Newcastle, Gateshead and in North Tyneside.
• In 2017 the worst reading across all three local authorities was 59μg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre). In 2018, sIx locations in Newcastle had even higher measurements.
• The worst location for air pollution in 2018 was at the Orchard Street taxi rank by Central Station, with a reading of 96μg/m³. We believe this is the worst NO₂ air pollution measurement ever recorded in Newcastle.
• Air pollution on Gosforth High Street has improved but still does not meet legal limits.
• Despite the ongoing illegal levels of air pollution, Newcastle City Council did not introduce any new measures in 2018 to improve air quality.

Air Pollution in Gosforth

In 2017, the worst pollution measurement for NO₂ was 59μg/m³ at the north end of Gosforth High Street. In 2018 pollution levels at the north end of Gosforth High Street have substantially improved to 44μg/m³ although this is still over the annual legal maximum of 40μg/m³.

In a previous blog we showed that pollution levels in 2016 and 2017 were strongly correlated to traffic volumes, however this doesn’t appear to be the case for Gosforth High Street in 2018. The only change we are aware of that may have contributed to this improvement is the introduction of newer buses in late 2017.

Previously two measurements had been taken by Haddricks Mill roundabout. In 2018, when Killingworth Road was closed for the full year, no measurements were taken on Killingworth Road. Almost certainly, because of the lack of traffic, the air quality there would have been well within the limits.

Air quality on Station Road improved as well and was 36μg/m³ in 2018.  In 2016, the last full calendar year in which Killingworth Road was open, it was 42μg/m³. Potentially in 2020, now Killingworth Road has reopened, it will return to its previous higher level.

Although not shown on the map, the North Tyneside measurement by the Four Lane Ends traffic lights also improved from 35μg/m³ in 2017 to 24μg/m³ in 2018. We have seen some people suggest that air pollution has been worse in Longbenton due to the ongoing Killingworth Road roadworks, but this is not reflected in the official measurements.

Air Pollution in Newcastle City Centre

While most monitors in the city centre showed lower readings, at some locations there were substantial increases in measured air pollution.The biggest increases were:

• Market Street [Location code DT8] 50 to 66μg/m³ 
• Newgate Street / Grainger Street [DT20] 42 to 54μg/m³ 
• Strawberry Place [DT25] 45 to 56μg/m³
• Blackett Street/Northumberland Street [DT7] 49 to 55μg/m³
• Pilgrim Street [DT13] 53 to 58μg/m³ 

Strawberry Place was added into the proposed Clean Air Zone in the most recent Council consultation.  It is also the subject of a recent planning application for high rise offices and apartments that could create a “street canyon” potentially making air pollution levels even worse in future.

These still weren’t the highest readings in the city centre though, with the highest three readings coming from new monitors.

The worst pollution in Newcastle city centre in 2018

1. Orchard Street Taxi Rank [DT74] 96μg/m³
2. Orchard Street Taxi Rank [DT75] 79μg/m³
3. Old Eldon Square [DT65] 71μg/m³
4. Market Street [DT8] 66μg/m³
5. Mosley Street [DT12] 62μg/m³

These locations suggest the Council are right to tackle air pollution from buses and taxis, as buses and taxis make up a large proportion of traffic at all these locations. According to the Council’s report, locations with an annual measurement over 60μg/m³ are also considered to be at risk of exceeding the legal hourly maximum of 200μg/m³.

These figures also suggest that city centre taxi and bus drivers could be amongst the most at risk from ill heath due to air pollution. In the SPACE for Gosforth response to the Council’s consultation we proposed a measure [our ref D08] to “Implement a program of air quality monitoring covering the insides of taxis and buses operating in the city centre. [and] Consider providing additional health advice for bus and taxi drivers.”

Drivers are exposed to the highest levels of harmful air pollution. And there’s evidence that traffic-related air pollution causes greater adverse health effects compared to other sources. https://t.co/wpwVDgRIit

— The Conversation (@ConversationUK) October 1, 2019

We also suggested that the Council “Remove through traffic from the Urban Core as per Council Policy UC9, with exemptions for buses” [Reference B08]. In many cities traffic crossing the city centre uses a ring road and it would not be unreasonable for the same to happen in Newcastle, leaving the city centre streets clearer for buses and vehicles accessing city centre destinations.

The Council has talked about removing parking from Grey Street (Cars could be banned from Newcastle’s Grey Street), which was also our proposal B03, although our suggested deadline for that to be implemented has already been missed.

Air Pollution on The Coast Road

The second highest pollution measurement in 2018, at 84μg/m³, was on The Coast Road at the entrance to Jesmond Park West near The People’s Theatre. The Council’s pollution plan analysis  is that air quality on The Coast Road will be compliant in 2021 and that no additional measures are required. We believe the modelling has come to this conclusion as a result of an assumption that more people will be buying petrol vehicles in future compared to diesels. We also believe this modelling will not have taken into account the high readings by Jesmond Park West as pollution at this location was only measured for the first time in 2018.

Will the Council’s Pollution Plan be effective?

The Council’s plan is based on a model of traffic flows that forecasts pollution levels. In the air quality modelling report that supports the final plan it gives forecast measurements at a range of locations across Newcastle, North Tyneside and Gateshead.

This is something we hope to look at further in future, but comparing modelled and actual pollution measurements on the Central Motorway suggests actual pollution is still quite a bit higher than forecast. We hope the Council will continue to monitor actual pollution levels to see how this varies from its forecasts and will update its plan accordingly.

Measurements are taken from official monitoring by Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside Councils. Not all measurements are shown.

SPACE for Gosforth has previously summarised results for 2017 and 2016.

The post Pollution 2018 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

In our previous blog on Horrible Haddricks Mill, we set out how we had written to the Council to set out our concerns about safety, poor quality of the design and potential negative impact, especially on older or visually impaired people.

We know from our own measurements that there is space for separate, good quality walking and cycling provision at Haddricks Mill, but that the Council has chosen, contrary to its own policy and legal obligation to reduce air pollution, to prioritise high-speed and potentially dangerous vehicle movements instead.

In speaking to the Council, the Council gave a number of reasons why they believe that shared pavements and indirect wiggly walking and cycling routes via multi-stage crossings are appropriate.

These reasons were:

1. People walking or cycling can use alternative routes.
2. The junction needs to have wide lanes for buses and freight.
3. There isn’t space on the bridge for a pavement and cycle lanes.
4. There isn’t enough space on the approach roads.
5. Traffic Management is needed to improve air quality.

We have examined and responded to each of these reasons below.

1. People walking or cycling can use alternative routes.

One argument was that walking and cycling would be better provided for using alternative routes.

Haddricks Mill itself is a key crossing of the Ouseburn, which creates a bit of a barrier for east – west travel in the city. The junction is key not just for vehicle traffic but also for walking and cycling.

We looked at the other options for crossing the Ouseburn, and while there are more options for walking and cycling, most are not suitable after dark and the existing provision for walking and cycling is poor.

The route map below is from the SPACE for Gosforth blog A Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Gosforth. In that blog we set out how walking and cycling networks need to connect people to destinations, and that adjacent routes should not be too far apart. Government guidance for cycling is that adjacent routes should be about 400m apart which means that all the routes highlighted above need to be upgraded rather than considering them as alternatives.

2. The junction needs to have wide lanes for buses and freight 

Clearly Haddricks Mill is used by buses and for local freight, but there is a question of how and to what extent that should influence the design.

The Council’s own Core Strategy includes a hierarchy of sustainable modes of transport where walking and cycling are placed ahead of buses and freight as well as ‘protecting and enhancing pedestrian routes, cycle networks and Rights of Way’.

In addition, the Council’s Development and Allocations Plan confirms that on main roads ‘Pedestrian and cycle movements should be segregated from traffic’ and that ‘routes must be legible, inviting, direct, pleasant and easy to use’. Other than for a short distance on Haddricks Mill Road where the Council is proposing separate walking and cycling routes, the current Haddricks Mill proposal fails on all five counts.

The North East Freight Partnership publishes route maps that it expects freight organisations to use wherever possible. These routes are shown as dashed lines on the map below. These show that Haddricks Mill, the double circle in the centre of the map, is not on any designated freight route.

Freight Route map showing routes to Gosforth Industrial Estate (29), Gosforth High Street (30) and to Balliol (3), Quorum (4) and Gosforth (28) business parks.

For buses we looked at the turn from Freeman Road left towards Station Road as an example. There are about five buses an hour that make this movement.

In the Council’s proposal the road retains a wide sweep which means vehicles, including buses, can travel around the corner at a relatively high speed. When designing for safety it is generally understood that a tighter curve prevents higher speeds and therefore avoids the most serious collisions. Because of the poor quality of proposals a large proportion of people who currently cycle are likely to continue to use the road so would be put at risk by this proposal.

In the diagram below we have compared the turn at Haddricks Mill with the turn from Church Road to Gosforth High Street, which is the route taken by the number 54 bus. While it might not be desirable to use exactly this geometry, it certainly demonstrates that the turn could be substantially tighter, and safer, than is currently proposed. If this was done it would create additional space that could be used for separate walking and cycling routes.

What would be more useful for buses would be to introduce bus lanes on Haddricks Mill Road and Benton Park Road to allow buses to get ahead of queuing traffic. This would also assist air quality as buses would not have to wait for so long to pass through the junction.

3. There isn’t space on the bridge for a pavement and cycle lanes. 

The bridge across the Ouseburn has been quoted as the narrowed part of the junction but even here it would be possible to include separate walking and cycling lanes.

Measuring on Google Earth the width of the bridge looks to be close to 23m at its narrowest point including current pavements. Using the StreetMix website we can see that it would be possible, shown in the diagram below, to have two 1.8m pavements, two 3m bi-directional cycle lanes and four 3.2m traffic lanes.

If the western roundabout was made single-lane then only one west bound vehicle lane would be required creating even more space for additional pavement or possibly a verge between the cycle lane and traffic.

Having less sweeping entry lanes would also reduce the additional distance people will have to walk when going around the junction.

4. There isn’t enough space on the approach roads

The picture below that we shared in our blog Must do better about the Killingworth Road road works, shows just how much space is being taken up by the central crossing islands. If the crossings were made to be single-stage there would be plenty of space for good quality separate walking and cycling routes.

The use of multi-stage crossings is not to benefit people walking or cycling. The purpose instead is to prioritise traffic movement, with ‘sheep pens’ in the middle of the road to prevent people walking from using the most obvious direct route. In practice many people will just ignore the lights and cross directly to the pavement in the middle of the picture, and in fact several did so just in the few minutes while I was there taking the picture.

On Benton Park Road, on the approach to the roundabout, the proposed west-bound lanes by themselves take up over 12m so to suggest there is no space for an all age and ability protected cycle lane there is completely ridiculous.

5. Traffic Management is needed to improve air quality

The Council have also argued that increasing the vehicle capacity of the junction will improve air quality. We can see how the Council might justify this via their transport models but the outputs for such models almost entirely depend on getting the right inputs, in this case how many vehicles will use the junction after capacity is increased. If the capacity is used up, as is usually the case in practice, then queuing times remain as they are, only with a greater number of vehicles emitting a larger amount of pollution.

Even the Government has cast doubt on the effectiveness of traffic management, such as is proposed at Haddricks Mill, to reduce air pollution.  The only really effective ways of reducing pollution are cleaner engines and reducing the number of vehicles. The main effect of the approach proposed by the Council, using the “pedestrian” lights to hold back traffic so traffic arriving from other directions can enter the junction, will be to make it slower and less attractive to walk or cycle. As a result more people will choose to drive.

Our biggest concern for pollution however is Station Road, which had illegal air pollution prior to the roadworks, and would be likely to return to illegal levels of air pollution now Killingworth Road has re-opened to traffic. The Council’s most recent update to its air pollution plans include no measures to reduce pollution on Station Road.

Killingworth Road itself should benefit from having a wider road that allows pollution to dissipate more quickly, and a new bus lane that means buses do not have to queue for so long.

Fears pollution levels will be dangerously high again at controversial Killingworth Roadhttps://t.co/eAJBUIAUOb

— The Chronicle (@ChronicleLive) June 4, 2019

The table below shows the impact of closing Killingworth Road to air pollution on Station Road, and also at North Tyneside’s Longbenton monitoring sites.

Although people assume that traffic, and therefore pollution, will have increased on the Great North Road and Benton Road, monitoring data suggests that actually traffic levels did not change as a result of the roadworks.  This effect, described as ‘Disappearing Traffic‘, which means that large parts of the Killingworth Road traffic disappeared rather than re-routing, almost certainly explains the slight decrease in pollution levels in Longbenton during the road works.

Next steps

The Council say they want to encourage more people to walk or cycle as an alternative to driving. Building junctions that prioritise traffic volume over people’s safety is not the way to achieve it.

SPACE for Gosforth has shared this analysis with the Council’s transport team.

The post Horrible Haddricks – part 2 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The Chronicle has described it as one of the most hated junctions in Tyneside and also one of Britain’s most dangerous roundabouts. So why is the Council proposing more traffic and faster speeds, and claiming against all logic that this will somehow improve safety?

A Bit of Background

In 2016, Newcastle City Council proposed a pair of oversized junctions at Blue House and Haddricks Mill. Following widespread protests about the Blue House proposal, the Council formed a working group made up of residents, local groups and Councillors that met over the period of a year or so to come up with a new recommendation that better meets the needs of those that use it. You can see that recommendation here.

The 2016 Proposal for Haddricks Mill

The Haddricks Mill proposal also received substantial feedback. The top three comments overall were a smaller footprint, removing the restriction to enter Hunter’s Road and better walking and cycling facilities. Unlike for Blue House though, it seems the design had no further input from residents until it was published last week.

SPACE for Gosforth also submitted feedback at the time asking for a more traditional, easier to drive, roundabout with safe routes for walking and cycling, including better access to the Wagon Way.

The New Proposal

The new Haddricks Mill proposal looks very much like the current (hated) junction, and unless you look quite closely it is hard to see where the £4m budget is being spent.

The new Haddricks Mill proposal – Newcastle City Council, March 2019

Most of this budget, we think, will be spent on work to maintain the bridge over the Ouseburn so won’t result in any visible improvement.

The main visible change will be  that the current pedestrian lights will be replaced with multi-stage Toucan crossings that can be used for walking or cycling. These lights will also be connected to a control centre and will be used to control traffic as well as helping people to cross.

The Council are also proposing to increase the diameter of the roundabouts by shortening the approach lanes and moving the centre circles. The Council say that this, along with the traffic-controlling lights, will allow larger volumes of traffic to use this junction.

Haddricks Mill is part of the Clean Air Zone that the Council is proposing in its Air Quality Plan. If that is implemented then traffic volumes should reduce at this location. Spending public money to increase vehicle capacity when demand is reducing makes no sense at all.

Back to the Drawing Board?

As we said to The Chronicle, “The council is, quite rightly, encouraging us all to drive less and walk and cycle more to improve air quality, but these proposals don’t support that at all.”

The council has been urged to 'go back to the drawing board' https://t.co/pG1eNpXz4d

— The Chronicle (@ChronicleLive) March 14, 2019

SPACE for Gosforth has written to the Council to set out our concerns about safety, poor quality of the design and potential negative impact, especially on older or visually impaired people.

Safety Concerns

The proposal does little to improve safety for users of the roundabout and may actually make it worse. In the Council’s proposal, the centre circles are small so it will still be possible to drive across the junction at very high speeds. Higher speeds mean collisions are more likely to result in serious injury. Safer roundabouts have larger centre circles which limit speeding.

Two-lane roundabouts are also more dangerous than roundabouts with a single entry lane. According to the US Department of Transportation, based on UK data “flaring the entry width from one to two lanes is likely to increase injury crashes by 25 percent”. Case studies from France provide similar feedback: “very large roundabouts with multiple lanes cause many problems and are not good for safety”.

In the diagram below, the orange circles show that space is available to have larger centre circles that would help prevent excessive speed. On the left (west side) this could be a one-lane roundabout, making it safer still. On the right, the solid line shows how big the centre circle could be with two lanes around the roundabout, but this could also be designed to have one lane of traffic.

As well as the centre circle, tightening the corners also helps prevent excessive speed and reduce the risk and impact of collisions. Two examples are included in the next diagram shown by the red lines. These would make no difference to anyone travelling at an appropriate speed, so should have minimal impact other than to reduce the number of people injured at this junction.

Walking and Cycling

The Council’s description promises “Improved cycling and walking facilities including accessible routes to the Wagon Way”. The improvements we can find are:

• A slight widening of the pavement on the north side of the bridge.
• A small change to the Wagon Way entrance, though still very narrow for a shared path and still having a hair-pin bend.
• Segregated walking and cycling lanes on Haddricks Mill Road, though we believe these will only extend for a few hundred metres. The length isn’t an issue as transport schemes are often implemented in a piece-meal fashion. The fact that these are interrupted by every single driveway is an issue.

These are all very welcome of course, but hardly justify the Council’s description of ‘A Major Safety Upgrade’, and are substantially undermined by the wider design.

Shared Surfaces

One of the key principles of safe road design is to separate users by speed and mass. This is currently achieved for people walking by having a network of pavements separate to the main carriageway. Get on a bike however and, whether you are 8 or 80,  you are immediately expected to share a road lane with buses, HGVs, cars and taxis that are many times your weight and travelling many times quicker.The results of this are clearly evident in the collision and injury statistics for the junction.

In the Haddricks Mill design, the Council have proposed resolving this by having people walking and people cycling share the pavement. We know this can be an issue for older and visually-impaired people. The Council does say that separate walking and cycling paths have been incorporated “where space allows”, however it appears the Council only judge this to be the case on Haddricks Mill Road away from the junction. 

What the Council missed off their statement “where space allows” is “subject to other priorities”. There is demonstrably plenty of space for separate paths through this junction but the Council’s priority in designing this junction has been to seek a massive increase in motor traffic. That priority has been (or will be) achieved by reducing the quality of provision and safety for people walking and cycling, even compared to the existing provision which is already poor.

Crossings for Traffic Control

We didn’t include the new crossings in our list of improvements as for the most part the rationale for the changed design is for traffic control rather than any benefit for walking or cycling.

In some cases, the new crossings might lead to slightly shorter walking routes, but with a greater wait to cross compared to now. In off-peak periods we have been told the crossings will respond quickly when the button is pressed, but in peak periods when most people will be walking, you will have to wait your turn in the traffic sequence.

Slow and Wiggly vs Fast and Scary

If you want to cycle through this junction in future you will have a choice. In the picture below we’ve drawn three options for travelling from Haddricks Mill Road to Killingworth Road. Two of these are via the new pavement routes and one via the road as might be used now.

Council Policy says that walking and cycling routes should be safe, convenient, attractive and continuous. In this case users have to choose between safe via the pavement, and convenient via the road. If this were designed to a reasonable standard the routes could be both. 

For anyone who currently cycles through the junction there seems to be little benefit in the long, wiggly and slow routes around the edges, sharing with people walking. That means any forecast reduction in cycling injuries is unlikely to be achieved, and may even get worse with all the additional (and fast-moving) traffic.

Others, we know, already cycle around this junction on the pavements as the safest way to traverse the junction. Police guidance is to allow “responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of the traffic, and who show consideration to other pavement users”. This group also won’t see any benefit.

The Council says “plans are designed to allow everyone to move through the junction more efficiently”. We don’t see how this can possibly be the case for cycling.

The Council have also stated this plan should encourage more sustainable choices of travel.

In Sustrans’ Bike Life report that the Council commissioned along with other Local Authorities, shared pavements came out as one of the least useful ways to help people start cycling, lower even that on-road painted lanes.

A report by Living Streets, the UK charity for every-day walking, also concluded that “shared spaces work better for pedestrians where pedestrians outnumber cyclists, where there is sufficient space and visibility – and where there is more emphasis on a “place‟ function rather than movement. … but highlights the need to segregate cyclists from pedestrians where commuting speed is a priority”. So, shared pavements are not the right approach for Haddricks Mill.

Design vs Reality

We have all seen pictures like this one, showing that design has to take account of how people actually behave, rather than assuming that people will follow rules, drive at appropriate speeds, or tolerate poorly specified, slow or indirect routes.

Designing for how we want humans to behave, rather than how they actually behave pic.twitter.com/kr2BxinrBa

— richard shotton (@rshotton) July 9, 2018

The Haddricks Mill proposal retains all the worst features of the current junction and adds some more. People who continue to cycle on the road, because the alternatives are so poor, will be put at even greater risk than before. People walking, who had the pavements to themselves now have to share the pavements with people cycling. Local residents will have to contend with even more traffic passing through the area than now, and the changes are unlikely to make any positive difference to air quality.

The Council say they want to encourage more people to walk or cycle as an alternative to driving. Building junctions that prioritise traffic volume over people’s safety is not the way to achieve it.

The Council have also been threatened with legal action by Government for failing to make progress on its plan to meet air quality limits that have been met since 2010. The Council are required to meet these limits in the shortest possible timescales, a task that will be made substantially harder by all the additional traffic passing through this location.

Next Steps

As the new junction is very similar to the current one, no legal orders will be required so there will be no further public consultation process.

The Council has agreed to meet SPACE for Gosforth, to discuss the issues described above. If you have any further concerns we haven’t thought of please let us know ASAP so we can raise those too. Please also speak to your local Councillors to let them know as well.

The post Horrible Haddricks appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The Council has just released its Air Quality Annual Status Report 2018 and it is not looking good for Gosforth High Street. We had expected that the 2016 reading of 51μg/m³  for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) was a one-off due to the roadworks at the junction with Salters Road, but in 2017 the figure had increased again to 59μg/m³. Both are substantially higher than the legal maximum of 40μg/m³.

In 2017 Gosforth High Street actually had the worst recorded air pollution of anywhere in the city.

The most polluted locations in Newcastle in 2017

*All monitors are located next to busy roads.

Elsewhere in the Gosforth Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) readings have improved slightly since 2016, although the reading at the south end of the High Street shops is also still above the legal limit.

At Haddricks Mill / Station Road air quality is only just within the legal limit despite Killingworth Road being fully closed to traffic for the second half of the year (in 2016 the readings were 42 and 46).  This might form part of the explanation why the reading on Gosforth High Street has increased in 2017.

All the above readings come from Nitrogen Dioxide diffusion tubes with the reading at the north end of the High Street measured at the north end of the shops shown in the title picture.

Gosforth also has an automatic monitor (shown below) located in the Salters Road car park. Over 2017 and into 2018, this monitor has been recording much lower (and legal) air quality results. We reported in our 2016 Air Quality Update that, based on this monitor, we thought that air quality on the High Street was improving.

Air pollution monitor on Gosforth High St

The difference in the two results is likely to be explained by the fact that the automatic monitor is located in an open space where pollution can disperse, whereas the official monitor is located in the main part of the High Street with buildings on either side forming a “street canyon”.

Street canyons can dramatically affect pollution levels. If the wind typically flows along the street then this can actually flush out the pollutants and cause them to disperse more quickly. Where the wind flows across the street this can trap the pollution within the canyon and prevent dispersal.

Clean Air Zones

According to the government, the most effective way to improve air quality is to introduce a Clean Air Zone. The Council is working on a plan to meet the UK High Court’s directive to reduce concentrations of NO₂  to meet legal limits and to do so within the shortest possible time. These results make it much more likely that Gosforth High Street will need to have its own Clean Air Zone. For more on Clean Air Zones see our blog The New Newcastle Air Pollution Plan. Details of this plan should be published early in 2019.

Newcastle City Centre

Air quality across Newcastle city centre also remains poor. At Percy Street and by Swan House roundabout, where the highest figures have been recorded, the results are no better than in 2016. In fact the only location with a noticeable improvement is outside Central Station, although even there readings are still above the legal limit.

In our 2016 Air Quality Update we said “The approaches used to date have been shown to be too slow or ineffective. To achieve compliance in the shortest possible timescales real commitments are required to effect a step change so that the city can be rid of dangerous air quality levels it has suffered for too long.” It is clear that this is still the case. We hope we will not have to repeat this sentiment again when 2018 figures become available this time next year.

While initiatives such as the Haymarket Moss Tree might be a useful talking points, it is not an alternative to substantive action.

Of all the measures listed in the current report, one of the most effective (as described by the report) is car parking charges. In Newcastle the Council continue to subsidise free parking after 5pm, money which they could be using to improve non-polluting travel options. For most of us, being “Alive after 65” is more important than saving a few pennies on parking fees.

Your Health

Three hundred and sixty lives are cut short every year in Newcastle due to poor air quality. Air pollution is also a known cause of a range of other health issues including asthma, lung disease, heart disease, cancer, dementia and infertility. If you live or work near a polluted location and have breathing or other health issues that could be linked to pollution, you may wish to mention this to your doctor next time you visit.

Happy Birthday?

April 2018 was the 10th anniversary of the city centre and Gosforth AQMAs. The Council have had ten years to fix this problem, but the latest reading for Gosforth High Street is worse than ever.

In 2015 the UK Supreme Court directed the government to ensure that air quality meets legal limits, and to do so within the shortest possible time scales.

That was over three years ago. The Council must act now to protect the health of residents or be held in contempt of court.

The post Air Quality Update 2017 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Newcastle City Council has announced the start of the works to replace the Killingworth Road Metro bridge and widen Killingworth Road. From 20 July 2017 for up to nine months, Killingworth Road will be shut to all traffic including people walking and cycling. Salters Bridge and Castle Farm Road will also be shut to motor traffic.

The Council have established a ‘Mitigation Board’ to plan for and manage the impact of the works. They tell us “We’ve got a lot of data about the impact of the closure of Killingworth Road on the network from all the monitoring we have done during the temporary closures so far. The Mitigation Board are confident that they have anticipated the issues and created an effective traffic management plan, having said that, there is always the potential for people to start behaving differently so we will continue to monitor flows and volumes and throughout the closure … the Mitigation Board will continue to meet and take action if issues arise that haven’t been anticipated.”

The key word here is ‘behaviour’. While some people will have little choice but to drive, many more can change when they travel, how they travel or even if they travel at all. In the British Social Attitudes Survey from 2013 “a third ( 33%) said that they could just as easily catch the bus for many of the journeys of less than two miles they now travelled by car, 37% said they could just as easily cycle (if they had a bike) and 40% of people agreed that they could just as easily walk“.

The table below is from the study Disappearing Traffic? The Story So Far that looked at over 70 examples of where roads had been closed, mostly planned but in a few cases as a result of natural disasters with no notice at all. The consistent conclusion was that traffic levels  adjust to the new capacity and that “predictions of traffic problems are often unnecessarily alarmist“. As if to prove a point, this was the headline from the Chronicle’s coverage of the works in March: Killingworth Road roadworks LIVE: Updates as traffic chaos expected at major Newcastle junction.

That doesn’t mean to say that road closures / road works don’t need to be planned for. Good planning, and good communications, can significantly reduce the short term impact while people adjust to the new circumstances, especially where these short term impacts might put vulnerable road users, for example children walking to school, at greater risk. We’ve compiled a checklist below that we will also be sending to the Council’s Mitigation Board.

Mitigation Planning Checklist

Planned Works

This is an important location for walking and cycling improvements. The current road (shown on the right) is both extremely unpleasant to use and is one of the few locations heading north out of the city where people walking and on bikes can cross the metro line on the level without having to use a bridge.

It’s worth noting that the air pollution measurements from by the care home in the picture below were, in 2015, the worst of any in the Gosforth Air Quality Management Area. Making it easier to walk and cycle, and allowing buses to bypass queuing traffic, should all help improve the air quality in this area, however this may be offset if separate plans for the Haddricks Mill junction increase vehicle capacity and induce additional traffic.

The changes to be carried out are those that were consulted on as part of the Blue House / Haddricks Mill proposals in the summer of 2016. While we haven’t seen final designs we believe they are largely unchanged from those originally presented i.e.

• Replacing and widening the Metro Bridge.
• Creating on-street parking spaces for residents living on Killingworth Road.
• Widening the pavement and removing the need for pedestrian railings.
• Creating a new south-bound bus lane and 2-way cycle track.

The original consultation and residents’ comments can still be seen on the CommonPlace consultation website. Planned changes to the Haddricks Mill junction are not in scope of this change and will be published separately.

Ecological Impact

One further aspect of this scheme that deserves scrutiny is the impact on the wooded verge on the east side of the road. The associated planning application (reference 2017/0641/01/GRA) includes:

• Removal of 500 smaller trees plus 35 semi-mature and 3 mature trees to be replaced by 2100 native woodland trees and shrubs and 44 large standard oak trees.
• Planting 2000 daffodil and bluebell bulbs and 150 native wild flowers.
• Installation of bird boxes, bat boxes and hibernacula for smaller mammals.
• A management plan for the area.

Details of the full Ecological Impact Assessment and associated mitigation plans can be found on the Planning Applications website.

Longer term, helping people walk and cycle more will not only help reduce the devastating impact of air pollution on us, but also on plant and animal life.

Residents’ Letter

This is the letter that was sent to local residents by the Council.

The post Killingworth Road – Metro Bridge Replacement appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

SPACE for Gosforth has received a response to our Open Letter to The North East Local Enterprise Partnership. In that letter we sought assurances that the funding for the Blue House, Jesmond Dene Road and Haddricks Mill proposals would only be released if those proposals met the NELEP’s own commitments to reduce carbon emissions from transport and supported the use of shared and sustainable modes of transport.

We would like to get your views. Do you feel reassured by the response below? Should NELEP be doing more to ensure that the schemes it funds will meet its own strategy of carbon reduction and supporting walking and cycling? Please let us know by 23 September and we will share your thoughts and suggestions with the NELEP and ask for a further response.

The post Blue House funding – feeling reassured? appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

You can download the slide decks:

• Context (ppt pdf)
• Alternatives (ppt pdf)
• Action: What you can do (ppt pdf)

It is important to challenge the proposed plan by Sunday 21st August 2016 to ensure that your voice is heard.  You can do this via the Newcastle City Council’s Commonplaces website   (remember to move the “slider” on the form to red/negative) or by writing to:

Graham Grant
Head of Transport Investment
Newcastle City Council
10th Floor
Civic Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QN

Please do consider these questions when composing your response:

• What sort of a city do we want to live in?
• How do we get around?
• What sort of a city do we want our children to inherit?
• What do we need to change to achieve it?

Feel free to leave comment here and let us know your views.  SPACE is particularly interested in creating alternatives to the current monstrous plan.  While the Blue House plan is creating considerable interest/anger/astonishment don’t forget to include in your comments suggestions on how to resolve the variety issues Haddrick’s Mill to Blue House proposals indentify.

The post Follow-up: Public Meeting: Blue House junction – issues and solutions appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.