
Gosforth High Street – Good Policy, Terrible Plan

This is our forth blog sharing local media stories about people killed or injured in road traffic collisions in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2022 there have been four fatalities and over seventy five serious injuries on Newcastle's roads. Read more [...]
The website CityMonitor recently published an article "How Google Maps is ruining your neighbourhood". The article explains that, since they were introduced in 2009, Sat Nav apps have caused an increase of traffic on minor roads. While the sales pitch of Sat Nav apps is that they enable drivers to avoid congestion, the actual outcome is that minor roads can now be just as congested as main roads.
In effect traffic has been displaced from main roads onto minor roads. Read more [...]
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. Read more [...]
It is now over eighteen months since wands were installed on Gosforth High Street as part of the Council's response to Covid. This blog looks beyond the look and feel of the wands, focusing instead on their impact on traffic volumes, air pollution and road safety, and suggests specific actions that could be taken to help the High Street thrive in future. Read more [...]
This is our third blog sharing local media stories about people killed or injured in road traffic collisions in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2021 there have been two fatalities and over seventy serious injuries on Newcastle's roads.
Serious injury and death on the roads is not inevitable. To a large extent, injuries from road traffic collisions are the result of political choices that have prioritised saving a few seconds on a journey over people's wellbeing and safety. When we see articles praising Read more [...]
Traffic engineering is frequently a compromise between vehicle speeds and people's safety. Higher speed limits and multi-lane junctions allow traffic to pass more quickly but, when collisions happen, people are more likely to be hurt and their injuries are likely to be worse.
Many of us will be aware of Layton Darwood (age 5), Melissa Tate (age 10), George ‘Geordie’ Bilclough, Emma Guilbert, Ann and Lawrence Nickerson, and many others who have been killed in recent years in Newcastle Read more [...]
Six months ago, Newcastle City Council changed the road layout on five bridges so that they could only be used by people walking, in wheelchairs, or on bikes/scooters. The Council's aim in doing so was to achieve safer residential streets by reducing motor vehicles speeding and to remove ‘through traffic’ from residential areas. Read more [...]
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 Read more [...]