In our recent Your Street – Your Views survey of Gosforth residents, poor air quality, traffic noise and dangerous driving were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th greatest issues for Gosforth High Street. All three can be made better through a reduction in the speed limit, which the Council are now proposing.

You can comment on the proposals on the Let’s Talk website up to Tuesday 7 May. We have included some extracts of the proposal below.

We have blogged about speed limits on Gosforth High Street before, and noted that if we want it to thrive as a family destination and the businesses to prosper, then we need to make the High Street a safe environment where parents are happy to window shop with their children.  

New speed limits won’t be sufficient by themselves but will be a good start. 

The speed limit will also be reduced on parts of The Great North Road. In a collision between a person walking or cycling and a vehicle, the chances of serious injury or death (KSI) increases dramatically with the speed of the vehicle.

As the mother of cyclist Daniel Rushton, who was killed on Newcastle’s Great North Road, says a speed limit change could save lives.

Newcastle City Council’s Proposal

Starting at the north end of the Great North Road by the A1, the speed from the A1 to just north of Brunton Lane will be 40mph, shown in green. From Brunton Lane south, the speed limit will be 30mph.

The 30mph speed limit will continue until just north of the shops on Gosforth High Street. From there the High Street will become 20mph. The 20mph limit will also extend west to Hedley Street and east just past the Moor Road North traffic lights.

The road will become 30mph again just south of Elmfield Road, which will continue past the Blue House roundabout. After that it becomes 40mph again right up to the junction with Claremont Road outside the Civic Centre.

Our Response

In the SPACE for Gosforth response we have supported the proposal and also asked for:

• Consideration of extending the 20mph zone up to Gosforth Academy, or temporary speed reductions when children are arriving or leaving the school
• Extending the 20mph zone west to the Gosforth Traders roundabout for similar reasons. This area is busy with children travelling to and from Gosforth Junior Academy and Archibald First school.
• Extending the 20mph zone further south so it starts before The Grove so it covers the pedestrian crossing.
• A review and redesign of the Gosforth High Street shopping area so that people driving through intuitively understand that 20mph is the right maximum speed rather than just relying on new signs.
• Ensuring residential streets parallel to the Great North Road / High Street are not used for through-traffic.

The post GNR Speed Limits – comments by 7 May 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.

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.

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.

A packed Trinity Church at the SPACE for Gosforth Blue House Meeting

In our look back at 2015, the year SPACE for Gosforth was formed, we wrote that this was only the beginning and that in 2016 we had a whole year to make a difference.  What we could not have anticipated at that time was the immense difference that 2016 would bring to our community.

Something old … Gosforth High Street

A better Gosforth High Street was the reason SPACE for Gosforth was founded in 2015, and we continued to focus on the High Street 2016.

A High Street filled with hidden dangers!

We began the year by publishing an account of a walk by one of our members on Gosforth High Street to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those with a visual impairment.  Our member was blindfolded and accompanied by a volunteer guide from Guide Dogs for the Blind, and his walk revealed a High Street filled with hidden – and not so hidden – dangers.  This would be an issue for any community given that the UK has an ageing population, but it is a particular issue for Gosforth as three Gosforth schools house Newcastle City Council’s Visual Impairment Additionally Resourced Centres.

Gosforth High Street

Newcastle City Council also agreed to work with SPACE for Gosforth and local traders to improve plans for Gosforth High Street.  These improvements will take place in stages – the first stage to be agreed was improvements for pedestrians, which has recently been the subject of a consultation.

South Gosforth AQMA

Gosforth High Street is part of the South Gosforth Air Quality Management Area.  The South Gosforth AQMA was declared due to high levels of nitrogen dioxide, and is one of two AQMAs in Newcastle upon Tyne (the other is the City Centre AQMA, which has even higher levels of nitrogen dioxide).  SPACE for Gosforth began investigating this issue in 2015 and we continued to highlight the issue of air pollution during 2016 as well as other costs to the community of the negative impacts of traffic.  By contrast, research confirms that increasing cycling has a positive effect on local business.

Air pollution monitor on Gosforth High St.

During the autumn, we were able to track daily readings from the Gosforth High Street air pollution monitor thanks to Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory project.

We were very worried to note the increase in levels of nitrogen dioxide on Gosforth High Street before Christmas  – and a similar increase in the City Centre Air Quality Management Area.

This is an issue SPACE for Gosforth intends to continue investigating due to the risk to residents’ health from air pollution.

Responses to Brunton to Broadway Consultation

Further north from Gosforth High Street on the Great North Road, we also looked at the responses to the proposed new cycle route between Broadway and Brunton Lane, a proposal that received strong support during the consultation.  The graph on the left shows the reasons why respondents liked the proposals.

Despite this, there have been concerns raised relating to the introduction of a toucan crossing.  We examined the issues relating to this crossing, in particular the need for a fully accessible crossing at this point.

Something new … adding to the local debate

SPACE for Gosforth was founded to add new information to the local debate and to take action on the challenges facing Gosforth, and we did this in a number of ways in 2016.

One important local issue we wished to examine at was the issue of drivers speeding on many of Gosforth’s residential streets, so we obtained and analysed traffic counts from Newcastle City Council to provide residents with accurate data about this issue.

When  Gosforth’s speed cameras made the local news, we analysed speed camera data to show that there has been a reduction of accidents since these cameras have been installed.

East Gosforth crash map

We returned to the issue of speeding at the time of the East Gosforth Ward Survey and Priority Event, when we also examined air pollution levels and road traffic casualties in East Gosforth Ward to provide residents with information on this issues .

Protected cycle lane on the Great North Road

Another issue we examined was children’s experience of cycling in our community.  We began by looking at safe cycling routes for children when we applied the research of Dr Rachel Aldred of Westminster University to our local cycling routes.  We found that while Gosforth does have examples of routes that are safe for children to cycle, these do not link together to form a coherent network and many streets are unsuitable for children.

We were also able to give an insight into how children see their school run in March, when we were privileged to be given permission by Archibald First School to publish a letter written by some of their pupils describing the near misses they have experienced on their way to school and requesting that parents drive safely around their school.

In April several local schools took part in The Big Pedal, a challenge to encourage children to cycle safely to school.  We reported on the results at the end of the first week and at the end of the Big Pedal, when three Gosforth headteachers all commented on how much their pupils enjoyed travelling by bike.

A close pass at the Regent Centre

We also looked at the Safe Overtaking petition, a parliamentary petition for a safe overtaking distance, and published a YouTube video clip showing a close pass near a Gosforth primary school.

The petition closed with 23,834 signatures, however the Government responded that it does not currently have any plans to change the legislation.  This is concerning as many of our members have shared their experience of suffering close passes when cycling in our city.

Electric bike in the park

Also in April we organised a taster session of Electric Parks in Gosforth Central Park.  Despite torrential rain, this session proved popular and one resident even arrived before the session began as he was so keen to try the bikes.  “Just brilliant” was the verdict of our members who collected the bikes from the Cycle Hub!

SPACE for Gosforth would like to see more events like this in Gosforth and we were pleased to see Go Smarter to Work organising an event in December at Trinity Church.  We also created the Bike Bingo Card for Bike Week.

John Dobson Street

2016 also saw the opening of Newcastle’s flagship cycle route on John Dobson Street, and we were impressed to find that the improvements have humanised a street that was previously inhospitable for both pedestrians and cycling.

Newcastle / Amsterdam

During the media debate following the opening of the John Dobson Street route Newcastle was often compared with Amsterdam, so we looked at what the two cities have in common.  We found that while both have iconic bridges, lively nightlife and great architecture, there is much we can learn from Amsterdam as it has higher numbers of cyclists, higher driver satisfaction and a much higher GDP.

Something borrowed … working with others

Crash Map for Station Road

In January SPACE for Gosforth members met East Gosforth Councillor Henry Gallagher on Station Road to investigate residents’ concerns about proposals for parking, which were felt to be a possible danger to cyclists.  The plans were later withdrawn and other plans included as part of the Haddricks’ Mills proposals (more on these proposals below).

We ended January by holding a talk with a guest speaker, Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones of Newcastle University, about the City Futures project, which looked at what Newcastle might look like in 2065.

Monitor on the High Street

Following our air pollution monitoring on Gosforth High Street in 2015, we held a joint meeting in April with the Tyne and Wear Public Transport Users Group on air pollution with guest speakers Professor Margaret Bell and Dr Anil Namdeo from Newcastle University to explain this threat to our health.

The Netherlands is an inspiration for Almere Consulting

Finally in November, we held a meeting with Tom Bailey of Almere Consulting as our guest speaker to introduce his Garden City Guide to Active Travel.  Tom created his Guide after realising there was a gap in design standards for new large scale developments – and with so many new estates planned for Newcastle and its neighbouring communities, this was a gap that urgently needed filling.

Something Blue … Blue House Roundabout, Jesmond Dene Road and Haddricks Mill

The Blue House roundabout

In April we looked at the North-East Combined Authority’s survey on the future of transport in our region.  NECA’s vision of the future for Gosforth became clear in July when plans for “improvements” to the Blue House roundabout, Jesmond Dene Road and Haddricks’ Mill roundabouts were published.

The proposals for Blue House

All three proposals caused outrage throughout the Gosforth Community and beyond, particularly Blue House, which would have had a devastating effect on Newcastle’s iconic Town Moor.

The iconic Town Moor cows

SPACE for Gosforth objected to these proposals on these grounds and due to the risk to public health,  and because the proposals would not work.  We wrote an open letter to the NE Local Enterprise Partnership, who were contributing funding for the proposals and later received this reply.

Protest ribbons on the Little Moor

As SPACE for Gosforth believed that improvements for pedestrians and cyclists were needed at all three locations, we arranged a public meeting at Trinity Church to discuss alternatives.  We thought it was important that our community must not only say what it did not want, but also what it did want.

SPACE for Gosforth public meeting at Trinity Church

The result of the unprecedented community rejection of these plans led to a public meeting organised by Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central, and also attended by Catherine McKinnell MP (Newcastle North), Cllr Ged Bell and Graham Grant (Head of Transport Investment).

Chi Onwurah MP speaking at Trinity Church

Following this meeting SPACE for Gosforth was invited to join the Blue House Working Group. Information about the group can be found on the Blue House Working Group website, and we have also blogged about the first, second, fifth and sixth Blue House meetings.

Graphic Representation of the 2nd Blue House Meeting

The future of Blue House will continue to be decided during 2017, and we set out a series of measures of success for both policies and for people movement against which the final plans (when published) can be judged.

Poor planning at Gosforth Business Park

Shortly after the Blue House public meeting, plans were submitted to North Tyneside Council for a development on Gosforth Business Park which illustrated how planning can influence the type of journeys we make. We were very concerned to find that these plans made no reference to the nearby South Gosforth Air Quality Management Area and were likely to increase traffic in the AQMA.  With many other nearby developments planned, planning will remain an issue of concern in 2017.

And 2017?

Looking back on 2016, we are amazed at challenges our community has faced and are proud that we have added to local debate and have taken action to improve road safety and air quality in our community.

But these challenges will continue in 2017 – please join us to help make a difference!

The post SPACE’s 2016: some things old, new, borrowed and BLUE appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

The Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road Working group met on Monday 13th March. The Agenda for the seventh meeting included:

1. Feedback from group members
2. Principal options for the Blue House Junction
3. Proposals for Jesmond Dene Road and Ilford Road
4. Construction materials for new paths on the Town Moor

The notes from the meeting have been uploaded to the working group’s website, the main points of which are summarised below along with some additional context.

If you have any further thoughts, comments or questions about Blue House or Jesmond Dene Road it’s not too late to say. You can add comments to this article or contact us via the SPACE for Gosforth Facebook page, Twitter or Email.

BLUE HOUSE

The two options presented for the Blue House junction were both roundabouts, the main difference between them being the number of vehicle lanes. The larger roundabout with three vehicle lanes would  require the demolition of the Blue House and removal of a small number of trees within its garden. Trees marked in red on the plans are already scheduled for removal because they are dead or dying.

The Council is no longer considering the turbo-roundabout option proposed for discussion at previous meetings.

These are the two options.

Blue House – Three lane roundabout proposal

Blue House – Two lane roundabout proposal

In addition to the demolition of the Blue House itself, the three lane roundabout would also have a higher capacity for motor vehicles and would, as a result, induce additional traffic. For anyone using the junction in a car this wouldn’t necessarily mean the traffic is any better and in fact, from a safety perspective, it could be worse because the roundabout geometry would not be as effective in slowing traffic out of peak hours. Nor would it be certain to have any economic impact according to a study of road schemes by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

In one of our earliest posts on the Blue House roundabout we showed how traffic has recently reduced along routes leading to the Blue House roundabout. We’ve also looked at some of the organisations that were intended to benefit from higher vehicle capacity and found many of them committed to reducing how much they travel.

• Newcastle University has a Sustainable Campus Travel initiative which has reduced the number of staff single occupancy car journeys to the University between 2004 and 2014 from 40% to 16%.
• The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has published a document called ‘Our Commitment to a Sustainable Future‘, which sets out that ‘the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, as the largest employer in the city region, has a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions and supporting local people to adapt to climate change.‘
• HMRC, a major employer at the Longbenton ‘Ministry’ site in its HMRC and VOA Sustainability Report 2015 to 2016 says that ‘Between 2010 and 2016, we took almost 18,000 fewer domestic flights, saw a 22% shift in travel from road to rail, and replaced face-to-face meetings with more than one and a quarter million audio conference calls.‘

Work still to be completed includes a detailed modelling of likely traffic flow and the consideration of bus priority measures. Both will be required before a final design can be proposed.

While there are already a large number of bus services running north-south across the junction (See Blue House Measures of Success Part 2 | People Movement) there are no bus services running down Grandstand Road and onwards to Haddricks Mill.

WALKING AND CYCLING PATHS

For both roundabout options the walking and cycling routes are planned to be separate from each other and both separate from the traffic as is best practice on a busy road.

It is important that walking, cycling and public transport are attractive travel options to avoid the alternative scenario where a much larger roundabout would be required.

The current GNR shared path

Discussion centred around whether the new paths should be for walking with the current paths retained for cycling or the other way round. Considerations include:

• Access to/from bus stops from the walking path for people walking.
• The need for lighting and how to make sure people feel safe when using the paths at night.
• Whether the cycling (or walking path) is shared use or dedicated.
• Ensuring the cycling paths are suitable for families and children as well as being attractive for faster cyclists so they will choose to use them in preference to the road.
• Whether any new paths are located within the Moor or between the trees and, if the latter, will there be an issue with leaf fall.
• Construction material and how to avoid damage to existing trees. The Council shared details for a low-maintenance porous paving product made from recycled tyres that could be laid on top of the existing surface.
• Quality of the surface and how to place signs and lampposts.
• Opportunities to alleviate flooding risks.

A further option, not discussed at the meeting, would be to reallocate existing road space for walking / cycling paths.

The following pictures show where the new paths would go if these plans are implemented. Please click on any of the images if you want to see a larger version.

Coming from Gosforth the path would go alongside the edge of the Little Moor. The picture on the left is taken facing north towards Gosforth.

When the path gets to Blue House it would cut across the corner with a link to the proposed new road crossing through an existing gap between the trees.

Looking from Jesmond Dene Road, this shows the gap in the trees where the path from Gosforth would lead to the crossing over Jesmond Dene Road.

Once over Jesmond Dene Road the path would continue south on the other side of the trees from the Great North Road.

Going east towards Haddricks Mill Road and Jesmond the path would go along the wide avenue between the trees along to Ilford Road.

Going west, the path would go behind the Blue House and then along Grandstand Road routed between the trees.

ROAD CROSSINGS

The road crossings are unchanged from previous proposals. Members of the working group have previously asked the Council to consider:

1. Making the new two-phase crossing on Jesmond Dene Road single phase so the road can be crossed in one go rather than having to wait in the middle of the traffic.
2. Installing a crossing on Grandstand Road so people have safe access to the Town Moor and its walking paths.

JESMOND DENE ROAD and ILFORD ROAD

The design for Jesmond Dene Road had been updated following feedback from the previous working group meeting. The main changes are:

• A new Toucan crossing next to Friday Field’s cut where Jesmond Dene Road meets Haddricks Mill Road to allow residents of Beatty Avenue and Sturdee Gardens to cross safely to Jesmond Dene and to the cut through to Jesmond.
• Traffic-free two-way cycle lanes on the west side of Ilford Road and on the north side of Jesmond Dene Road between Moorfield and Haddricks Mill Road, but with no changes to Moorfield itself.
• A four way junction (possibly a mini-roundabout) between Moorfield and Ilford Road to slow traffic travelling north – south.
• Narrowing Moorfield on the section immediately west of Ilford Road to slow traffic approaching the same junction from the west.
• The traffic lights where Moorfield meets Jesmond Dene Road have been moved closer to Moorfield.

This latest iteration does not address wider safety issues caused by high volumes of through traffic using Moorfield and Ilford Road, including on Moorfield east where, based on these plans, children over 11 who wanted to cycle would have to use the road with this traffic. Previous speed measurements on Ilford Road, from 2014 suggests that 85% of drivers exceed the 20mph speed limit on this road and that during morning rush hour / school drop off there is one vehicle roughly every 14 seconds. Details for other local streets including Moorfield can be found on our blog Important dates for East Gosforth.

FEEDBACK

While feedback was provided by a number of groups, the main point of discussion was the survey carried out by Jesmond Residents Association. This was answered by 243 people and asked what would enable you to make journeys walking, cycling or via public transport rather than by car.

The top results were:

These add weight to the changes already discussed to make walking and cycling safer and more convenient, and to retain bus priority measures such as the bus lanes on the Great North Road.

These results are also broadly the same as those obtained in the national British social attitudes survey: 2013 which recorded that:

It is also clear from the British Social Attitudes survey that fear of traffic is a major barrier to people taking up cycling. It found that 61% of all respondents felt it is too dangerous for them to cycle on the roads including 69% of women and 76% of those aged 65 and over.

The Jesmond Residents’ survey also asked what measures would people support to promote walking, cycling or public transport. The following measures were supported by a majority of those who responded.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Working Group is scheduled for the end of April, by which time the Council should have completed its vehicle modelling and have created some more detailed plans for Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road.

If you have any further thoughts, comments or questions about Blue House or Jesmond Dene Road it’s not too late to say. You can add comments to this article or contact us via Facebook, Twitter or Email.

The post Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road Working Group | Meeting #7 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Coming from the north by car, there are Park and Ride sites at:

• Metro Park and Ride at Kingston Park and Northumberland Park Metro stations.
• Great Park and Ride by bus from the Great Park just off the B1318 junction from the A1.

By rail it takes between 17 and 25 minutes from Morpeth or  17 minutes from Cramlington to Newcastle Central Station, though services are currently relatively infrequent.

For destinations south of Newcastle by car it is likely to be quicker to use the A1 or A19.

For more local journeys, if you can find a route you are comfortable with, it would take about 20 minutes to cycle from pretty much anywhere within the dashed green line to the City Centre.

Nexus have a  journey planner covering bus and metro travel. Alternatively Google Maps provides route options for walking, cycling and bus travel in addition to driving directions.

Live departure information for buses and the Metro is also available on the Nexus Live Map.

If you do find an alternative route that works better for you please do let us know. A study of Oyster Card data in London in showed a 2014 London Tube strike ‘brought economic benefits for workers‘ because it found that because of the disruption “it enabled a sizeable fraction of commuters to find better routes to work, and actually produced a net economic benefit due to the number of people who found more efficient ways to get to work.”

For people living in or near Garden Village, this map shows walking and cycling times to nearby Metro stations. The Metro footbridge immediately south of Salters Bridge has steep steps and no ramp so isn’t suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

Bus routes 18, 18A, 54, X7/X8 & X63 will be affected by the northbound lane closure as Nexus have set out below. Detailed information on bus changes can be found on the Nexus Service Status webpage.

The post Killingworth Road Gas Works 27-31 March 2017 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

Why are we doing this?

It has long been recognised that for communities to be successful and thrive we need to consider how we move around and how we classify our roads and streets.  The Department of Transport in it’s “Manual for Streets” introduces the topic well:

“Streets are the arteries of our communities – a community’s success can depend on how well it is connected to local services and the wider world. However, it is all too easy to forget that streets are not just there to get people from A to B. In reality, streets have many other functions. They form vital components of residential areas and greatly affect the overall quality of life for local people.”

The notable point is the reminder that “streets are not just there to get people from A to B”. This has never been more true when we look at the residential areas in the near vicinity of Blue House Roundabout.

In addition, Transport for London, has published a Streetscape Guidance document which identifies the roles that streets play and provides lots of examples of good design practices to support movement and place.

In brief, we can differentiate between roads and streets as:

• Roads: enabling people to move between destinations (whether in cars, cycling or public transport)
• Residential Streets: enabling people to gain access to properties for residents and deliveries; living, welcoming places where people feel safe and for meeting neighbours and friends; for children to play together.

Streets in residential areas play two roles:

• Movement: to allow residents, service/delivery vehicles access and move around
• Place: provide welcoming and inclusive places where people feel safe and for meeting neighbours and friends; for children to play together; local journeys made on foot or possibly cycling.

There are exceptions of course, for example Gosforth High Street is a road, a shopping/amenities street and a residential street.  We can learn and use London’s experience and as Streetscape highlights: “Streets are places for people. Successful streetscapes are inclusive and provide for the competing requirements of their users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, bus operators, bus passengers, private vehicle owners, and freight vehicle operators. Understanding and carefully balancing the diverse needs of these users will ensure better and safer places to support the variety of activity on our streets”

In response to the North East Combined Authority (NECA) consultation on it’s “20 year Transport Manifesto for the North East”, SPACE requested that the following theme was included: “In particular we would ask you to support an additional theme: Considerate: Transport should be considerate of and respect the communities it serves and through which the transport passes. Residential streets should be quiet places where it is safe for children to play. Exposure to air pollution should be minimised and where there are major routes they should be made safe for walking and cycling.”

It is therefore crucial when implementing new designs or making changes to existing infrastructure as we are doing with Blue House Roundabout, that consideration is given to neighbourhoods that roads pass close to.

What is the impact of a through route for people living there?

Using residential roads as through routes creates multiple issues for residents:

• Safety – nearly all residential streets in Newcastle are defined as 20mph zones.  As we have highlighted in our previous article “1000 Speeding Drivers – A typical day on Gosforth’s back streets”, this speed limit is frequently exceeded. This creates a serious hazard to everyone living in the area but in particular for children and older people.
• Air Pollution – more vehicles invariably means more pollution and the consequential impact on health.
• Noise Pollution – more vehicles also causes an increase in sound. In particular, when vehicles are stop/starting which happens frequently on narrow residential streets with parked vehicles on both sides of the road.
• Damage – Perhaps not a common event, but everyone will have had experience of broken/clipped wing mirrors and unexplained scratches to their own or neighbours’ vehicles.
• Quality of Life – there is a negative impact on people’s lives as a direct result of the above points leading to fewer social connections with neighbours and less of a feeling that your street is yours. (Driven To Excess: Impacts of Motor Vehicles on the Quality of Life of Residents of Three Streets in Bristol UK, Joshua Hart and Prof. Graham Parkhurst)

Through Routes in the vicinity of Blue House

On the interactive map below, SPACE has plotted the routes that we understand from members that are streets that are already used in this way and where an increase in through traffic would add to the issues already experienced by residents.

Where census data is available we have plotted the traffic volumes as an average weekday total and the percentage of vehicles that are exceeding the 20mph speed limit.

Sources: Traffic & Accident Data Unit & Department for Transport

Heading North from the City Centre on Great North Road it is not possible to deviate from the main road.

The key problem areas arise when people avoid Blue House roundabout to and from:

• Grandstand Road
• Jesmond Dene Road
• Haddrick’s Mill junction

This is not an exhaustive list and there may be streets that are in the vicinty of Blue House that we have missed.  Please do get in touch if you feel we have missed anything or would like to comment further.

You can email SPACE at [email protected], add comments to this post, make comments on our Facebook page or add comments to the bluehousegroup.org posts.

The post Blue House Working Group – Through Routes in Residential Areas appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

As with all our meetings, there has been 100% attendance from all of the groups invited, which highlights the importance and acceptance of the process that Newcastle City Council has adopted.  Not forgetting that everyone is also volunteering their time and clearly cares about the outcome.

At our sixth meeting we covered the following:

1. Communications and website
2. Consideration of proposals for Jesmond Dene Road/Osborne Road (small groups)
3. Comparative performance data for main junction options
4. Review of main junction options (small groups)
5. Next steps.

Most importantly there is the opportunity for you to contribute to the Working Group with your thoughts and ideas which we’ll cover at the end of this blog.

Please read the notes provided by the Council for a full account of meeting there was considerable discussion on vehicle movements and the impact of the various junctions on traffic, however in this post we’ll focus on topics of particular interest to SPACE.

The questions surrounding communications and the website focussed on how best to activate engagement  with the wider community beyond the groups attending the meetings.  Digital Civics Open Lab have been maintaining the website and providing graphical illustrations and photography of the meetings.  A question was raised on how this is being funded since Digital Civics have dedicated considerable effort.  Open Lab confirmed that they are a research body and costs are covered as part of their research funding. Clara Crivellaro explained: “This is part of a larger agenda within digital civics, looking into the potential role of digital technologies and design to support meaningful public discussions and processes of public consultations around the future of the places that matter to us in the city.”

The original plan for Blue House created considerable public engagement against the plan, the challenge for everyone is to harness the same degree of engagement for people to inform the Working Group and the Council on what they do want to see.

The Working Group expressed their appreciation for the time and effort that the Digital Civics team had put into supporting the Working Group.

The Working Group was once again broken up into smaller groups to discuss the proposals for Jesmond Dene Road as provided by the Council (note this is a large file).

Jesmond Dene Road Proposed Plan

Following on from our last meeting on this topic, SPACE is disappointed that changes had not been made to the previous proposed plan to address the issues we highlighted at the last meeting:

• The footpath/cycle track terminates at Ilford Road
• There is no provision for people cycling beyond Ilford Road
• SPACE proposed that there was sufficient space on Ilford Road and Moorfield (East) to provide protected cycle lanes
• A potential area of conflict between vehicles and cycles is the junction on Moorfield (East) and Jesmond Dene Road
• There is potential for rat running (bypassing Blue House roundabout) where vehicles use the residential street Moorfield joining at the lights with Jesmond Dene Road
• The plan needs to consider how people cycling could travel between High West Jesmond and West Jesmond (the path alongside La Sagesse was suggested as a compromise)
• The Ilford Road and Moorfield junction needs to be reviewed in conjunction with other changes.

SPACE reiterated the above points and other members in the Working Group raised the potential for placing a 2 way cycle bridge across Metro line adjacent to the current road bridge.

Suggested two way cycle bridge and track – Jesmond Dene Road

This would ensure a continuous route travelling east – west, but does however raise a number of other challenges:

• The bridge and cycle track would impinge on the area currently utilised as allotments – Newcastle City Council are investigating
• Crossing points would need be provided at the ends of Ilford Road and Moorfield
• How would the connectivity work for people cycling to the South of Jesmond Dene Road (assuming in-flow cycle lanes running to/from Haddricks Mill)
• Is there budget to implement such a scheme?

The revised plan did incorporate a pedestrian crossing point between Moorfield and Beatty Avenue.

A toucan crossing was also proposed by the council to link  ‘the cut’ (aka ‘Friday Fields Cut’) running alongside La Sagesse at the top of Matthew Bank.

The Cut connecting Jesmond Dene Road with Towers Avenue (click image for Google Maps)

This is a frequent crossing point for residents living in 5 Admirals estate to access Jesmond and its shops and facilities.

Comparative performance data for main junction options

Data was provided analysing the junction performance (in terms of volume and queue lengths) for vehicles approaching the junctions for the three junctions previously assessed in the meetings.  Both John Dales and Graham Grant commented that they need to do further work on the information that was being presented in the statistics and forecasting since there appeared to be discrepancies.

It was interesting to note that the new designs did not improve on the current traffic situation.  However, the designs have to be considered in relation to the current safety record which the council has a duty to address.

From SPACE for Gosforth’s perspective none of the junctions under study address the fundamental issues of pollution.  The data under study reflects the current volumes of traffic, and we already know that this is producing unacceptable levels of pollution since it is part of the Air Quality Management Area since 2011.  During the discussion the meeting raised the issue of the goal of less traffic together with better traffic flow to reduce pollution.

John Dales summarised the areas of emerging consensus in the working group – the new junction should be at the current location, there should be little or no tree loss, better walking and cycling facilities are essential, and, there is an acceptance that the Blue House itself may be required in terms of space.

We should add that no final design has yet been agreed at the Working Group.

Graham Grant is preparing a paper to discuss the overall options with the Freemen of the Town Moor in January 2017.  John Dales will prepare a paper summarising the outcomes from the last six meetings.  In addition, both will look in more detail at the traffic modelling data and make revisions to the plans in preparation for the next meeting.

Next steps

The council said that the Cycling Strategy would be refreshed in 2017 and to this end issued the Working Group with a map of proposed cycling routes which interconnect with the Strategic Cycle Routes.

A comment from the meeting was that it is important to understand people’s journeys before devising routes.

These routes are purely suggestions at this stage, and the Working Group was asked to consider this map and bring any suggestions to the next meeting.

In addition, the Working Group was issued with blank maps of the area surrounding the Blue House junction and asked to consult with their members on areas where ‘rat running’ was taking place or where it was likely to increase as a result of changes.  Finally, the Working Group was asked to consult with its members to generate ideas on how to address the issue of forecasted vehicle movements in 2031, and what the council might do to change people’s travel habits in order to ensure that the predicted demand does not emerge.

SPACE will follow up on this ‘homework’ but in the meantime we would welcome your thoughts on the topics of ‘rat running’ streets and any ideas you may have to address behaviour change.

If you have any questions or comments, you can email SPACE at [email protected], add comments to this post, make comments on our Facebook page or add comments to the bluehousegroup.org posts.

The date of the next meeting is likely to be end of January 2017.

The post Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road Working Group | Meeting #6 appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.

• Quality of provision for walking
• Quality of provision for cycling
• Quality of provision for buses

We have focused on these three areas as they conform with Newcastle City Council’s policy regarding  hierarchy of users discussed in our previous article on ‘Compliance with Adopted Policies’.  SPACE will discuss vehicle movements in our next article ‘Blue House Measures of Success Part 3 | Traffic’.

The Blue House junction poses a particular challenge when designing an alternative proposal in that the Great North Road is simultaneously a road and a street. In its Manual for Streets the Department for Transport distinguishes roads and streets as:

2.2.1  A clear distinction can be drawn between streets and roads. Roads are essentially highways whose main function is accommodating the movement of motor traffic. Streets are typically lined with buildings and public spaces, and while movement is still a key function, there are several others, of which the place function is the most important (see ‘Streets – an historical perspective’ box).

The Town Moor is clearly a much loved public space for people to visit (the ‘place’ function), while the junction has historically been designed to accommodate motor traffic (the ‘movement’ function).  We would like to challenge that definition of movement, as we believe that moving people in the most efficient, clean, safe way must be the primary objective.  The success of the Blue House junction will be the volume of people who can safely traverse junction regardless of their chosen mode of transport.

Quality of provision for walking

Pedestrians are reasonably well serviced in the quality and extent of pavements around the Town Moor.  Some stretches have “shared space” with cyclists and this needs to be delineated so that it is clear which is pavement and which is cycle track/lane.

However, the major issue is with the crossing points around Blue House.  There is currently no safe way to cross the road on foot at the junction, especially as the speed limit is 50mph at the crossing points.

People are abandoned on the refuge islands surrounded by four lanes of vehicles when only half way across the road.  This feels intimidating and unsafe, and as a result for many people dangerous and frightening.   In addition, the junction discriminates against people with disabilities, visually impaired and blind people, people in wheelchairs, older people, people with prams/buggies, and children.

Living Streets says:

“Everybody should be able to cross the road safely, directly and without delay.  Crossings should be positioned in the right place and give everyone enough time to cross the road.”

SPACE recommends the following measures of success for people walking:

• Walking is perceived as a safe, practical and attractive travel option for residents of all ages and abilities
• The crossing points need to follow the desire line for pedestrians
• Crossings need to be signalised and provide sufficient time to cross
• SPACE recommends the assumed walking speed should be 0.8m/s to be used in calculating crossing times. This is to assist those who cannot walk so quickly to cross the road.
• The crossings should be a single phase with no pedestrian refuge area.  It should be possible to cross the whole road in one go rather than having to wait in the middle.
• People crossing the junction must be clearly visible and within the line of sight of people driving with no visual impediments such as signage.

Quality of provision for cycling

Best practice for cycling on this type of road requires separated cycle lanes/tracks which are continuous and as far as possible interruption free.  Cycling is not serviced well around the Blue House junction and the issues that face people cycling are similar to those for people walking. All of the pavements are classified as shared space with pedestrians, this can result in areas of conflict and discomfort for both pedestrians and cyclists.

In particular, the current crossing points are designed to accommodate one or two pedestrians and are not wide enough to accommodate a bicycle and certainly not a bicycle with trailer.

SPACE believes that there is sufficient space around the Blue House roundabout and on its approaches to accommodate separated cycle tracks in conjunction with single phase Toucan crossings safe crossing points.

To provide people with a safe, easy to use and comfortable cycling experience which in turn will encourage more people to take up cycling, SPACE recommends that the following measures, as documented in the London Cycling Design Standards 2014 are used to measure successful outcomes.  SPACE is aware that Newcastle City Council engineers utilise these standards (as well as others) to assist in the design of the city’s cycle network.

The London Guide documents six core outcomes which ‘together describe what good design for cycling should achieve: Safety, Directness, Comfort, Coherence, Attractiveness and Adaptability. These are based on international best practice and on an emerging consensus in London about aspects of that practice that we should adopt in the UK. They are important not just for cyclists but for all users of streets, public spaces, parks and riversides, where investment in cycling has the potential to improve the quality of place’.

In conjunction with the six successful outcomes documented above, the junction itself can be assessed utilising the Cycling Level of Service (CLoS) assessment tool which is based on these six design outcomes.  CloS breaks down each outcome into further levels of detail, for example, the safety outcome contains three factors: collision risk, feeling of safety and social safety.

For the Blue House junction we don’t need to cover the whole CLoS assessment, we can analyse the proposed junction from the perspective of cyclist movements and provide an estimation of potential conflict.  We can also use these tools and techniques in a wider context to help develop a walking and cycling network.  The Blue House roundabout is after all just one point in someone’s journey when travelling E-W N-S and all points in between.

Jesmond Dene Road is also being considered by the working group.  The critical point on this route is the bridge at the top of Osborne Road.  There is clearly insufficient space for everyone, whether walking, cycling or driving.  The CLoS assessment tool will be particularly useful in deriving a solution and successful outcomes for this key junction.

Quality of provision for buses

Buses can help large numbers of people travel through the junction quickly and efficiently. A full bus at rush hour can carry the same number of people as over 60 cars.

The best outcome for buses is one where they, and their passengers, are able to reach the junction quickly and reliably without being delayed by other vehicles.  Bus lanes are already in place on approaches to the junction from the north and south. North bound on Great North Road a continuous lane from the Haymarket stops at the Forsyth Road junction then continues towards Gosforth after the Blue House roundabout.  South bound the bus lane runs from Moor Crescent and stops at the Blue House roundabout.

Increasing the number of people who can reach their destination quickly through the junction is a key measure of success.  While we can review the volume of buses negotiating the junction there is no data available (to our knowledge) on the numbers of people who are using the buses through the junction and/or their journeys (regarded as commercially sensitive data).  For an effective public transport system this poses a particular challenge in assessing a change in behaviour where more people use the bus rather than drive.

There are approximately 96 buses per hour crossing Blue House travelling north – south into and out of the city centre. There is only one bus service which services both Gosforth High Street and Osborne Road.

Bus services from Gosforth High Street to Blue House roundabout

There are no bus services running down Grandstand Road and onwards to Haddricks Mill.  If you need to head to one of the employment zones to the east – for example the Freeman Hospital, Cobalt Business Park, Benton Park View (the ‘Ministry’) – it is necessary to take two buses changing at Haymarket.  Bearing in mind one of the key reasons for the previous roundabout plan was the forecasted figures of people taking to cars from the new housing developments to the north and north west of the city it is vital that people are provided with fast reliable and where possible direct public transport services.

The current bus services provide the opportunity to carry approximately 5,640 people through the junction per hour.

Speed of traffic at the junction can have a detrimental effect on buses attempting to negotiate the Blue House roundabout.  Currently the junction sits within a 50mph limit.  Cars and vans move much quicker on the junction itself and this can limit the number of opportunities a bus can pull away.  This can cause delays and waiting buses add further to levels of air pollution.

SPACE sees the following as measures of success for buses:

• Buses are able to reach the junction ahead of queuing traffic
• Minimise waiting time at the junction
• Bus service reliability is improved
• Future capacity on east – west routes.

In our final article on this topic, Blue House Measures of Success Part 3, we will be looking at the following criteria for traffic:

• Quality of provision for general motor traffic
• Area traffic management / knock on effects

Please do let us know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for how these measures could be improved to meet SPACE for Gosforth’s objective of a Safe Pedestrian and Cycling Environment for Gosforth.  We look forward to hearing from you.

The post Blue House Measures of Success Part 2 | People Movement appeared first on SPACE for Gosforth.