North East Transport Plan Consultation – January 2021

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 [...]

Traffic Crash Injury 2020

In 2020 two people were killed and over fifty seriously injured on Newcastle's roads alone. These are not 'statistics', they were mums, dads, children, friends and neighbours. Four of those serious injuries were on or near Gosforth High Street. Almost two thirds of those seriously injured were classified in official reports as being pedestrians or cyclists. Although the vast majority of incidents are still not reported in the media, other than to warn of potential delays, thanks to local press Read more [...]

DfT Highway Code Consultation 2020

The Government is reviewing The Highway Code, in particular "to improve safety for pedestrians, particularly children, older adults and disabled people, cyclists and horse riders." As part of this review, between July and October 2020, the Department for Transport asked for views on proposed changes "on overtaking, passing distances, cyclist and pedestrian priority at junctions, opening vehicle doors and responsibility of road users." This blog sets out SPACE for Gosforth's response to Read more [...]

Air Quality Update 2019

Air quality in Newcastle and Gosforth remains poor and, despite a 2018 court order requiring government to ensure legal limits are met as soon as possible, the Government has still not confirmed that Newcastle can implement its Air Pollution Plan to rid Newcastle of illegal air pollution. Since 2010, when current regulations took effect, thousands of people have died and many more made ill because of the failure to address air pollution in Newcastle. This blog summarises the official NO2 air Read more [...]

Safe Gosforth High Street

With Covid-19 cases rising again, and Government lock-down regulations further restricting how businesses operate, it is more important than ever that local streets support social distancing so that people feel safe and can confidently go out and use local shops and services. Updated government guidance (at 23/9/2020) also reconfirms the recommendation that for local journeys you should "walk or cycle if you can" to "reduce pressure on public transport and the road network."

The Council Read more [...]

Stoneyhurst Bridge – Review of Concerns

Newcastle City Council has now confirmed that legal orders to close local bridges to vehicle traffic will be in place by Thursday 13 August. This is to prevent "inappropriate levels of traffic for small structures, using the bridges as a shortcut through residential streets."

As with any traffic-related changes these proposals have generated a lot of debate in Gosforth.  To help ensure this debate is an informed one we published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Enabling Safe Walking and Read more [...]

Enabling Safe Walking and Cycling via Local Bridges

Newcastle City Council has announced plans, as part of its Covid-19 response, to close five local bridges to through traffic, so they can be used in safety by people who don't currently feel comfortable walking or cycling because of the volume of traffic.  Read more [...]

Brunton to Broadway – final review

In December 2015, responding to the Council's initial consultation, we said "Currently this is a busy dual carriageway with frequent busses and fast-moving traffic: it is hard for pedestrians to cross and is largely unsuited to all but the bravest of cyclists." Now crossing is easier and local residents can cycle safely in relative comfort along this stretch of road, and it is now one of the few places in Newcastle where it is possible to cycle safely along a main road. Read more [...]

Physical Distancing

In our last blog we shared how city transport planners are responding to COVID-19. In this blog we look at how people in Gosforth are using streets differently because of the pandemic and what Newcastle City Council could implement quickly in the short term to support that.

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.T Read more [...]