If you were asked to name one place that's more in thrall to the car than the UK, most people would say the USA. That's why, when American cities concerned about road safety, pollution and congestion have wanted to rebalance their roads to favour healthier and less polluting alternatives, they have had to make their case in very strong terms. This has resulted in studies that show the impact of pedestrian and cycling improvements on safety as well as on travel preferences, on house prices and on
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In previous posts we looked at air quality data on Gosforth High Street and on Jesmond Road in the run up to Christmas last year, which showed a marked increase in pollution after Black Friday, 25 November 2016. In this post we look at what has happened to air quality at these sites since then. Read more [...] 
Since Black Friday, 25 November 2016, readings from the new air quality monitor at the Salters Road car park say the average level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been 50.3 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3) or 26% above the legal limit. The legal limit is 40 μg/m3 averaged over a year. It was high levels of nitrogen dioxide that led to the creation of the South Gosforth Air Quality Management Area in 2008.
While air pollution is damaging to health, personal exposure travelling further 
I live close to the High Street and can typically walk its length and back in about 15 minutes, on a sunny Wednesday a few weeks ago it took me about an hour.
I didn't stop at the shops or get a coffee. No, I was blindfolded by a nice gentleman called David, accompanied by my new pal Hazel. They weren't leading me to an execution or a surprise although both transpired in a sense later on. David is a volunteer Guide for the Guide Dogs charity and Hazel volunteers for RNIB, Guide Dogs and 
"Gosforth High Street is one of the key routes into the city-centre but suffers from high levels of congestion causing long delays for commuters, safety worries for cyclists and poor reliability of public transport, as well as high levels of pollution"
This is from the Council website, but is it right? Does it actually reflect the views of those who live in Gosforth? If we want to propose changes to the High Street then we need to be sure what it is we are trying to fix, and what is it that