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.

In January 2018, SPACE for Gosforth, together with SPACE for Heaton and SPACE for Jesmond wrote to Newcastle City Council to express our concern that no cycle ways and few pavements are cleared of ice in winter, despite it being the Council’s own policy to encourage people to walk and cycle more often.

– Letter to the Council January 2018
– Update 9/11/2018 Winter Service Policy November 2018

UK Roads Liaison Group best practice for local authorities suggests that snow and ice clearing approaches should be developed with local stakeholders and so we asked that this be discussed as part of the Cycle Stakeholder Forum on Thursday 25 January 2018.

We also shared the following map that shows that if you were to try to cycle using the currently gritted network you would have to use either 40mph+ or multi-lane roads  to enter the city from the north, east or south.

Following discussion at the Cycle Stakeholder Forum, we understand that:

1. The Council does have a winter service plan that covers current operation including some pavements but not cycle lanes.
2. The Council will do a review after March of the service plan and will consider the points raised in our letter as part of that review.
3. The output from that review will be brought back to the Cycle Stakeholder forum for further discussion and action.

Details for the Newcastle Cycle Stakeholder Forum can be found on the Newcastle City Council website.

This is the letter that we sent to the Council.

Re: De-icing pavements and cycle routes in winter.

We are writing as we are concerned by the Council’s current stance that no cycle ways and few pavements are cleared of ice in winter and that this is leading to a number of negative consequences, not least the potential and actual injury of people cycling or walking.

From speaking to Council officers we understand that budget is a significant issue, although also a matter of prioritisation as clearly the Council does have a budget for gritting including via its contract with Colas Ltd (1). That prioritisation however seems to be largely at odds with the Council’s own strategy. It is also at odds with UK Roads Liaison Group best practice guidance (2) as applied to the implementation of section 41 part 1A of the Highways Act 1980 which states that Newcastle Council as a highways authority is “under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.” (3)

Clearly under current policy, safe passage for people walking or cycling is endangered, and many might consider advice for people cycling to stick to the gritted network to be unacceptable given the only gritted routes into the city are dual carriageway and often with speeds that mean any collision would lead to serious injury or death.

It is also easy to determine that it would be reasonably practicable to de-ice the City’s main cycle routes and pavements both from the fact that a number of other local authorities do so and from the legal definition of ‘reasonably practicable’ that requires that risks must be averted unless there is a gross disproportion between the costs and benefits of doing so (4). In this case the benefits are obvious in reducing harm, in supporting Council strategy to promoting sustainable transport choices (Policy CS13); in meeting national air quality targets; and in maintaining access to the city for people who wish to, or have no choice but to, walk or cycle.

If the Council is serious in its wish to support the growth of active travel to improve the health, environment and economy of the City and its residents, then this is an issue that needs to be addressed. The question is not if but when, and planning for this should start immediately.

We are grateful that the Council has already taken up our request to publicise the lack of ice clearance so that people wishing to cycle are aware of the potential dangers.

In addition we ask that the Council prepares a target Winter Service Policy for walking and cycling networks with stakeholders (as suggested in the UK Roads Liaison Group best practice) including the Cycle Stakeholder Forum. This should include routes to be cleared, effective approaches for how they are to be cleared and also consideration of funding, though work on the former should not be delayed while funding is sought.

To support this work we have included below links to Highway Authorities in London, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham and Cambridgeshire, all of which have plans for clearing snow and ice from their cycling networks.

I would be grateful if you could include this on the agenda for the next Cycle Stakeholder Forum along with a draft plan from the Council for how it will develop the Winter Service Policy.

Kind regards,

SPACE for Gosforth, SPACE for Heaton, SPACE for Jesmond.

Notes

(1) Newcastle City Council’s contract with Colas Ltd. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/news/keeping-city-moving-winter-weather

(2) UK Roads Liaison Group, Well-maintained Highways – Code of Practice: http://www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org/en/utilities/document-summary.cfm?docid=C7214A5B-66E1-4994-AA7FBAC360DC5CC7  See in particular section 13.2

(3) Highways Act 1980 Section 41: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/41

(4) Legal definition of ‘reasonably practicable’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_v_National_Coal_Board

Update 9/11/2018 Winter Service Policy November 2018

The revised Winter Service Policy is to be presented to Council Cabinet on Monday 19 November. Details can be found on the Council’s website.

The updated policy (item 6 on the agenda) includes statements on both walking and cycling.

Certain walking routes will be treated if frost or ice is expected to last more than 48 hours, or if snow is expected to remain for more than 24 hours.

Most of the walking routes to be treated are in the city centre but they also include Gosforth High Street, Ashburton Road, Kenton Park shops, Park Avenue shops, Brunton Park shops, Melton Park shops and Wansbeck Road shops.

Cycling routes will not be treated except where they are on a road that will be gritted e.g. a shared bus and cycle lane, or where they share a pavement with one of the named footpaths.

The updated policy also contains a statement in a section on legal responsibility (page 3) that says that “it is recognised that it would not be practical for a Highway Authority to treat every road and footpath in the event that ice forms and/or snow falls.”

This does not exactly align to Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 that says that Highway Authorities must “ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.”  We would welcome any input from any legal professionals to assist in clarifying the extent of the Council’s legal responsibilities.

The post Snow and Ice 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.

In this post we look at the Environmental Impact Assessment Screening & Scoping Report (“the EIASSR”) lodged as part of the planning documents for the original plans for the Blue House roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road.  The EIASSR’s aim was to identify the different types of environmental assessments that would have been needed had those plans gone ahead.

Despite the plans not going ahead, SPACE for Gosforth wanted to look at the EIASSR as it contains a substantial amount of information about the ecosystem of the Town Moor and its relationship with the surrounding communities.  In short it gives us an insight into the many different reasons why Newcastle Town Moor is not only special to the surrounding communities, but an iconic location known throughout the North East of England and beyond. This information remains important as alternative plans for the Blue House roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road are formulated.

THE EIASSR also contains information about the background and scope of the previous plans –  again important information for new plans. As the previous plans were so comprehensively rejected, one question relating to them was whether it was the plans themselves that were flawed, or the objectives that the plans aimed to fulfil?  And are there any issues not included in the EIASSR that ought to be looked at when alternatives are created?

What is the EIASSR and who wrote it?

The EIASSR was lodged with Planning Application documents for the Blue House Roundabout and was prepared for Newcastle City Council by AECOM.  Its purpose was to identify which environmental reports would be needed to assess the impact of the plans for Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road.  The proposals for Haddricks Mill were not considered in the EIASSR.

It was originally lodged in a version dated the 18 July 2016 and then amended during the consultation to the version dated 28 July 2016.  The EIASSR contains 17 sections each dealing with a different aspect of the original application or the Town Moor.

What is the wider context of the plans for the Blue House roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road?

The first section introduces the proposal and confirms that the proposals for Blue House, Jesmond Dene Road (as well as Haddricks Mill) are part of the Northern Access Corridor, which:

“runs in an east to west direction approximately 1 km north of Newcastle Upon Tyne City Centre and is intended to enhance and integrate the major routes into and through Newcastle in the north of the city.” (1.1.1)

The Gosforth section of the Northern Access corridor is shown above.

This section also confirms that the proposals would require land take from Registered Common Land.  This would require separate consent, which would be sought in conjunction with the planning application (1.3.2).  The version of the 18 July stated that a proposal had been agreed in principle between Newcastle City Council and the Freemen of Newcastle upon Tyne. However, the later version replaced that statement with the following:

“Any land take from Registered Common Land will require separate consent which would need to be sought in conjunction with the planning application. NCC has discussed the issue of a land swap with the Freemen. Currently no agreement is in place as this relies on a detailed design which is not yet in place and is also subject to public consultation. During these early discussions the Freemen of the City have noted that any changes at this location should ensure that the city’s growth and success in future years is secured. Further, that if major changes are made in this location that they should be done sympathetically to the surrounding areas and be designed in such a way as to ensure that further roadworks or changes are not required in this location for decades.” (1.3.2)

What does the EIASSR tell us about the Town Moor?

1. Wildlife

The EIASSR brings together a substantial amount of information about Newcastle’s Town Moor, and the surrounding open space and communities.

Newcastle’s Town Moor is known to be common land, but the EIASSR confirms that Duke’s Moor, Little Moor and the allotments adjacent to Jesmond Dene Road are also areas of Registered Common Land (13.2.3).
The EIASSR lists the different species that live on the Town Moor (Table 8.1), these include protected species such as:

•  bats;
• 5 species of birds that are on the red list of birds of conservation concern (skylark, house sparrow, mistle thrush, song thrush and starling) and 3 species on the amber list (swift, housemartin and meadow pipit).  Swifts have also been identified as a species under particular threat locally.  These classifications result from all native birds in the UK being split into three groups. Red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action. Amber is the next most critical group.  Green are species that occur regularly in the UK, but are not classed as amber or red. The RSPB also explain that with the right action, species can recover and be moved on to the green list.  One such success is a bird that has become an iconic bird for Gateshead: the red kite.
• There are no records of reptiles on the survey area, but the EIASSR states that the Little Moor allotments
  could provide habitat for them, most probably for slow worms, another protected species.
• Hedgehogs are also to be found in the area, and while not protected, they have been identified as a species under threat locally.  The photograph on the right was taken on Linden Road in Gosforth the same day the article in the last link was published and illustrates the threat to wildlife posed by human lifestyles.

The EIASSR also confirms that the Town Moor is a site of local conservation interest (8.2.6) and that there is a  wildlife corridor that runs from the Town Moor, through the junction of Jesmond Dene Road and Osborne Road and the Little Moor to the Metro line (8.2.7).  The previous proposals for the Blue House Roundabout were identified as potentially having these effects on wildlife:

• construction phase: loss or degradation of habitat; mortality of protected species; damage to retained trees (8.4.1);
• operational phase: severance / fragmentation of habitat and disturbance due to changes in lighting and traffic volumes (8.4.1).

2. Cultural heritage and historical significance

The EIASSR also acknowledges the Town Moor’s historic status, by noting that it was granted as common land by King John around 1213 and that its boundaries are largely unchanged (Appendix D).

The EIASSR also confirms that Newcastle City Council recognise that the Town Moor is a special space and that it is one of 6 areas in Newcastle considered to be of “exceptional landscape value” and that development that will “demonstrably harm” it will not be allowed (7.1.3).  Figure 7.1 in Appendix C confirms that both Duke’s Moor and the Little Moor are included in the definition of “exceptional landscape value”.  All 3 moors are also  designated parkland (7.1.8), and the Town Moor and Duke’s Moor are considered to be an “Area of Countryside Character” (7.2.7).

Section 6 gives details of the buildings and other items of cultural heritage in the area of study, but concludes that they are “low value” (6.3.1), with the exception of the Town Moor Boundary Stone (pictured right, a grade II listed building deemed “medium value” by the report), the Town Moor itself and the conservation areas of Gosforth and Jesmond Dene.

The Blue House itself is a locally listed building, as is the Laing Memorial Fountain (pictured left), and both of these could have been affected by the previous proposals (6.4).

Another locally listed building close to the Blue House is the Colvill Memorial Fountain (pictured right).

What threatens the landscape of the Town Moor?

1. Japanese Knotweed

It may seem surprising that an area of exceptional landscape value could also be “land in a contaminated state”, but the Town Moor is due to the presence of Japanese knotweed.  One risk of the proposed construction works is that they risk spreading this species (8.4.1). The EIASSR does not contain any information about action being taken to remove this species.

2. Air pollution

The Blue House Roundabout is within the South Gosforth Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) (see map right for the extent of the AQMA) due to the high levels of nitrogen dioxide in this area.  The readings quoted in the EIASSR confirm that levels of this pollutant are decreasing, however some readings are still in excess of the air quality standard, and the AQMA is still required (5.2.3).

The EIASSR considered that proposed development had the potential to cause air pollution which would have affected public health in the following ways (5.4.1):

• changes in traffic flows/composition/speeds could affect pollutant concentration
• changes in location of sources of air pollution due to changes in the road layout could also affect pollutant concentration, and
• construction related dust emissions could affect dust deposition rates.

The EIASSR does not include any other pollutants as the AQMA has only been declared for nitrogen dioxide.  However, SPACE for Gosforth’s own monitoring of pollution on Gosforth High Street (one of the roads leading to the Blue House roundabout) detected levels of another pollutant, fine particles, that were always above the WHO levels for that pollutant, and at times above higher EU level.  Nor does the EIASSR include any discussion of the many medical conditions where air pollution is thought to be a contributing factor.

3. Noise

The previous proposals for the Blue House and Jesmond Dene Road had the potential to increase noise levels, both from construction work and any increase in traffic (10.4).  For more information about current noise levels in Gosforth, Defra have an interactive map showing estimated noise levels from major roads, railways and industrial premises.  The EIASSR confirms that the junction of Jesmond Dene Road and Osborne road is within an noise important area associated with the metro line  (10.2.1).

4. Water

The original proposals had the potential to affect both the drainage systems on the Town Moor and the Ouseburn (11.4.1), to cause water pollution to surface water (11.4.3), and also to adversely affect an acquifer (11.4.4).

What is missing from the report?

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