You asked for suggestions, here goes:
1. Adopt a Tyne & Wear whole area approach.
2. Put in place a realistic ULEZ as in London covering the whole of T&W.
3. Introduce a flat rate fare for buses in T&W as per London.
4. Phase in 100% new buses with low emissions technology.
5. Have more 20 mph speed limits and increase the policing of speed limits using technology.
I have also emailed these suggestions.

Hi Michael, thanks for your comment.

That’s an interesting idea for a study. Are you aware of anywhere that has done this before and what conclusions did they reach? There is plenty of research on what influence’s people’s choice to walk, cycle, drive or take the bus and it is reasonably well understood how to reduce traffic levels.

Definitely the business owners (if they want to be) should be involved in any discussion on the future of the High Street.

Hi Emgee,

We’re aware you’ve made this comment before. We do have some thoughts for how to improve Gosforth more widely which we’ll publish when we get time.

Please feel free to email in any suggestions you may have.

Hi David, thank you for your comment.

We agree on the cycle lanes. It would definitely be possible to provide separate space for cycling on the High Street.

Official pollution figures for 2021 won’t be published until ~October so we have published all that is available in the public domain. Volume of traffic isn’t the only factor in pollution but it is quite an important one, and pollution levels after the wands were installed in 2020 were still much lower than in previous years.

Hi Gillian,

Thank you for your comment.

We’ve seen more people cycling on the HIgh Street but agree that numbers are low still, including for the reasons TW mentions in his/her comment. If a safe route separate from traffic was provided this would definitely change. Currently between Hawthorn Road and Salters Road there is no separate provision.

There are about 600-700 buses passing through the High Street every day so that is a lot but compared to 15,000+ total vehicles it’s not an awful lot. It was a bit out of scope of the blog but the main reason Regent Centre isn’t used as a bus terminus is because we have privatised bus services in Newcastle. The Council is working on a bus partnership and integrated ticketing which might improve this.

I don’t really understand the question about cleaning the side of the roads. Woodbine Road is blocked off and there aren’t any cleaning issues we are aware of.

As for the High Street, it would be a good idea to ask the business owners what they would like for the High Street to ensure their businesses prosper.

Currently the High Street looks a mess.

I agree that the Regent Centre should be a bus hub/terminus and restricted to electric or hydrogen buses.

Most cyclists avoid Gosforth High Street if they can because the wands force the cyclists to have to use the same lane as the traffic and this is both dangerous and intimidating. If the high street had a segregated cycle lane it would see a lot more use by cyclists (and if there were less vehicles maybe pedestrians too). You need to stop thinking that it is all about the car.

The bus services need to be coordinated so that every private bus company doesn’t try to run every service they have down the high street. We need control of the buses like they have in London and Manchester.

You’re very naive looking at the number of cyclists who use the High Street. All that money is wasted on them. On my visit last week, I saw TWO cyclists only; one big guy was ON THE FOOTPATH & one lady was on the road.

Most of the heavy traffic is buses. Why isn’t Regent Centre used as a terminus where passengers can hop onto a frequent, free bus into Newcastle? This would then mean a LOT less traffic on the High Street.

How are you going to clean the sides of the roads if you’re blocking them off?

You need to have repeat speed limit signs on the roads to reinforce them. This reminds drivers to be extra careful whilst driving too, not just to stay within the limits.