Chronicle – 28 September 2022 (Daniel Holland)

Work to install a permanent, segregated cycleway on Queen Victoria Road is due to begin in the new year

A permanent redesign of the road outside Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) is finally set to get under way next year.

City transport chiefs have announced the latest on plans for a major transformation of Queen Victoria Road. Temporary cycle lanes have been in place on the busy city centre street since the pandemic summer of 2020, brought in as a means of supporting social distancing by giving road space over to walkers and cyclists during the pandemic.

Newcastle City Council bosses then confirmed in March 2021 that they wanted to launch a permanent overhaul, creating a new segregated, two-way cycleway along the length of Queen Victoria Road. Work on the £2.3m scheme is now expected to begin in 2023, much to the delight of campaigners.

The project will also involve the permanent removal of parking spaces along Queen Victoria Road, a new bus stop close to the RVI entrance, and better pedestrian crossings. Sally Watson, of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said she was “incredibly pleased” that the cycleway would become a reality.

She added: “Thank you to the council, the RVI, and the universities for working together on this. We have heard from a lot of hospital staff in particular, as well as other people who use that route, about how dangerous that road is and how important this will be.”

For the full article, go to: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/cycleway-newcastle-rvi-city-hospital-25129903