In disappointing news the City Council has started work to remove the trial low traffic neighbourhood in Jesmond that had been running since March 2023. Originally intended to run for 18 months the trial measure have been removed many months before the planned end of the trial.

As part of the announcement about removing the trial measures the Council said that the scheme had achieved many of the objectives it was designed to meet.

The Council’s report on the scheme reported

• There was a significant reduction in the number of vehicles within the scheme area
• Osborne Avenue saw a decrease of over 2500 vehicles per day in April 2023 compared with November 2022
• Fern Avenue saw a 48% decrease in vehicle in the same period
• Eastbound traffic through Cradlewell, a main road outside the scheme was 18% below pre-pandemic levels and westbound traffic was similar to 2019
• Journey times eastbound on the A1058 between  Sandyford Road (where it meets the A1058 in Cradlewell) and Benfield Roadwere lower during the trial than in pre-pandemic times.
• Journey times westbound saw a 2 minute increase in the mornings and around 1 minute increase in the evenings.
• The operator of the Q3 bus said the service hadn’t been effected.
• Air quality on Osbourne Road was well within legal limits and in on place was so low monitoring was stopped.

The report also detailed how the journeys for people driving between the front and the back of a number of houses had increased in length and time due to the filters installed for the trial scheme.

Much has been made about the consultation with the Evening Chronicle reporting that more than 23,500 responses were received by the City Council. However many of these contributions were agreements with comments on Commonplace, the platform used to gather responses, with only 2061 individuals leaving comments.

24% of respondents didn’t give any indication of their connection to the trial area, while 55% said they were a resident.

The report also addressed issues raised during the consultation and said “Some of the issues raised in the consultation responses do not necessarily appear to be supported by the other data which has been received. As set out above, the monitoring data does not suggest that there has been an increase in air pollution. The road accident data does not suggest that there has been a decrease in road safety, although it is appreciated that this is the perception of many respondents to the survey. Similarly, the emergency services in their formal responses to the consultation have not expressed objection to the proposals.”

Despite meeting the original objectives and a wealth of data providing evidence that contradicted many of the objections against the scheme the Council made the decision to end the trial early and remove all the measure that had been installed citing as reasons

• Additional congestion, particularly for those turning right to access Osborne Road from Jesmond Road
• Lengthened journey times for people driving between the front and back of their houses
• Impact on business.

Speaking to the Local Democracy reporting Service about the decision, Lindsey Davey, Cycle Campaign Chair said “It was really positive for the area and particularly for children, who used those routes to get to school. Now it has been taken out in the space of just a few days, without much notice or warning. The council itself says in its report that the changes made the area safer.”

The Council’s announcement can be read at https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/citylife-news/newcastle-city-council-announce-changes-traffic-jesmond-be-removed

The reports can be read at  https://democracy.newcastle.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=13158