city centre – Page 2 – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

Contraflow design controversy

25th May 2015 NewCycling Uncategorized

You reported – we acted. Cycle contraflows, if designed inclusively and well, can be a powerful tool in a city’s cycle network. We previously reported about contraflows here. Our streets are changing throughout the city – you may have seen white road markings appear on Clayton Street – part of the recently finished Central Station works. You may even have stopped and wondered what it was and what it did. It’s Newcastle’s first cycle contraflow and sadly the safety of its design is lacking as the space is not protected from vehicle invasion. It would be great to get Newcastle’s[…]

City Centre 20mph expansion TRO

26th March 2015 Infra Team Consultation replies

We would firstly like to express our thanks and support to the the council for extending the city centre 20mph. This is something we have been asking for over the past few years and we are glad to see that this is happening. We would also like to take this as opportunity to raise a few questions and points that we have about the 20mph zone. Firstly, we feel that a number of streets should also be included in the 20mph zone: Barras Bridge, between Claremont Road and Haymarket The Quayside – in particular the section East of the swing[…]

Are you a cycling sinner or winner? Newcastle stallholder uses megaphone to berate antisocial riders

20th March 2015 Peter Press

road.cc (20 March 2015) http://road.cc/content/news/146437-are-you-cycling-sinner-or-winner-newcastle-stallholder-uses-megaphone-berate

John Dobson Street

9th February 2015 Infra Team Consultation replies

This week the council have made plans for John Dobson Street public. You can view the plans here, and you can share your views on the scheme here. Alternatively, the council are holding sessions at the City Library over the following week (details available through the previous links). With this plan, we are very optimistic about the future of John Dobson Street to be one for people – as a destination as well as connecting more fairly and smartly by enabling active and healthy travel choices. The conceptual plan that we have seen appears to achieve that shift away from[…]

Newcastle city centre to gain £1m cycle superhighway

5th February 2015 Peter Press

Bike Biz (5 February 2015) http://www.bikebiz.com/index.php/news/read/newcastle-city-centre-to-gain-1m-cycle-superhighway/017437

News clipping – BBC Look North: Civic Cycle Ride

27th September 2014 NewCycling Press

BBC Look North (27 September 2014) Cllr Nick Forbes remarks “Well, Newcastle is the kind of place that people haven’t really associated with cycling in the past. It’s not really got the history or heritage of it. But we are determined to put in place Strategic Cycle Routes which will be a really strong legacy of the future. And the more people we can encourage to switch to cycling as much as for health reasons as economic reasons that reduces air pollution, that increases road safety and it’s good for everybody.” Katja Leyendecker, Newcycling chair, says “It’s about Space for[…]

News clipping – BBC Look North: skyride

2nd August 2014 NewCycling Press

BBC Look North (2 August 2014) BBC reporter Martin Forster “But some cycling campaigners say there’s little point getting us to fall in love with cycling if, come Monday, our roads are once again dangerous for cyclists.” Katja (chair) says “Once you close down roads and you take off fairly hostile traffic, you take out cars and drivers out of the equation, people actually do come out. It’s almost like a carnival kind of atmosphere. You know, people come to enjoy themselves. It’s fun. It’s great. Problem being – this is here for four hours. And, really, what we want[…]

Cyclists call for contraflows in one-way streets

20th July 2014 NewCycling Uncategorized

Newcycling, Newcastle’s cycling campaign, urges Newcastle City Council to follow in Brighton & Hove’s footstep and open up one-way streets for cycling. This is a common practice elsewhere with plenty of guidance material and case studies available. Even the Department for Transport waded in recently to make conversion easier for councils to achieve. Cycle campaigners vow to help council in the process too. Cycling is all about safe routes and good connectivity. Allowing cycling through one-way streets means that detours could be shortened and routes simplified, making it more intuitive and user-friendly to cycle around the city. Cyclists have now[…]

50 miles challenge in Newcastle City centre – A member’s story

6th June 2014 Claire Uncategorized

ALI HAS CHANGED HIS PLANS. HE WON’T RIDE THE GRUELLING CITY CENTRE. HIS STORY REMAINS. GOOD LUCK, ALI! It’s at the Big Toon Ride that we met Ali and his son, Archie. He had heard about the ride, came along, and joined the Campaign. Shortly afterwards, he approached us with an idea and here it is, with his own words. It echoes how people felt riding around the city centre that day, and more generally the situation described by many in the Safe cycle Petition and our recent members’ survey, a city Centre which is not fit for cycling: “I’ve[…]

Design and Planning – presentation to council

5th June 2014 NewCycling News

Katja presents at Newcastle City Council’s Cycle Forum. The presentation and its findings are based on our experience working with the Newcastle City Council’s councillors and officers since 2010. Good communication and a clear process are as important as leadership and technical expertise. Design and Planning, lessons learnt presentation to Newcastle City Council Cycle Forum from Katsdekker We outline six areas of improvement. 1. Political leadership (examples Sevilla, NYC) 2. Routes (approval pending) 3. Monitoring data (cycle use before and after, volume and speed of traffic to inform design) 4. Sustainable safety principles for road safety (user need, human psychology)[…]