Infrastructure – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

New cycleway to be built outside Newcastle’s RVI next year in major upgrade to ‘dangerous’ route

3rd October 2022 NewCycling Press

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[…]

Heaton Streets for People update – Tintern Crescent

13th April 2021 NewCycling News

In 2017 a new cycleway was built on Heaton Road, between the junctions of Cardigan Tce and Meldon Tce, as part of Cycle City Ambition Fund Round 1 (CCAF1). A roundabout at the Heaton Rd/Heaton Park View junction was replaced by traffic lights to provide a safe crossing for pedetrians and cyclists. One of the side effects was that some drivers heading southbound down Heaton Rd were opting to cut down Tintern Crescent and onto Heaton Park View instead of wating at the traffic lights. Drivers were also ignoring the ‘No Motor Vehicles’ sign at the junction and were driving[…]

‘It no longer looks like a car park’ – praise for huge Grey Street changes to cut down on traffic

22nd August 2020 NewCycling Press

Chronicle – 7 August 2020 (Daniel Holland) Parking bays and a lane of traffic have been removed from Newcastle’s most beautiful street to make way for cyclists, pedestrians, and more pavement cafes A major redesign of Newcastle’s most iconic street to cut down on city centre traffic has been applauded by local businesses and cyclists. Huge changes on Grey Street were introduced last week – removing most of its parking bays and restricting traffic to southbound only to create extra social distancing space for pedestrians, pavements cafes, and a new cycle lane. The Georgian street, once named the best in[…]

North Tyneside schemes for #SpaceForDistancing and #activetravel

12th July 2020 NewCycling News

What has happened Not so far from Newcastle, North Tyneside Council is also making use of the government funding to put in place temporary measures across the borough to create space for distancing and increase active travel. These are progressive and more ambitious than anything that Newcastle has proposed yet and could prove to be transformative for the coast both in terms quality of life for its residents and as an attractive destination for visitors. Here we look at what their plans are and how they are getting on with it. Phase 1 plans were publicly announced on 11 June[…]

Queen Victoria Road #SpaceForDistancing

9th June 2020 Infra Team News

Newcastle City Council have rolled out their first emergency Covid-19 related scheme on Queen Victoria Road, outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI). We would like to congratulate the council on this for two key reasons: The speed at which the scheme has been rolled out. The removal of car parking to create space for cycling. The cycle route runs directly in front of the RVI, providing a link between Exhibition Park to the north and Leazes Park to the south. It provides a much needed link for key workers at the hospital. The measures are not just limited to a[…]

Huge social distancing changes to Newcastle’s iconic Grey Street are still weeks away from starting

4th June 2020 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 3 May 2020 (Daniel Holland) Plans were unveiled in May for a major reconfiguration of the historic city centre street to give pedestrians and cyclists extra space as more shops and businesses reopen. A dramatic redesign of Newcastle’s iconic Grey Street will not start until the end of June. Plans were unveiled in May for a major reconfiguration of the historic city centre street to give pedestrians and cyclists extra space for social distancing. But while new cycle lanes and one-way pavements have been introduced on busy routes around the Royal Victoria Infirmary, it will still be several weeks[…]

Cycling, walking and Covid-19: Our thoughts on what Newcastle can do now to help keep people safe

29th April 2020 NewCycling Uncategorized

The spread of Covid-19 and the lockdown have dramatically changed the way we live and move around our city. It’s looking increasingly likely that physical distancing is going to be with us for a while and we want to take a look at some ideas that Newcastle City Council could consider implementing now to make living in the city safer and easier. We think that these ideas could be implemented quickly and with limited resources – eg. with temporary measures such as those used in roadworks. The dramatic reduction in traffic in Newcastle appears to have resulted in considerably more people walking and cycling, whether[…]

Call for new commissioner to tackle ‘woefully underfunded’ walking and cycling in Newcastle

18th August 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 30 July 2019 Campaigners are calling for a ‘Walking and Cycling Commissioner’ in the North East. A new figurehead could be appointed to spearhead efforts to improve “woefully underfunded” walking, cycling, and public transport infrastructure in the North of Tyne. Campaigners are calling on metro mayor Jamie Driscoll to appoint a new ‘Walking and Cycling Commissioner’ to help tackle the region’s air pollution and climate crisis. Sally Watson, chair of Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said “Walking, cycling and public transport are woefully underfunded, despite being the cleanest and greenest options. In the light of a climate emergency, now declared by[…]

‘A real shame’ – cyclists react to Mobike’s Newcastle exit and demand action from council

25th May 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 1 May 2019 The cycle hire firm confirmed on Tuesday that it is pulling all of its bikes out of Newcastle and Gateshead from the beginning of May. ampaigners say that a Mobike-style project will not work in Newcastle until more action is taken to make the city’s roads safer for cyclists. … Newcastle Cycling Campaign leaders say that efforts to get more people cycling in the city through bike-sharing schemes are doomed to fail unless there are big changes to boost cycle routes. Sally Watson, of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said: “This is a real shame, but it[…]

Consultation reply – Newcastle Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)

3rd January 2019 Infra Team Consultation replies

Newcastle City Council is currently (until the 8th March 2019) seeking views on Walking and Cycling across the city as part of the development of the Local Cycling and Walking Infrasructure Plan (LCWIP). The details can be found on the following link: https://newcastlewalkingcyclingroutes.commonplace.is/ We wrote a response directly to the council which has been reproduced here:- Having read the information on the LCWIP commonplace and looked at the provided map of routes, we thought it best to respond directly, as the commonplace map would not be suitable for a response of this type. Please consider this our (NewCycling) response to the[…]