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Engineers are making alterations to the covid-secure measures on Gosforth High Street to improve traffic flows and help people shop safely following the changes to restrictions announced by government.
Some social distancing measures are set to be removed along Gosforth High Street up to and including along the Great North Road to Regent Centre by Newcastle City Council, with work starting this evening (Monday 2 August).
Temporary measures were put in place after the first lockdown to re-allocate road space with capacity reduced to one lane each way, widened pavements, wider waiting areas at bus stops, new cycle lane infrastructure and additional bus priority measures, which impacted on the approaching junctions near the High Street.
With the removal of measures additional capacity at junctions is being reintroduced allowing for increased traffic flow at Church Road and Salters Road junction.
The council plan to retain the widened areas in front of the busy shopping area on Gosforth High Street to help support the local economy so businesses can use these as pavement cafes or to improve the public realm with potential for planters or seating.
Protected cycle lanes in each direction on the approaches to the High Street will also remain to encourage cycling on a key route into the city centre, while the no right turn into Salters Road remains in place.
Due to the importance of public transport, the bus lanes, which predated the works, will also remain.
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said; “These measures were installed last summer in response to the pandemic to encourage people to shop safe and shop local. They were also designed to increase social distancing and to re-allocate road space to provide better walking and cycling facilities, as well as ensuring good public transport links on a key route to the city centre.
“We are removing the measures on the approaches to the High Street but will keep many of the social distancing measures such as the widened pavements on the busy shopping area due to the high footfall in this area.
“This will also help support the local economy by providing space to local traders for pavement cafes during the summer months, and the potential to improve the public realm with planters and seating for people using this area.
“It is really important that as the city moves to recovery, we have good public transport links and access to better walking and cycling facilities which is why some of the measures on the High Street will remain.
“Gosforth High Street is a busy shopping area and by keeping some of the measures in place, we can help protect the vibrancy and encourage more people to walk, cycle or use public transport to this key shopping destination.”
The key alterations to the road include
• Removing the social distancing measures between Hollywood Avenue and Christon Road, except for the protection of the cycle lanes.
• Removal of existing restrictions south of Hollywood Avenue to restore two running traffic lanes southbound towards Church Road. This means that car lanes will still need to merge after Christon Road as the bus lane remains.
• At the Church Road junction, re-instating two lanes on the southbound side, one left only into Church Road and one straight on. Buses can go straight on from the inside lane and the social distancing measures outside the Queen Victoria pub will be removed to facilitate the merge south of the junction.
Posted on 2nd August 2021
by Adele Bradley
Dear Project Subscriber,
Some amendments are being made to the scheme, work will start on 2nd August 2021:
• Social distancing measures on Gosforth High Street in the main shopping area to be largely retained.
• Withdrawal of any existing or intended measures southbound towards Hollywood Avenue.
• Removal of existing restrictions south of Hollywood Avenue to restore 2 running traffic lanes southbound towards Church Road. This means that car lanes will still need to merge after Christon Road as the bus lane remains.
• Cycle lanes in both directions will be retained and protected by wands to facilitate cycling whilst public transport capacity is reduced.
• At the Church Road junction, there will be 2 lanes on the southbound side, one left only into Church Road and one straight on. Buses can go straight on from the inside lane and the social distancing measures outside the Queen Victoria pub will be removed to facilitate the merge south of the junction.
• The former right turn pocket into Salters Road will not be reinstated yet.
Posted on 28th July 2021
by Alison Lamb
Dear Project Subscriber,
We have been approached by a final year Planning Student at Newcastle University who is writing a dissertation about how people’s perceptions of safety have been affected by the Covid measures (widened pavements, cycle lanes and bus boarders) set out on Gosforth High Street.
She has asked for our help with data collection, specifically with posting the link to her online survey which we are happy to support.
Thank you in anticipation, for helping out with this research.
Please follow this link to find out more and take part in the questionnaire
https://newcastle.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/changes-to-gosforth-high-street
Best wishes,
Posted on 4th February 2021
by Ali Lamb
Temporary measures to improve social distancing, with re-allocated road space for better walking and cycling, and better transport links along Gosforth High Street are to be retained Newcastle City Council has confirmed.
The council installed some temporary measures over the summer which included widened pavements to allow for queuing outside shops, with one of lane of traffic removed to allow for a cycle lane to meet the rising demand from residents for better walking and cycling facilities in one of the busiest local high streets in the city.
Following a review of the scheme with local councillors, which included input from emergency services, bus operators, businesses along the High Street and feedback from residents, the council has decided to keep the scheme in place though some measures will be altered in response to feedback.
The temporary measures will remain in place until another review takes place early in March. If people have views on the long-term future of Gosforth High Street or on the temporary measures – the council’s online consultation portal remains open for people to be able to leave comments.
Cllr Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council said: “Gosforth High Street is an incredibly busy location and we put a number of measures in place to help people shop safe and shop local in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included more space for social distancing, and re-allocation of road space so we could improve walking and cycling facilities as well as make sure we protected a key public transport route to the city centre.
“As with all changes, they needed time to embed before we could fully assess their impact on how well they work for local people accessing the area safely, whether on foot, on bike, by public transport or by car. As part of this, we held a review which looked at many factors and incorporated feedback from people using the area, as well as how well buses were running. Our team asked local traders what they thought of the scheme, as well as looking at journey times, congestion and air quality levels.
“We’re aware there has been some talk in the local area about the measures impacting on emergency services’ response times, and I would like to fully reassure residents that this is simply not the case. We are in regular dialogue with all key services and they have not brought any issues to our attention. If they had, we would have addressed them, which is what we have done by making changes on Queen Victoria Road in the vicinity to the RVI in direct response to feedback from the North East Ambulance Service.
“Although there is some disagreement on the measures from people who perceive longer journey times for making short local journeys in private car, the review panel has decided that the benefits to people’s health and the local economy far outweigh the criticisms, and we will continue with the scheme to create safer, cleaner and greener neighbourhoods.”
The measures on Gosforth High Street include four-metre pavements along each side of the High Street to allow for social distancing and queuing at local shops, wider waiting areas for bus passengers, road space re-allocated by using one lane for cycling, additional crossing facilities and better links between the two main shopping areas.
As well as having tweaked traffic signal sequences to allow buses better access to the Regent Centre, the council also intend to improve the measures by making it clearer that the central section between Hawthorn Road and Salters Road is for people to walk, not cycle.
The scheme was put in place following instructions from government for councils to improve walking. and cycling in local areas as part of the Emergency Active Travel Fund. The council installed several schemes including in the city centre and near the Royal Victoria Infirmary, as well as the introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods with the closure to vehicles on five bridges in residential areas.
Highways teams will be on site over the coming weeks to make the changes and the review is available by clicking on this link .
Posted on 9th December 2020
by Transport Department
In response to a number of requests, we’ve replaced our original plan with an updated schematic plan of the layout of Covid measures on Gosforth High Street … this plan represents the measures that are in place now.
The original plan, which was drawn up some time ago under different government guidelines, can be found in ‘additional materials’ for reference.
Posted on 6th October 2020
by Ali Lamb
In response to a number of requests, we’ve replaced our original plan with an updated schematic plan of the layout of Covid measures on Gosforth High Street … this plan represents the measures that are in place now.
The original plan, which was drawn up some time ago under different government guidelines, can be found in ‘additional materials’ for reference.
Posted on 6th October 2020
by Ali Lamb
We’ve now completed the installation of a social distancing layout for Gosforth High Street and the area north of the High Street up to Regents Centre. We have altered elements of this design during construction and continue to review it as we observe the public’s interactions with it.
Your observations and comments are also important to us and we welcome your feedback on Commonplace during the review period. The feedback we gather will be fed into a formal review meeting to inform the discussion about further amendments.
Posted on 11th September 2020
by Ali Lamb
You will have seen many changes to traffic arrangement lately. These are there to help social distancing and alternatives to driving and using public transport, which has reduced capacity.
We have been asked about the government mandate for these works. You can view the government guidance that underpins our proposals by clicking here .
We know that many of the changes appear to be quite sudden. They are “Emergency Measures” and the Council is complying with relevant legal obligations. We are committed to going above the legal requirement though, through leafleting and maintaining these information websites.
Please spread this information using the sharing buttons below. Thank you!
Posted on 12th August 2020
by Ali Lamb