£1m segregated cycle path proposed for John Dobson Street in Newcastle

lukea-d wrote:

A better crossing over the Tyne by Scotswood Bridge would be good. A lot of cyclists cross there. It's do-able by the footbridge with ziz-zag ramp (over Scotswood Road) and then on the pavement over Scotswood Bridge, but it's a bit of a palaver. I just tend to take the road when going south and the western pavement when going north. I wonder whether the disused Scotswood Railway Bridge (http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/scotsrl.html) could be reopened for pedestrians and cyclists only with a ramp down to the riverside cyclepath on the south side?

Formalising the use of cycles on the pavements over Scotswood Bridge would be a start! Technically it isn't shared use.

There was (is?) a plan to create a new bridge between Benwell and Dunston but I believe it's been shelved along with tramlines after Scotswood lost the bid for a Housing Expo, around the time it's third slum clearance in a century began.

That rail bridge would be great for people heading into Newcastle from Blaydon and Ryton and would mean that my 10 Bridges Route would stop at Wylam instead of Ovingham. But linking it to Hadrians Way means putting in a bridge or you'd still have to use the Scotswood Bridge tunnels and the footbridge.

Also is there someone at NCCC who makes sure things like Google Maps are correct and up to date as loads of trails I ride which are bridleways or cycleways don't show up and lots of roads that have dedicated cycle lanes are also missing.

Separated lanes going in over the next few months on section north of regent centre, should connect all the way to Brunton Lane by the end of this year.

TomSustrans wrote:

Separated lanes going in over the next few months on section north of regent centre, should connect all the way to Brunton Lane by the end of this year.

Do you know what's going with the Gosforth high Street plan Tom? Is that going to join up to regent centre?

There used to be a Tyne & Wear County Council which was scrapped in the early 80s, they had plans for among other things a South Tyne cycleway, three and a half decades later we are still waiting for the completion of a piecemeal version of this. Devolution reversed by the then Government for political reasons has blighted area wide planning for years.

gazza_d wrote:

As the comments above show, many people struggle with existing patchy provision across Tyneside.

There are a series of Strategic Cycle Routes planned for Newcastle, but what is also needed are some "superhighways" to move people across the wider Tyneside area. Cannot see how funding for these will ever come about with multiple LAs fighting for a small pot that only gets given to Newcastle

Actually a lot of what you're asking for exists in the form of the Waggonways, it's finding it, figuring out how to link it up and not getting lost by the lack of signage that needs fixing.

Newcastle-Gateshead
Sacrifice a lane of the Redheugh Bridge and Tyne Bridge and link it to the Teams Cycleway. Make both Bridges one way. e.g. in over Redheugh, out over Tyne. Sacrifice a chunk (e.g. the lanes worth of painted stripes in the middle) of the A167 widen and resurface existing paths.

Gateshead, Felling, Hebburn, then branching to South Shields & Nissan & Sunderland
Sacrifice a chunk (e.g. the lanes worth of painted stripes in the middle) of the A184 widen and resurface existing paths.
Gateshead, west to Blaydon & along the tyne, linking up to the route to Consett
Keelmans Way is steadily being improved and already links to Derwent Walk (the Consett route). Stay on the East side of the River Derwent rather than crossing at Derwent Haugh Bridge, after a couple of miles there's a bridge over the river.

Gateshead due south to Durham
Again this sort of exists and forms part of the Blyth-Darlo route alongside the A167. Birtley used to have a huge stretch of wide bike lanes with 20mph zones. The A167 could be a lot better for cyclists through Gateshead and Felling but if you go through Team Valley you can do most of it off road.

Newcastle east though Walker to North Shields & Tynemouth.
Hadrians Way could be linked to John Dobson Street by turning an existing Rat Run into a Cycle only road and linking Carliol Square to Trafalgar Street or Pilgrim Street.

Newcastle though Gosforth, Longbenton to Whitley Bay
Despite the lack of "cycle infrastructure" the A191 is fine to cycle at least as far as Holystone. As above, turn the wasted road space into cycle lanes.

Sometimes it would be better to work on linking up existing trails into routes than spending millions on new stuff.

stumps wrote:

I go along the Coast Road route to work and unless your on a mountain bike its a nightmare for road bikes and its only about 4 foot wide and used by pedestrians and cyclists alike. The main section that needs work on though is in North Tyneside's area not Newcastle so i cant see that being upgraded but its a start though.

The worst part of the coast road route are the crossings over the slip roads on and off the A1058 (70mph dual carriageway for non locals) . I generally take a longer route through Wallsend and along the river but a more direct route into town would be handy sometimes.

This section through town though... I hope they get it right because the objectors will be absolutely dying for it to fail.

I use the Battle Hill Road when on my road bike. It's quicker, and you don't have to slow down and cross slip roads on the Coast Rod cycle path, and it runs parallel to the coast road from the Silverlink.
Also, if you fancy stretching your legs a bit faster I would strongly recommend coming through along the river from North Shields via Willington Quay, Wallsend and Walkergate, eventually bringing you out at the Quayside. I actually find the roads quieter that way, less roundabouts and traffic lights and a few nice wide cycle lanes too. And the local drivers are more forgiving than the Battle Hill lot...

I really hope they get their act together on this and we can get some momentum nationally. Not that optimistic but who knows...