Heaton Road Cycle Lane Update

Designs have been drawn up to extend the protected cycle lane on Heaton Road from it’s existing end point near Meldon Terrace. The extension would continue the protected lane northwards to the Coast Road. Additionally, some side roads that currently widen where they join Heaton Road will be improved to make it safer and easier for people to cross them when walking along Heaton Road.

You can view the plans online here.

This scheme continues on from the existing lanes on Heaton Road and will go to the Corner House junction. The extensions will be slightly different the the existing stretch – the cycle lane will be a t road level, separated from the pavement by the existing kerbs with a new kerb to separate the cycle lane from the road.

It is important if you support the scheme and think it will help make Heaton a better, safer place that positive responses get heard. You can express your support at the drop-in session, by emailing Alison Lamb at the City Council and by letting your local councillors know you’d like to see this implemented.

You can find out the email address of your councillor here, by choosing the ward you live in.

Recent newsletters from the Councillors covering the wider Heaton area from both parties show they appear keen to make progress towards a cleaner, safer environment but they are much more likely to make positive decisions if they have public backing so drop them a quick email if you like the look of the scheme.

Read on if you would like to find out about the reasons that improvements are needed and why this scheme could help make the area better.

Public Health

In a presentation to the City Council[i] in June, Eugene Milne, Director of Public Health, reported that 2 child and maternal health indicators are heading in the wrong direction, one of which is childhood obesity.

Later on, while referring to a study on how traffic effects health[ii] he said “But I would suggest that there is a growing evidence base to show that protective and health improving physical and social infrastructure may be at the heart of a truly effective approach to population health improvement.”

The presentation also had data that showed the number of children killed or seriously injured on roads in Newcastle is far higher than the national average (32 per 100000 in Newcastle against 17.4 in England, 2015-17).

The Heaton Road scheme would extent the existing Heaton Road cycle lane and bring it closer to schools that children travel to using Heaton Road. Providing a safe cycling route from Heaton and Byker to Heaton Manor and St Mary’s schools would contribute to safer physical infrastructure as well as allowing children to be more active safely, which could help reduce the occurrence of childhood obesity.

You can read the report on the City Council website. 

[i] Presentation – Director of Public Health annual report, pg 4 https://democracy.newcastle.gov.uk/documents/s145125/2018-19%20DPH%20Annual%20Report%20-%20Final%2026th%20June.pdf

[ii] Appleyard, D. Livable streets, protected neighborhoods. (University of California Press, 1981).

Don’t forget!
Any new schemes that suggest changes often get negative responses while people who are supportive tend not to respond. 

It will only take a minute to respond by email to alison.lamb@newcastle.gov.uk saying you support the Heaton Road Scheme to make a big difference (click the link to get started).

Road Safety

Automatic traffic surveys carried by the council is the early part of the Heaton Road project counted and measured the speed of vehicles on Heaton Road.

The speed survey showed that the 85th percentile was between 30mph and 31mph during the day. This means that 15% of vehicles passing the survey point were traveling above the 30mph speed limit.

With 51761 vehicles counted over a 7 day period this suggests that over 7700 vehicles were moving in excess of the speed limit across the week. Speeding traffic does not lead to a safe environment for children traveling to school. Protective infrastructure added to the street would provide a much safer environment that would allow children to walk and cycle to school by separating them from fast moving vehicles.

Northbound traffic volumes on Heaton Road

You can see the results on the traffic survey online at https://www.heatontrafficstats.co.uk/street/heaton-road

Climate Emergency

At the April meeting of the City Council a motion on calling a Climate Emergency was submitted by the Liberal Democrats and amended by the Labour Party, with the Council passing the motion (41 votes in favour and 15 against.

The Council endorsed the view that “All government bodies have a duty to limit the negative impacts of Climate Change. It is important for the residents of Newcastle that we commit to carbon neutrality as quickly as possible;”. It also called on the government to provide powers and resources to help the council become carbon neutral by 2030.

Given that the money for the Streets for People project comes from the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Fund, the Heaton Road scheme fits well with the Council’s current aims set out in the motion that was passed.

The full text of the motion that the Council passed can be read in the meeting minutes.

Air Quality

The Coast Road through Heaton is one of the areas that has been identified as having illegal levels of NO2 pollution. Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory have a sensor at the Corner House junction that consistently shows levels of NO2 above the legal limit.

Readings of Nitrogen Dioxide at the Corner House junction
Air quality readings from a sensor at the Corner House junction

Various suggestions have been put forward to tackle this, but they all have the aim of reducing motor traffic in one way or another.

The only way a reduction in motor traffic will be seen, is if safe, direct alternatives are provided. The proposed scheme on Heaton Road is a good step towards having safe alternatives for people travelling north-south through this area.

Additionally, studies show that children are exposed to higher levels of pollution inside cars than those outside walking or cycling.

Safe walking and cycling routes to schools could have a big effect of reducing children’s exposure to air pollution as well as going some way to reducing the number of vehicles on the road at peak times.
 If you would like to see daily updates of readings from the monitor at the Corner House follow @airheaton on Twitter. This automatic feed shares the latest readings each morning.

Let the Council know you’d like to see this happen.

Changes of any sort often get negative responses while people who are supportive tend not to respond. 

It will only take a minute to respond by email to alison.lamb@newcastle.gov.uk saying you support the Heaton Road Scheme to make a big difference (click the link to get started).

Air Quality Consultation Closing Soon

There is still time to submit your comments on the Council’s proposals to tackle poor air quality. The deadline is 17th May 2019. 

It can be quite difficult to understand what the issues are, so we have put together some thoughts after looking at the consultation information.

What is the issue?

Councils have a responsibility to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO2) where it exceeds legal limits. The legal limit is set at 40µg/m³ average over 12 months and a number of places in the city and surrounding areas have been found to breach this.

If no action is taken the Government will impose a charging clean air zone in an attempt to reduce emissions. The Council has put forward various alternatives that it hopes will achieve reductions in levels of NO2 without the Government forcing a solution on the city.

It is worth remembering that there is no safe level of exposure to air pollution, so just getting below the legal limit doesn’t remove all risks to health.

Air quality in Heaton

We have written about the levels of NO2 measured in Heaton previously. For the month of November 2018, the Coast Road had an average value of 50.47µg/m³.

The Coast Road is one on the areas the Government has stipulated NO2 levels must be reduced.

Heaton Road and Chillingham Road had readings around 28µg/m³ measured in the same month.

More recently the average reading on NO2 for March 2019 taken by a sensor at the junction of Heaton Road and the Coast Road is 72.75µg/m³.

The graph below showing how NO2 didn’t dip below the legal average limit on any day over the whole month at this location.

Average daily readings of NO2 for March 2019

At the time of writing the full data for April isn’t available but looking at the week of April 7th – 13th at the same location the picture is no better.

Day – April 2019Reading – NO2(µg/m³)
Sunday 7th67.31
Monday 8th 85.26
Tuesday 9th97.83
Wednesday 10th90.09
Thursday 11th73.79
Friday 12th69.69
Saturday 13th64.26

What are the proposed solutions?

You can read full details of the proposals put forward by the Council on the consultation website at https://www.breathe-cleanair.com

Briefly, the main options put forward are:

Charging Clean Air Zone – this is an area that people in certain types of vehicle will be charged to enter. The proposals don’t include a CAZ covering any of the residential areas of Heaton but the Coast Road – from Battle Hill to the city centre – would be covered. To enter the zone without paying a car would need to meet Euro 6 standard for diesel and Euro 4 standard for petrol. The same would apply for vans, HGVs and buses.

The map below, from the Council shows the possible boundaries of the clean air zone.

The potential area covered by a clean air zone if it was implemented.

You can see what standard your vehicle is using this link.

A low emission zone – covering the city centre and tolls on the bridges crossing the Tyne in the city centre. Certain vehicles would be banned from a low emission zone (with fines levied against those people breaking the law) while the bridge tolls would apply to all vehicles except buses, taxis and some ultra-low emission vehicles. Private cars are not affected by the low emission zone, only the tolls.

The potential area covered by a low emission zone if it was implemented.

There are a number of smaller proposals for goods vehicles and financial support detailed on the website.

How might this affect Heaton?

Heaton isn’t directly covered by the CAZ or low emission zone but the proposed CAZ would cover the Coast Road past Heaton.

However, it’s important that any measures that improve air quality on the Coast Road don’t result in a deterioration of the air quality elsewhere.

Things to consider include: 

  • Would a CAZ improve the air quality in Heaton as well as the area specifically covered by the zone?
  • Will charging buses cause those people currently travelling in a less harmful way to be penalised unfairly with higher ticket costs?
  • By charging only some vehicles there’s a chance that more polluting vehicles are discouraged from using the road. This could reduce pollution and traffic levels. If traffic levels reduce, will the space be taken up by other vehicles that are currently discouraged due to traffic levels?
  • Will a higher number of cleaner vehicles offset any reductions gained from removing older vehicles?
  • Will a charge on the Coast Road cause more people to use roads through Heaton or use Heaton as a park and ride to avoid paying to enter the city centre, or will it bring about an overall reduction in vehicle movements?
  • Should the CAZ  cover Heaton or parts of the area to guard against any unforeseen side effects?

Thinking about bridge tolls and a low emission zone, many of the same points apply. In addition:

  • Would these proposals improve or harm air quality in Heaton?
  • Would having tolls on the bridges that are the same as the Tyne Tunnel make the tunnel seem like a more attractive options for people heading to coastal areas south of the river? If so, would this lead to even higher levels of traffic and emissions on the Coast Road?
  • Could tolls see an overall reduction in traffic, reducing levels of pollution across the city?
  • As tolls would be levied on all vehicles except buses, are they a fairer way of bringing about a reduction in pollution?
  • Would the suggested schemes encourage more use of less polluting forms of transport?

Make your voice heard

It’s important that anybody that would like to see air quality improved in Heaton, and across the city, replies to the consultation so that all views are heard. 

You can submit your views on the consultation website.

As the readings of air quality in locations in Heaton show, something needs to be done before the health of local people starts to suffer.

An open meeting about air quality

SPACE for Heaton will be holding an open meeting on Wednesday 13th February to share information about recent air quality measurements in the Heaton area.

Taking place at Chillingham Road Primary School at 7:15pm there will be a chance to see what has been recorded by monitors put up by the Urban Observatory at Newcastle University as well as see portable monitors.

There will a short presentation on SPACE for Heaton, details about measurements of pollutants taken around the area and some information about the Sense My Street project that helped get the sensors installed as well as some words from one of the Heaton ward councillors.

See the poster below for all the information. We hope to see you there.

Air Quality Measured in Heaton

Around a year ago a number of sensors that could record levels of various types of air pollution were installed in locations around Heaton in conjunction with Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory.

After a few initial problems and some calibration, the sensors have now been recording data for a number of months. One of the pollutants that has been in the news recently and is measured by the sensors is NO2.

NO2 is nitrogen dioxide, a colourless gas that is released in to the air when fuels like petrol, diesel and natural gas are burned. High levels of NO2 can cause health problems, particularly for people with asthma.

The concentration of NO2 is recorded by the sensors in micrograms per metre cubed of air (µg/m³). While there is no safe level of any sort of pollutant there is a legal target for NO2 of an annual mean of 40 µg/m³. Additionally, a 1 hour mean average of 200 µg/m³ should not be exceeded more than 18 times a year.

The Government guide to safe levels various types of air pollution can be found on the DEFRA website (pdf) along with a useful guide explaining what the targets mean in terms of UK and EU limits.

DEFRA have a more detailed guide about nitrogen dioxide that can be found on their website if you want more detail on issues facing the UK as a whole: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/aqeg/nd-summary.pdf

NO2 in Heaton

In order to see what current levels of NO2 are in the Heaton area, and establish a baseline against which future readings can be compared, we looked at the average readings for the month of November 2018. There were three sensors operational. The average readings of NO2 for the month are show in the following table.

Sensor Location Reading (µg/m³)
Heaton Road – Outside St Teresa’s school 28.07
Chillingham Road – Outside the primary school 29.78
Junction of Heaton Road, Newton Road
and the Coast Road (Corner House) 		50.47

Unsurprisingly, there is quite a difference between the Coast Road and Chillingham and Heaton Roads. This is likely to be related to the difference in volume of traffic using the different roads.

Although the three monitors recorded different levels of NO2 all three showed rises and falls on the same days. This could be due to levels of traffic rising and falling across different days or other factors such as weather conditions. More data and research would be needed to pinpoint the reasons behind the peaks. However, whatever the causes are, they seem to affect the whole area simultaneously.

The following graphs show the daily average for November 2018 of NO2 recorded by each of the sensors.

NO2 readings from Heaton Road in µg/m³
NO2 readings from Chillingham Road in µg/m³
NO2 readings from the Coast Road in µg/m³

The future

At the time of writing the Council should have submitted a plan to the Government detailing what it intends to do the tackle areas of the city that currently have levels of NO2 that breach legal limits. One of these areas is the Coast Road running past Heaton.

If no acceptable solutions are produced the Government may impose a Clean Air Charging Zone (often referred to as a CAZ) on the city.

It is important that any solution created to tackle the high pollution levels in key areas don’t have a side effect of increasing the level of pollution elsewhere. This is particularly important in Heaton as any solution could move car traffic – a major source of NO2 – from the Coast Road on to other roads running through the area if not thought through.

Unintended consequences

It is not yet known what, if any, action the Council will be taking to reduce levels on NO2 but at SPACE for Heaton we feel it is important that any measures taken in one location don’t adversely affect another.

While Chillingham Road and Heaton Road don’t currently breach legal limits, measures aimed at reducing Coast Road values should not lead to increases elsewhere around Heaton, or elsewhere in the city.

What to do

If you share our concerns about air pollution in Heaton you can join us (no fees or commitment!) by visiting our signup page.

Additionally keep a look out for news from the Council about their plans and respond to any consultation it undertakes expressing your support or concerns for the proposals when they appear.

If this has sparked you interest you can find out more at our open meeting on 13th of February.

You can find links to the sensors installed in the area where you can view and download data in our previous post.

City Council Elections 2018

There are elections for the Council happening in Newcastle on the 3rd May 2018. This year new ward boundaries are being introduced. The wider Heaton area will be now covered by three wards: Heaton, Ouseburn and Manor Park.

With lots of new faces we’re keen to find out what the candidates think, in particular about how they plan to address transport-related issues in our community. To do that we’ve come up with five statements or pledges and we have asked each of the candidates whether they support these or if not what they plan to do instead.

Below the candidate’s responses, which we’ll update as they are received, we have also written a bit of background about why we have chosen these particular statements.

Please keep checking back in advance of the elections on 3 May and if one of your candidates has not yet answered please do encourage them to do so. The very least we should expect from future local councillors is a willingness to engage with local residents and share their vision for the future of Heaton.

THE SPACE FOR HEATON PLEDGES

The five pledges we have asked candidates to support are:

  1. Streets that are safe (and feel safe) for children to walk and cycle to school, to the shops or to the park.
  2. Air pollution in Newcastle brought within legal limits as soon as possible.
  3. Residential streets that are pleasant, safe and attractive places to live and where children can play out.
  4. Rapid implementation of temporary changes to trial interventions to support these objectives.
  5. Constructive community engagement about how to address the public health impacts of travel and the benefits of active travel.

Please see below for more on why we have chosen these pledges and what they mean in practice.

We are contacting all the candidates and will post their responses below when we receive them. The candidates are listed in the order they appear on the Statement of Persons Nominated on the City Council website

Heaton Ward

Name Party Response
Christopher Boyle Liberal Democrats  Agrees with 1-3 and 5. Reservations about 4 explained in the full response below.
Alex Collier Conservative Party
Lara Ellis Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
Matthew Folker Liberal Democrats
Andrew Gray Green Party Many thanks for your letter asking me to support your five pledges.  I am happy to do so, with the additional comments below (especially in relation to pledge 4, where I would like to combine better engagement with a quicker process or trials). See the full response below
George Lloyd Conservative Party
Chris Parker Green Party Thanks very much for getting in touch and giving me the opportunity to support your pledges, which I do so wholeheartedly. Read the full response
Clare Penny-Evans Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
John-Paul Stephenson Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
Jonathan-Fin Tuddenham Conservative Party
Jason Lee Whalley Liberal Democrats
Louise  Wilson Green Party

Manor Park Ward

Name Party Response
Alex Benson Labour Party
Leanne Conway-Wilcox Conservative Party
Sylvia Copley Labour Party
Paula  Dyer Conservative Party
Michael Gardner Green Party
Thomas Gordon Liberal Democrats  I’m more than happy to give my support to the five pledges! View
Charlie Gray Labour Party
Doreen Huddart Liberal Democrats
Florence Kirkby Conservative Party Heaton has always been felt to be a pleasant place to live and I am happy to endorse pledges 1, 2, 3 and 5. Pledge 4 I think I might like to consider on a more individual bases.
Gregory Stone Liberal Democrats Agrees with 1-3 and 5. Reservations about 4 explained in the full response below.  Read the full response below

Ouseburn Ward

Name Party Response
Jason  Carr Conservative Party
Alistair Chisholm Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
Harry Craggs Conservative Party
Paula  Holland Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
Rachel Holland Green Party  As a Green Party candidate for Ouseburn Ward, I heartily support your five pledges. Read the full response
Gareth Kane Liberal Democrats The local election candidates are more than happy to support the five pledges! (view)
Ciaran Morrissey Liberal Democrats The local election candidates are more than happy to support the five pledges! (view)
Ralph Pettingill Green Party  Fully support the five pledges. Read the full response below
Stephen Powers Labour Party We are happy to endorse all of the pledges. Read the full response below
Aleisha Stansfield Liberal Democrats The local election candidates are more than happy to support the five pledges! (view)
Nicholas Sundin Conservative Party

WHY HAVE WE CHOSEN THESE PLEDGES?

Pledge 1. Streets that are safe, and feel safe, for children to walk and cycle to school, to the shops or to the park.

Everyone should be able to travel safely whether they walk, cycle, use public transport or drive and should feel safe while they do so, but this isn’t currently the case in Heaton. Often, traffic is fast and heavy, which is intimidating to many people.

Children are less able to look out for themselves and are more likely to be injured or even killed in the event of a collision, so focusing on children, whether travelling independently or with an adult, is a good way to make Heaton safer for everyone.

Children are also more vulnerable to air pollution and children driven to school can be subject to up to ten times worse air quality than children who walk or cycle, and the extra vehicles make it harder for everyone else who needs to drive. Children who walk or cycle also get the benefit of the exercise – with the NHS recommending that children need at least 60 minute of moderate or vigorous exercise every day.

When we say streets ‘that are safe and feel safe’ we mean streets where children can and do walk and cycle to school, to shops or to the park, and where parents feel comfortable to let them. Ultimately it will be for local residents, and in particular parents, to judge whether a street is safe for their children to walk and cycle. We hope to work with Councillors who sign up to this pledge to engage with local parents to determine what is needed to achieve this objective.

While it is right that children are the priority, the map below shows the locations of where people have been killed or seriously injured in the Heaton area in the last 10 years (2008-2017). As with other UK cities including Liverpool and Edinburgh we hope Newcastle will also adopt a “Vision Zero” target i.e. zero deaths or serious injuries on Newcastle’s roads.

Crash-map showing locations of  people killed or seriously injured in the Heaton area of Newcastle 2008-2017
Crash-map showing locations of  people killed or seriously injured in the Heaton area of Newcastle 2008-2017

Pledge 2. Air pollution in Newcastle brought within legal limits as soon as possible.

In the last official figures from 2016, both Gosforth and City Centre Air Quality Management Areas (which stretches along Jesmond Road to Heaton) were in breach of the legal limits that should have been met by 2010. Bringing air pollution within legal limits as soon as possible is actually a legal requirement and Newcastle City Council has been mandated by DEFRA to produce a plan to do this by the end of 2018. Our expectation is that legal limits in Newcastle can be achieved by 2020 however that will depend on the detailed modelling currently being undertaken by the Council.

Air pollution affects everyone but it affects the young and the old the most. In Newcastle it has been estimated that 124 lives are lost every year as a result of illegal air pollution just for nitrogen dioxide with particulate matter likely to be responsible for more still. As well as causing early deaths, air pollution is also known to be a major cause of heart disease, lung disease, cancer and has been shown to be responsible for birth defects and cognitive delay in children.

In a recent report, the Royal College of Physicians has recommended that to protect public health, the UK adopt even more ambitious targets than the current legal limits and we hope Newcastle will adopt and work towards meeting those more challenging targets.

Given this is a legal requirement that the Council must meet we expect all candidates will sign up to this pledge.

 

Pledge 3. Residential streets that are pleasant, safe and attractive places to live and where children can play out without fear of traffic.

Streets aren’t just about movement of traffic. They are also where we live, shop and socialise, and for children also where they are most likely to play outside near their homes.

Many streets in Heaton are suitable for children to play out but many are not. Traffic surveys undertaken by the Council in 2017 show some streets having high volumes of traffic throughout the day. On Warwick Street, a terrace link many in Heaton, but with high volumes on traffic more than 200 vehicles were recorded in one 15 minute period on 7th June 2017.

As a result we don’t see as many children playing out as we might expect and certainly a lot fewer than we when were children ourselves. Parents cannot be blamed for keeping their children indoors with such high volumes of traffic.

Low-traffic neighbourhoods with streets that are safe for children are better for everyone with less noise, less danger and cleaner air.  It’s even been shown that people living on streets with less traffic have more friends and a better social life than those that live on streets with heavy traffic. This is no laughing matter when loneliness is now considered such a serious issue that the Government has appointed a Minister for Loneliness to create a national loneliness strategy.

As with pledge 1, it will be for local residents to judge whether a street is pleasant, safe and attractive and where children can play out without fear of traffic. We hope to work with Councillors who sign up to this pledge to engage with local residents who have concerns about  traffic-related issues to look at options for how this objective can be met for their street.

Graph showing eastbound traffic on Warwick Street in June 2017
Graph showing eastbound traffic on Warwick Street in June 2017

Pledge 4. Rapid implementation of temporary changes to trial interventions in support of these objectives.

If Pledges 1-3 are to mean anything there must be some meaningful and urgent action as a result. Often changes involving traffic are controversial with long and heated debates about the likely consequences of a change. Yet other cities have shown that there is a different way, with trial interventions that can be implemented quickly that let people experience what will happen without any permanent commitment being made.

Using trials as part of a range of interventions helps inform the debate as people can see the benefits for themselves, and if there are issues with the trial then they can be stated factually with councillors and residents then able to work together to resolve or mitigate those issues.

Clearly not all issues can be resolved straight away but we hope to work with Councillors and other members of the community to identify and prioritise the areas of greatest concern, where trials might receive the most support and have the greatest benefit.

Pledge 5. Constructive community engagement about how to address the public health impacts of travel and the benefits of active travel.

Making streets safer and cutting air pollution should be objectives that everyone supports, but it is still important that the council and local councillors engage with the community to ensure that residents understand what the issues are and have a chance to help solve those issues. Air pollution in particular is invisible and we’ve found that many people haven’t been aware that it has been, and continues to be, a problem in Heaton. Nor are people generally aware of the very serious health impact of sedentary lifestyles which cost taxpayers billions of pounds every year and are responsible for even more early deaths than air pollution.

Likewise it is often challenging to put ourselves in others’ shoes, to understand for example what it is like to be a child on Heaton’s streets, what it is like to be a parent cycling or walking with children (or even alone) on busy streets during the rush hour, or what it is like for residents or visitors with disabilities or conditions for whom travel is a challenge. It is only by having this broad engagement that we can ensure that Heaton’s streets are safe and accessible for everyone.

These five pledges are based on SPACE for Heaton’s objectives which you can see here. They don’t cover all the SPACE for Heaton’s objectives but we welcome input from candidates about how they will go about meeting other aspects of those objectives to make streets in Heaton more healthy, liveable, accessible and safe for everyone of all ages and abilities.

Our thanks go to our neighbouring group, SPACE for Gosforth, in helping to put this information together.

 

Streets for People update

There has been an announcement from the Council on the progress of the Streets for People projects taking place in areas around the city, including Heaton.

The comments collected from the consultation exercise in October and November 2017 have now been assessed against the initial proposals drawn up by the reference groups in the three project areas.

There were more than 2600 responses to the consultation for in the Heaton and Ouseburn area which suggest many people heard about the proposals and submitted their thoughts. SPACE for Heaton also submitted a response which you can read here.

The consultation results have now been published by the council. You can read the full document on the Streets for People website or download it directly (PDF).

What happens now?

The next step is for officers at the Council to create detailed plans that take in to account the results from the consultation. The original timeline for the project suggested that these plans would be available around now but things appear to have slipped a bit.

Hopefully, once the local elections have happened (which prevents Council announcements for the duration) we will be able to see detailed schemes that are ready for formal consultation and implementation.

Keep pavements for people, not cars

Sign the petition today

Recently a number of people have raised the issue of pavement parking, highlighting Heaton Park Road as a particular problem.

Although the pavement, particularly outside the shops, is very wide some of the area is private land and gets used by people to park cars on. These parked cars often encroach on to the public pavement causing an obstruction, putting people at risk, and making it harder to get around our community.

The obstruction means people who walk (particularly those using pushchairs/wheelchairs) find it hard to get around, and there is a risk of accidents as cars drive along the pavement looking for a space.  By preventing parking on the pavements, the area would become much safer, but also be more pleasant to spend time in – which has clear benefits for both local businesses and the wider community.

The opposite side of the road (by Heaton Perk) has no parking, and is a much more pleasant environment.

To raise awareness of this issue and ensure it gets addressed in the future SPACE for Heaton have started a petition where local people can lend their voice in support of keeping pavements clear for people.

Sign the petition today

We’re SPACE for Heaton – the film

On a very cold, frosty, morning in December some Heaton residents who had heard about the aims of SPACE for Heaton met in Heaton Park. The purpose of the meeting was to make a film that explained what and who SPACE for Heaton is and why it has been created.

After all the clips of people from around Heaton had been gathered together the film has been edited and released to the world.

You can see the film below. If you agree with the message don’t forget to share it with your friends. You can also sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with what SPACE for Heaton is doing.

Air Quality Monitors Installed in Heaton

Working alongside the Sense My Street project from the Urban Laboratory at Newcastle University we have had three air quality monitors installed in the Heaton area.

The monitors are capable of measuring nitrogen dioxide as well as particles of different sizes to give a good idea of the air quality in the area.

The sensors are linked to the Urban Observatory and the data can be seen online. The three monitors that are currently in place are:

We will be writing more about what the data is showing and what the current limits are shortly, but early indications show there are some areas to look at in more detail. For example, the national air quality guidelines say that PM10 particles should not exceed an average level of 50 µg/m³ over a 24 hour, period while European obligations say 50 µg/m³ should not be exceeded more than 35 times per year.

Readings of PM10 on Warwick Street on 12th January 2018 had readings around 100 µg/m³ for most of the morning before dropping during the afternoon.

European obligations for nitrogen dioxide are an annual mean of 40 µg/m³.  Early readings taken from Chillingham Road on 12th January 2018 show a reading above that level at several points throughout the day but an average that currently meets targets.

Readings from the sensor on the Coast Road show an average of 68µg m³ for the 7 days from  6th to 13th Feb 2018.

Nitrogen Dioxide Levels on Chillingham Road
Nitrogen Dioxide Levels on Chillingham Road, Heaton, 12th January 2018

As more data comes in over the next few weeks it will be possible to get a much clearer idea of the air quality across the area as well as what the causes of the different types of pollution are.

The Government guide to safe levels various types of air pollution can be found on the DEFRA website (pdf) along with a useful guide explaining what the targets mean in terms of UK and EU limits

Streets for People Response

The consultation for the Heaton and Ouseburn Streets for People project is coming to a close at the end of November and SPACE for Heaton has submitted a response to the proposals.

The proposals can be seen on the Streets for People website. Our response is detailed below.

Heaton Road

We strongly support the proposed cycle lanes on the northern section of Heaton Road and see it as a strategic priority cycle route for the city with the longer-term potential to connect north – south linking schools, the hospital and employment locations such as the Ministry. We would like to see the principle of one cycle lane on each side of the road kept as this is the safest layout as it avoids cyclists having to move from one carriageway across traffic to another. We would like to see this completed to the highest standard possible within the available budget.

We strongly prefer new cycle ways being given some protection (especially for new and young riders) by placing them inside not outside any car parking bays.

At the junction of Heaton Road and Cartington Terrace we don’t see a problem with retaining the current traffic signals. If they are to be retained, we would like to see a cycle phase included in the light sequence, as has been done at the junction of Heaton Road and Cardigan Terrace recently, to release cycles ahead of people in cars. This will allow people on bikes to safely turn on to other streets if they desire, before people in cars make this difficult and dangerous.

We don’t think the full closure of Alexandra Road and Cartington Terrace is necessary but would urge the Council to consider alternative means of traffic calming to discourage through traffic possibly by using experimental measures. We would particularly like to see some discouragement to through traffic at the junction of Cartington Terrace and Chillingham Road by the Post Office as this location is made difficult for pedestrians by people parking on yellow lines and the pavement.

Heaton Park Road

The proposals for Heaton Park Road look very good and we fully support them. The proposed changes should make the street more people friendly as well as bringing a welcome refresh to how it looks. The additional crossing will increase the safety of people wanting to get from one side to the other and emphasise pedestrian priority.

We feel more could be made to provide an easier crossing of the strategic cycle route over Heaton Park Road but appreciate this would cause problems with the proposed new crossing.

 

Heaton Park View

We welcome the proposed changes along Heaton Park View which should bring a bit of balance to people using the street on foot. The blended footways will make it considerably easier and safer for pedestrians to travel along the streets while not making it any harder for anyone else.

In combination with the changes to the junction with Stannington Grove and Heaton Park View we would like to see the priorities with Wandsworth Road/Stannington Avenue changed to prioritise the cycle route that goes through that junction. This would only need road markings to be changed and would further help to underline that people driving should give way to people travelling more sustainably.

The changes to the Heaton Park Road and Warwick street junction seem appropriate and bring some emphasis to pedestrian desire lines that are ignored in the current layout.

 

Warwick Street and Newington Road Junction

We support the changes to this junction. We would like to emphasise that the final plans should look at the details of cycle manoeuvring. For example, the left turn from Warwick Street going east on to Newington Road southbound will be difficult in traffic if the cycle entrance is narrow and has 90-degree corners. Likewise, the right turn procedure for cyclists from Warwick Street will need to be totally obvious. While these manoeuvres are not likely to be the most frequent uses of the junction, if they are possible they will happen, so need to be safe for people making them.

 

Road Safety around Ravenswood Primary School

We welcome any proposals near schools that improve the safety of children.

The new and modified crossings on Chillingham Road are very welcome. The islands they replace made crossing, particularly with children, very difficult. Being able to cross the road in one go will be a convenient a safe improvement to the current layout. Providing more space on the west side of the crossing nearest the school is a welcome change too.

The blended pavements along Chillingham road should help to slow turning traffic and emphasise that priority should be given to people on the pavement.