This document discusses efforts to make the Jesmond area of Newcastle more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. It outlines the goals of the local Transition Towns group to promote sustainability. It then details several initiatives to improve cycling infrastructure in Jesmond, including proposed bike routes, a council survey, and efforts to calm traffic and widen sidewalks on Acorn Road through a trial one-way system. However, the document notes that progress has been slow due to resistance from highways officials and concerns about removing parking. It calls for maintaining local pressure through additional public meetings and exploring neighborhood planning options.

1. Jesmond –fit for people or just
cars?
Tony Waterston

2. !
TRANSITION(JESMOND!
transitionjesmond@gmail.com!!Transition)Jesmond))
transitionjesmond@gmail.com))
What!are!Transition!Towns?!
Transition!towns!aim!to!be:!
• Sustainable!–!that!means!!living!
within!our!means,!now!and!forever!
• Resilient!–!that!means!not!being!
dependent!on!outside!resources!
• Healthy!–!that!means!having!a!
strong!sense!of!community,!and!
sourcing!our!food!locally!
• Supportive!–!that!means!working!
together!to!develop!our!local!
economy!to!mutual!benefit!
!
T ackling clim ate change
and peak oil
in our com m unity here and now
!Making!our!local!community!sustainable!
!
!Supporting!renewable!energy!with!demonstrations!
!
!Developing!local!cycle!routes!to!school!and!shops!
!
!Reducing!the!use!of!plastic!bags!in!shopping!areas!
!
!Showing!films!on!Transition!themes!
!
!Making!Acorn!Rd!more!pleasant!for!people!on!foot!
!
We welcom e new m em bers – older people,
parents, students and teenagers can all
be involved – it’s fun and you can m ake
a difference

3. Receiving our cheque
From Waitrose!

4. Jesmond Safe Cycling
We are working to improve
cycling facilties in Jesmond
between home and school
and from home to shopping
Cycling in Jesmond
Jesmond is perfect for cycling: distances are
short, the terrain is flat, motor traffic is
relatively slow, and many students use a bike.
But how often do you see an elderly person or a
child cycling on Osborne Rd? The problem is
that there is no special space for bikes, crossing
main roads is dangerous, and route signing is
appalling. Can’t we do better?
More info see http://newcycling.org
Examples of ideas: cycle lanes, cycle crossings, cycle traffic lights, more
space on the roads for cyclists, traffic calming, 20mph zones
More info/enquiries tony.waterston@ncl.ac.uk
What we want
6 cycle routes
connecting periphery
Cycle lane on
Osborne Rd
Double cycle lane
on Tankerville
Advance stop line
at all traffic lights
Europe leads the way
Signing on all
cycle routes

5. 1. Cycle planning 2011-2013
• Cycling with councillors
• Cycling with officers
• Cycle ward newsletter
• Council survey
• Cycle plan – 6 routes from residential areas to
school or shopping

6. Cycling with councillors 2011: Nigel Todd,
Chris Boyle, David Hardman

7. Cycling
with officers
(and child)
Late 2011

8. In the Chron again

9. North and
South Jesmond
Ward newsletter
Feb 2012

10. Press release March 2012
• LET’S TALK BIKING IN JESMOND
• The campaign for a more people-friendly Jesmond gets underway as the
Council issues a special ward newsletter for North and South Jesmond
with a particular focus on cycling.
• A newsletter will be dropped through every door in Jesmond stating:
“Jesmond is the perfect place for cycling. It’s flat as a pancake, filled with
trees and flowers, and few people live more than three miles from where
they need to be or want to go”. Yet currently many people, particularly
the old and the young, don’t use a bike owing to their fear of cars and
heavy, fast traffic. So, working with all six Jesmond Councillors, Transition
Jesmond and the Newcastle Cycling Campaign have helped to design a
survey which can be filled in online at www.letstalknewcastle.co.uk or a
paper copy can be obtained from the local ward co-ordinator or
councillor.

12. Council cycle survey with mapping
• Do you have problems cycling in Jesmond owing
to speeding traffic and busy road crossings?
• Would you like to see cycle lanes and cycle
friendly routes in Jesmond?
• IF SO – PLEASE COMPLETE THE COUNCIL’S CYCLE
SURVEY
• www.letstalknewcastle.co.uk

14. Our proposals
• We have identified the following areas where there are particular
problems for cyclists (photographs are available):
• Coming from Gosforth through Jesmond: crossing Jesmond Dene Rd,
Highbury, Tankerville – fast motor traffic
• Osborne Rd (whole length) – fast motor traffic and no assistance at
junctions or traffic lights
• Osborne Rd- Jesmond Rd junction – no assistance for cyclists
• Holly Ave – Osborne Rd junction – cycle sign but what happens on
Osborne Rd?
• Bottom of Osborne Ave, Jesmond Rd – difficult crossing for cyclists coming
in from coast route (Armstrong Bridge)
• Sandyford Rd – designated as cycle route but not cycle friendly, pavement
on South side too narrow for joint use
• Sandyford Rd/Jesmond Rd junction – same

15. 6 Jesmond routes
1. Cradlewell to Acorn Road and West Jesmond
School
2. Brandling village to West Jesmond School
3. High West Jesmond to West Jesmond School
4. Brandling village to Acorn Road shops
5. Armstrong Bridge to Portland and Osborne
Roads via Jesmond Road
6. Central Jesmond to Gosforth

18. Timeline
• July 2012 cycle plan finalised: 6 routes
• November 2012: officers’ response
• Jan 2013: our comment and questions
• June 2013: further response awaited…
• Councillors are supporting changes at Haldane
and Highbury ? In this year’s ward budget

19. Officers respond
• 7 November 2012
• Ref: SD/LF/AC/12
• Response to Jesmond Cycling Plan V6
• Thank you for your proposed Cycling Plan for Jesmond and your proposals for improvements
to the routes which you have identified and prioritised.
• We would like to offer the following responses to the points raised. It should be noted that
there is currently no funding in place to undertake these measures from the Cycling budget.
This budget is dedicated to the provision of Strategic Cycles routes for the next 8 years.
• Some facilities could potentially be provided from the Traffic Management budget. It should
be noted however that any such requests will be prioritised based on road safety on a worst
first basis, treating those areas with a defined road safety issue as a priority. Schemes are
prioritised City wide and not ward wide.
• With this in mind it would be sensible to engage with Local Ward Members to determine if
an alternative source of funding such as Ward budgets could be used to implement some of
the measures requested.

20. Family cycle ride during Jesmond festival May ‘13

22. 2. Acorn Rd
• The problems – congestion, traffic fumes,
narrow pavements, difficult to cross, bad for
cycling
• Acorn Rd Improvement group – residents,
traders, campaigners, councillors
• Surveys: polling machine, trader survey, street
survey, traffic survey, resident discussion
• A plan + public meeting (23rd
May)

26. What has been your main means of travel today?
17 July-7 Aug 2012
29 Oct-20 Nov 2012
Polling machine survey
Walking Cycling Car Bus Metro
All
337 (35%)
229 (52%)
88 (9%)
44 (10%)
401 (42%)
126 (28%)
42 (4%)
14 (3%)
89 (9%)
31 (7%)
Tesco
137 (31%)
74 (44%)
28 (6%)
15 (9%)
209 (47%)
62 (37%)
20 ((5%)
2 (1%)
52 (12%)
15 (9%)
Waitrose
191 (40%)
155 (56%)
53 (11%)
29 (11%)
183 (38%)
64 (23%)
21 (4%)
12 (5%)
32 (7%)
16 (6%)
library 9 (29%) 7 (23%) 9 (29%) 1 (3%) 5 (16%)

27. • Vehicle use of Acorn Road, the general flow of movement is east to west.
• 79% of traffic was observed to enter and leave Acorn Road within a 10 minute
period, suggesting significant use for through movement.
• Total movements were 5.5 vehicles per minute, about one every ten seconds.
Traffic survey

28. Street survey: mode of travel

29. Street survey: daily spend
Shoppers
Mean spend per
shopper Total spend
All 290 £25 £7,112
Car/van 94 £41 £3,827
Walk 167 £16 £2,686
Cycle 13 £19 £244
Bus 5 £7 £37
Metro 10 £29 £294
How much do you expect to spend today (shoppers only)?

30. How many times a month do you usually visit Acorn Road? How much
do you usually spend when you come shopping here?
Street survey: monthly spend
Mean
monthly
trips
Total
monthly
trips
Mean
spend
per trip
Mean
monthly
spend
Total
monthly
spend
% total
monthly
spend
All 15.9 4,593 £ 20.12 £ 319.91 £1,469,337 100%
Car/van 12 1,117 £ 28.07 £ 336.84 £376,250 26%
Walk 18.6 3,104 £ 16.62 £ 309.13 £959,546 65%
Cycle 12.7 165 £ 16.31 £ 207.14 £34,178 2%
Bus 15 75 £ 16.75 £ 251.25 £18,844 1%
Metro 13.4 132 £ 11.30 £ 151.42 £19,987 1%

31. Street survey: quality of experience

32. The Plan
• One way East to West
• ‘shared space’ concept
• Widen pavement on North
• Remove parking from North side
• Alternative parking by introducing 2hr limit in
neighbouring (residential) streets
• Trial the one way system to investigate effects

35. Progress to report?
• Cycle plan: some measures underway but very
slow movement by officers
• Acorn RD: support for traffic calming and
improvement of corners but council not at
present supporting a pilot

36. What’s the problem?
• Council does not appear to translate central
objectives into local action
• Highways officers are resistant to change and
seem unaware or uninterested in newer
policies
• Councillors are not prepared to upset
residents by taking away parking
• There is a lack of a district wide approach to
environmental planning

37. What next?
• Involve local opinion formers
• Keep up local pressure
• Public meeting(s) with outside speakers
• Neighbourhood planning?
• Further ideas welcome! (eg guerilla cycle
lanes)