Newcastle introduces £3 million programme to make streets safer

New proposals to make streets safer for children and encourage more people to get active in three areas of Newcastle city have been unveiled.

Streets for People, run by Newcastle City Council, is a £3 million programme which hopes to encourage people to make more local journeys by foot or on bike by re-designing local streets.

The council worked with residents from Desmond, Heaton and Ouseburn and Denham and Arthurs’s Hill to identify problems in their areas which prevent them from travelling on foot or bike.

Specialist urban designers then came up a set of proposals to create more walking and cycling friendly neighbourhoods.

The scheme, funded by the government’s Cycle City Ambition Fund, can only be spent on change to promote walking, cycling and sustainable travel in local areas.

The packages mainly put forward in these three areas include: safe routes to school, traffic calming measures, improving access to public transport, public realm improvements, and reallocation of space from road use to wider pavements and cycle paths.

Each area has £1 million to make improvements and the council is asking for local residents’ views so it can prioritise projects based on public feedback.

Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality, said: “This is a fantastic scheme which looks at what the community needs, to reclaim streets for people, not cars. Many of our local neighbourhoods were built years ago with a focus on vehicle access which has resulted in some neighbouring streets feeling disconnected, noisy and busy with cars.

“Now with this funding, we can go back and retrofit junctions and street layouts, better connect streets and reduce traffic to create safer, quieter and greener streets in the hearts of our communities.

“We’ve heard many parents say they can’t let their children walk to school on their own as they have concerns about the roads they need to cross to get there. With this set of schemes, we’re proposing safe routes to several local schools so children can walk, scoot or cycle there safely.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in working with us on the street improvements. This is a fantastic opportunity to make better use of our streets, which are safer, cleaner, greener and healthier for us all.”