Anger over plans to scrap High Street cycle lane
LDRSPlans to scrap cycle lanes on a busy street have been met with anger from campaigners.
Newcastle City Council wants to remove dedicated cycling routes on Gosforth High Street, in an effort to speed up bus journeys.
In 2020, long rows of bollards were installed to create extra space for bikes and pedestrians during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, these were removed in 2023 and replaced by a bus lane.
Opponents claimed this made the street more dangerous and cyclists are angered at another planned redesign which they fear would "endanger the lives of children".
The council's latest proposals include removing the protected northbound cycle lane between Salters Road and Regent Farm Road, and a painted southbound cycle lane from Church Road to Ivy Road.
It wants to add three new sections of northbound bus lane to the Great North Road, which would see a pedestrian traffic island between The Grove and Elmfield Road replaced with a puffin crossing between the Poplars and Graham Park Road.
Critics argued the move would prioritise traffic travelling through Gosforth over the local community, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
'Endanger children'
Sally Watson, who was knocked over with her eight-year-old daughter at the Moor Road South-Moorfield junction in 2019, accused the council of "making it more difficult to walk and cycle on the High Street while also not doing anything to make the surrounding streets safer".
Local resident Siobhan Still added: "The removal of cycle lanes will endanger the lives of children like mine, making it harder for them to travel healthily and independently."
The council's latest designs do not include a number of measures set out in a public consultation in April 2025 – including a two-way cycle lane north of Christon Road, a cycle track and crossing on Christon Road, and a safe crossing for people cycling from West Avenue to Gosforth Central Park.
Conservative councillor Doc Anand said: "We cannot afford any more of these top-down experiments without consultation.
"Residents must be fully involved and at the heart of every stage of the decision-making process."
A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said last year it consulted on extensive proposals for both public transport and active travel and said it was continuing to develop these proposals.
They added it would share further plans to improve active travel connections in the area, including "cycling links that would run parallel to, rather than along, the high street itself", at a later date.
