Metro reopened but gas mains work now starting with road closed until spring 2018
The following article has been written by Newcastle City council:
The £13.5m project will see Killingworth Road widened to reduce congestion, improve air quality, provide more efficient bus routes and make it easier and safer for people on bikes and on foot.
The first stage of works, including the replacement of the 100-year-old Metro bridge and track renewal by Nexus has been completed on schedule and Metro services have resumed.
Killingworth Road will remain closed to all traffic until spring 2018 to enable the next phase of the works – the re-location of gas mains – to be carried out.
Together with neighbouring councils, Nexus, bus operators and other partners we have put in place a series of measures to help keep the surrounding roads moving during the closure.
These measures are kept under review to ensure they are working effectively and to take into account feedback from residents and businesses.
In response to traffic monitoring and your feedback we are making some changes:
1. We are removing the temporary bus lane from the Brunton Bridge flyover.
We had a lot of feedback about this and our monitoring has shown that it is not having the desired effect in terms of helping traffic flows through the area.
Although it was worthwhile trying this measure during the summer holidays, in response to feedback and traffic monitoring, we have decided to remove this bus lane to coincide with the start of the new school term in September.
2. We have made changes to diversion signage and signal timings.
In response to your feedback we’ve changed the signage for the banned right turn into Salters Road, from the Great North Road, and signage at Goathland Avenue, Benton Road, Benton Lane and Hollywood Avenue.
We’ve also changed traffic signal timings at the West Farm Avenue junction with Salters Lane, the Goathland Avenue junction with Benton Lane and at Four Lane Ends.
3. We are funding more bike trains to and from the main work places.
The bike trains will run by Bike 4 Health during the weeks commencing September 11, 18 and 25.
Sign up sessions are taking place this week at HMRC, Freeman Hospital, BT, YHN and the Cobalt and Quorum business parks.
We’ll be sharing more information about the bike trains soon. Look out for #TheBikeTrain on social media.
We will continue to monitor the road network and the mitigation measures which are in place throughout the project.
Temporary bus lanes on Benton Lane and Benton Road
We’ve had a lot of feedback about this and about the impact of additional traffic using the Four Lane Ends junction.
These bus lanes have been essential for keeping buses moving on time during the Killingworth Road closure.
This is important because a high proportion of households in the area do not have access to a car and, as the Metro has not been running in in this area during the summer, the bus has been the only option for many people.
Information on bus diversions and fares incentives is available here: http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/re-newcastle-transport-improvements/connecting-key-junctions-across-1
These include recommended routes from Longbenton to South Gosforth and to Gosforth or Newcastle.
Advice for people driving
Wherever possible people are encouraged to use public transport, walk or cycle.
If people do need to drive we would advise people coming from the areas around Killingworth and to the north to travel via Sandy Lane, rather than via Four Lane Ends, which has seen greater congestion at peak times.
For those travelling to Newcastle from further north of the A19 or A189 then we would advise going south on the A1 via the Seaton Burn junction and then into Newcastle on the A167 or A695.
Now that work on the Metro bridge and track renewal has been completed, Nexus and their sub-contractors will be finishing their work and leaving the site in early October.
At this point the gas board will move onto the site in order to begin their work, which will involve moving major gas mains in the area.
We appreciate people’s patience while these works are carried out.
The above article was written by Newcastle City council and has been included for information purposes. The content does not necessarily represent the views of High West Jesmond Resmond Residents’ Association.
The council are still planning to impose communal bins on the residents of High West Jesmond.
Public meeting with MP called to discuss residents concerns regarding Newcastle City Council’s plan to impose communal bins after 95% of High West Jesmond said they were AGAINST such plans
95% say NO to communal bins in poll
This is despite a recent poll conducted by our local councillors which indicated 95% OPPOSITION to the council’s plan.
Meeting to be attended by Catherine McKinnell MP – Mon 18 Sept
Communal bins rubbish on Osborne Avenue back lane – Newcastle upon Tyne
High West Jesmond Residents’ Association has arranged a public meeting, to be held on Monday 18 September at 19:00 at the Trinity Church on Gosforth High Street to discuss this matter. The meeting will be attended by our local MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North, Catherine McKinnell MP.
Prior to her re-election as our MP Catherine sent a message to local residents as follows:
“I know that the proposed roll-out of communal bins by the City Council is causing a good deal of concern amongst many High West Jesmond residents – and that’s why I have sought to represent these concerns to the Chief Executive, the relevant Cabinet Member and officers both formally in writing, and in meetings.
I am particularly keen to ensure that local residents are properly consulted before any such changes are introduced, and that the outcome of this consultation is taken into account when any final decisions are taken on this issue.
I do not want to see such changes simply imposed on local residents, and will therefore continue to press the City Council for meaningful consultation on this issue.”
The meeting on 18th September will be your opportunity to discuss directly with Catherine your thoughts and concerns about the council’s proposed actions.
At the meeting there will also be an update on the latest position regarding plans for the Blue House Roundabout, as well as the Associations’ Annual General Meeting and election of officers for 2017/18.
Nominations are welcomed for officers and committee members and should be sent to Fiona Bruce before Monday 11th September 2017.
We would be delighted to see as many local residents as possible attending this meeting. We anticipate the meeting lasting approximately 90 minutes.
Read more about the council’s proposal for communal bins and see some photographs from newcastle streets where communal bins have been introduced on our Communal bins page.
The Blue House Roundabout steering group was due to meet in early May however the announcement of the General Election has meant that the next (and possibly final) meeting of the steering group has been delayed until 19 June.
What is purdah?
The term ‘purdah’ is in use across central and local government to describe the period of time immediately before elections or referendums when specific restrictions on the activity of civil servants are in place. The terms ‘pre-election period’ and ‘period of sensitivity’ are also used.
You can read more about purdah in a research briefing on parliament.uk
Purdah impact on local government
The research article on parliament.uk notes that there is statutory guidance for local authorities about publicity during the period just before local elections. The pre-election period is defined as beginning with the publication of notice of the election. In 2017, the latest date for the publication of the notice of election in England and Wales was 27 March 2017. In Scotland, returning officers were directed to publish notice of elections on the earliest day possible, which was 13 March 2017.
Once the Blue House Steering Group meeting has taken place and the plans become available, High West Jesmond Residents’ Association will circulate further information about the council’s plans.
The website for the steering group is accessible to anyone who is interested to see minutes and information pertaining to all the meetings to date. The web address is bluehousegroup.org
There will be a meeting to update on the proposed changes to Blue House Roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road, and the proposed introduction of Communal Bins.
The meeting of High West Jesmond Residents’ Association will be held on
Tuesday 24 January 2017 at 19:00
at Ouseburn Room, Trinity Church, Gosforth High Street
The meeting will hear from our Chairman, Nick Moore who has attended 6 meetings of the steering group for the development of Blue House Roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road junctions.
The steering group has not yet reached its final conclusion but this will be an opportunity for residents to be updated on work and to contribute thoughts about the proposals to date.
Also, following the recent news that the Council is proposing to introduce Communal Bins to our area we have invited our local Councillor Dominic Raymont to the meeting who will be able to share the latest news and listen to resident’s views on this issue.
We hope as many residents as possible will attend this meeting so that we can get a clear picture of the views of residents on both issues.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
The Blue House Roundabout Steering Group has now met 5 times, with the next meeting scheduled for Monday 12 December.
There are two proposals for the Blue House junction that are under consideration. These are available to view on the Blue House Roundabout Steering Group website bluehousegroup.org (the first proposal is under “Meeting Four” and the second proposal is under “Meeting Five”).
Both the proposals are for a roundabout which is broadly in the same footprint as the current roundabout. One of the roundabouts has a higher capacity and involves the demolition of the Blue House, the second has a lower capacity and does not involve the demolition of the Blue House.
With both proposals there would be additional pathways for pedestrians/cyclists along the edge of the current moorland, and a pedestrian/cyclist crossing over Jesmond Dene Road just east of the roundabout.
There is also an “early stage” proposal for the revised junction layout along Jesmond Dene Road and its junctions with Osborne Road and Moorfield. This is available to view under “Meeting Five” section of the website.
Jesmond Dene Road existing movements kept
This proposal maintains all the traffic movements that are currently available (including right turn into Osborne Road).
The steering group is going to look at projected performance data for the two roundabouts at the next steering group meeting and will also look in more detail at the Jesmond Dene Road proposal.
Following that, it’s intended to call a meeting of High West Jesmond Residents Association early in the new year to discuss further.
If you have any comments on the proposals for Blue House Roundabout and Jesmond Dene Road then please send your feedback to us via the normal channels or via our Contact Us page.
A heritage posting from Chris Morgan
