Wheels in motion for cycle safety scheme
FOOTBRIDGE DEMOLISHED TO DEVELOP CYCLE PATH
A £16 MILLION project to improve cycle routes in Newcastle started yesterday with the removal of a footbridge.
The demolition of the Hadrian House footbridge across Durant Road was the first part of a scheme to develop the city’s cycle paths – funded by the Department of Transport.
Durant Road – which connects John Dobson Street with the New Bridge Street roundabout on the Central Motorway – was closed from 7am while the work to dismantle the walkway began, lasting until around 7pm.
The new cycle route will link John Dobson Street to Falconar Street and the east of the city via a footbridge over the Central Motorway, near Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council say the improvements to Durant Road and Ellison Place will include the replacement of the footbridge with new wider road crossings, a segregated two-way cycling track and parking for bikes.
Information published by the council reads: “We have been awarded more than £16m from the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Fund (CCAF) to develop routes and encourage more people to cycle.
“This will not only benefit cyclists but will also bring road safety improvements and benefits to health and the local environment and economy.
“Supporting a city-wide network fit for the future, the funding has come direct from government and can only be spent on this and other schemes for cycling, pedestrian and associated improvements.”
The council add that the next section of the scheme will be alterations at the College Street and Northumberland Road junction, which they hope will make crossing College Street safer.