Busy route’s speed limits ‘will not be cut this year’
OBJECTIONS ARE TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN
Local Democracy Reporter
SPEED limit cuts on a notorious danger road in Newcastle have been pushed back to 2020.
Long-awaited plans to slash speeds along the entire length of the Great North Road were revealed in February.
But it now appears that the safety measures could take around a year to come into effect.
The changes will see the limit between Claremont Road in the city centre to the Blue House Roundabout cut to 40mph, followed by a 30mph section from Blue House to the junction with The Grove – all of which is currently 50mph.
There will then be a 20mph stretch on the retail section of Gosforth High Street between The Grove and Salters Road, a 30mph stretch from Salters Road past the Broadway roundabout and up to Brunton Lane, and then 40mph from Brunton Lane to the A1.
Gosforth councillor Colin Ferguson called the latest delays “deeply frustrating”, after it was announced in September that new road signs could be installed in just six weeks. Transport bosses say that delays were due to more time being needed to respond to 15 objections to the plans. According to a council report, complaints about the speed reductions ranged from concerns that it “will not make Great North Road any safer” to there being “no evidence” that current speeds are causing accidents. A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “We need to have the right speed limits in place to protect vulnerable road users while also encouraging more people to use greener ways of travel. “Speed is such a crucial factor in avoiding collisions as well as minimising impact so we need to ensure that right speeds reflect the road environment. New signage
Newcastle City Council will be installed in early 2020 and once these are in place the new speed limits will apply. Enforcing speed limits is a police matter and Northumbria Police has been consulted on these changes. We will advise people when the new speed limits will come into effect.”
A speed camera positioned at the start of Gosforth High Street, where motorists have to slow down from 50mph to 30mph, led to 3,798 drivers getting penalty charges there in 2017, with 4,204 making the same mistake in 2016.
Coun Ferguson said that people in Gosforth are keen to see the speed limit changes happen as soon as possible to improve safety and cut pollution.
The Lib Dem councillor added: “We are desperate in the area to see something happening in terms of air quality and this is just pushing it back and pushing it back.
“I am not suggesting that lower speeds is the only solution or sufficient in itself, but little measures like this help. This makes me worry more and more that the council is not seriously on top of this issue.
“If it has taken a year to install some new road signs, no wonder [work at] Killingworth Road has taken so long to sort out.”
We need to protect vulnerable road users while also encouraging people to use greener forms of travel