A chance to change ways

IT is great news that Newcastle City Council is considering making temporary changes to provide safer spaces for people to walk and cycle in during the coronavirus lockdown.

Thanks to recent Government changes to traffic regulation orders, council leaders in all local authorities in the North East now have new powers to create temporary spaces on our roads for key workers to walk or cycle.

Local authority teams are working hard to run essential services and support the most vulnerable. We encourage leaders across the North East to use these new rules and ensure our streets are healthy and inclusive for everyone.

The need for social distancing means that increasing numbers of people are choosing to travel by bicycle or foot, for essential work or local daily exercise.

Temporary cycle lanes, closing streets to cars and widening pavements can allow residents to make essential trips and stay active under ever-changing circumstances. Whether it is NHS workers cycling to the Royal Victoria Infirmary or North Tyneside General Hospital, or people having to walk in the middle of residential streets to maintain two metres, we need additional measures to keep us safe. We have already seen this in Brighton and Hove, where a road is now closed to motor traffic to give people more space to walk and cycle. And Hackney Council plans to filter streets to protect people from rat-running and to ease pressure on parks and open spaces.

We know from our research that people want a healthier ways to travel. Last year, 72% of Tyneside residents responding to our Bike Life survey said that they felt more space should be given for walking, cycling and socialising on our high streets. Creating that space is now more important than ever.

And as more evidence is being released about the impact of air pollution on Covid-19 patients, there is even more reason not to return to our days of poor air quality.

There’s a real danger that the car will become the default method of transport across the North East after lockdown restrictions lift. These temporary measures are a unique opportunity to trial longer term change, addressing congestion, air pollution, social inequalities and the global climate crisis.

Rosslyn Colderley, director for Sustrans in the North of England