Red route in city centre
TAXIS will be banned from picking up and dropping off passengers outside The Gate under strict new measures to avoid traffic chaos in Newcastle city centre.
City council bosses have revealed that major changes to Newgate Street will come into force next Monday, July 20.
The busy road will become a ‘red route,’ in which vehicles are banned from stopping, between its junctions with Gallowgate and Clayton Street West after complaints that taxis have been queueing illegally in bus stops and stopping outside the bars and restaurants at The Gate.
The authority’s latest plans to keep buses from being blocked and avoid gridlock on Newgate Street, which taxis were banned from driving down completely in a failed 2018 experiment, were first revealed earlier this year but have been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coun Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council, said: “This particular section of Newgate Street has seen a number of issues caused by taxis pulling up in the bus stops and this has caused delays for bus services which we want to avoid.
“Making this a red route means that we will be able to carry out more effective enforcement against those who continue to cause the problems we have seen in this location
“It’s more important than ever that we improve routes for bus services so that passengers can experience efficient and reliable journey times.
“Buses running on time means we avoid having large groups of people needing to wait at bus stops, not just in the city centre but right along the routes that pass through our local high streets and neighbourhoods.”
Many bus services will have to be rerouted down Newgate Street if the council pushes ahead with plans to permanently pedestrianise the nearby Blackett Street, making it much busier than it already is.
Newcastle Hackney Carriage Drivers Association chairman John Hirst said earlier this year that the red route could be a good idea - if a designated pick-up point could be created for taxis.
Mr Hirst said the council “has to be realistic about this being an area of high social activity”, with demand for people to be picked up directly outside The Gate.
However, the council’s plans include no new stopping point for taxis - with people just advised to walk from The Gate to the existing taxi rank on Clayton Street.
The red route is being introduced under an 18-month Experimental Traffic Regulation Order and will become permanent if no objections to it are made within the first six months of the restrictions coming into force.