You’re cross with crossings plan
Majority oppose bridge closures in reader poll
A MAJORITY of people are opposed to controversial plans to ban traffic from Gosforth bridges used as rat runs, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Chronicle readers.
Closures are to come into force today at five small bridges in residential neighbourhoods around Newcastle, under council plans to create safer, cleaner environments for walkers and cyclists.
The most controversial sites have proven to be Salters Bridge and the nearby Stoneyhurst Road bridge, with the Gosforth proposals attracting hundreds of objections since being announced in July.
A ChronicleLive online poll found that more than half of the 1,020 readers who responded are against those changes – 577 (57%) disagreeing with the Stoneyhurst closure and 554 (54%) with the Salters plans. Roughly a quarter of those surveyed supported the plans, with the remainder saying they held no opinion.
The survey also showed 53% were against the plan to stop traffic using the bridge on Castle Farm Road next to Jesmond Dene.
But opposition was not as strong over Haldane Bridge in Jesmond or Argyle Street Bridge in Manors, which 37% and 33% of people respectively disagreed with shutting.
And for each of the five bridges, most respondents said that they only used the crossing rarely or not at all.
Almost three quarters of people surveyed believed Newcastle City Council should have consulted residents before announcing the closures, which are being made under experimental traffic orders.
It would appear that the plans to ban traffic from the five bridges are not as overwhelmingly unpopular as major changes that were introduced to the road network around Gateshead town centre recently, with a whopping 90% of Chronicle readers opposing that project in a poll last week.
People opposed to the Salters and Stoneyhurst closures raised concerns about traffic being pushed elsewhere and causing greater congestion, particularly on Gosforth High Street and at the Haddricks Mill double roundabout.
One resident warned that “south Gosforth will end up choked with stationary vehicles”, while many also repeated fears that alternative routes around Stoneyhurst Road could be unsafe.
An opponent of the Stoneyhurst plans said: “I only walk across this bridge but it doesn’t seem to be a rat run. It has parking on one side, the removal of which will push parking into other congested streets. Accessing the local school from one side is going to become impossible.”
Another said: “Closing it will not stop parents needing to access the school; cars will simply be forced down our road (Balmoral Terrace), which is narrow and already busy from people dropping off and collecting from the Metro at rush-hour times. Our street will face significant congestion and pollution and [it] will be dangerous for our children to leave our home.”
On the other side of the debate, people argued that the bridges had been “abused and misused by motorists for years” and that closing them could create “healthier, greener and safer” spaces.
One respondent said: “These closures are a simple choice between streets which are quieter, less polluted and safer for residents or convenience for drivers from further afield.
“My estate had a serious rat-running problem until an exit was blocked. Congestion didn’t actually increase.
“People need time to adjust to change. These closures need a few months at least to bed in.”