Cycle lanes do not make any sense

SO the city council is to make the cycling and Covid-19 measures on Gosforth High Street a permanent fixture.

It’s a sneaky way to achieve what they had been after implementing for some long time. It comes at a time when many councils have seen the light and are removing their cycle lanes because they are a hindrance to emergency services and have also been shown (Wandsworth Council) to have caused a large increase in poor air quality due to the slowing of traffic and increase in cars standing with their engines idling.

Wandsworth were supported by the AA, who wrote to Grant Shapps warning that there were flaws in the government’s approach to these measures with reports from around the country justifying these concerns.

It would appear that Newcastle remain pig-headed about this, determined to achieve their own agenda.

Why has it taken until now to advise us that the lane introduced between Hawthorn Road and Salters Road was for pedestrians and not cyclists? I have yet to see any pedestrians in this area.

How do they justify a cycle lane that comes to a dead end at Hawthorn Road and doesn’t even exist on the opposite side of the High Street? For a cycle lane to be effective surely it should have extended along the full length and be on both sides of the High Street.

Why do pedestrians need this extra wide area only on one side of the High Street? It doesn’t make any sense at all.

With the Covid emergency possibly ending towards the middle of next year surely it is madness to make the measures a permanent fixture.

DAVID WARDELL, Gosforth

Get everything you need to know about where you live with our app or via the InYourArea.co.uk All you have to do is enter a postcode.