Changing lanes are a costly confusion

UNDER present conditions I don’t spend much time on Gosforth High Street.

However, a recent drive along revealed some current changes that are somewhat odd.

I now find that the council has at last altered the areas with the little red and white barber’s poles. Going north there is a lane marked with little cycle pictures so we now know what it’s for.

However, after Hawthorn Road the situation changes. Some sticks have been added to close off the entry to bikes and little people pictures have appeared, so we have a walkway. A cycle picture is on the road outside of this. This walkway continues more or less to Salters Road.

After this the lane is unmarked till nearly Henry Street where a bike appears at the end of the section.

At the beginning and south end we have no idea who it’s for. On the opposite side between Hollywood Avenue and Christon Road – surprise, surprise, a double lane with pedestrians on the inside and bikes in the outer lane.

This then all disappears till the Queen Vic where it seems there is a pedestrian lane once more until just past Thorpe’s Shop where again it all disappears until a short cycle section towards the top of the Grove.

Can any brave soul on the council or appropriate departments fully explain the rationale behind all this?

It seems we need a protected, wide cycle lane, but then we don’t. Instead we need to protect pedestrians with a wide social distancing lane. How come we didn’t need it further south? The poor cyclists are shoved in to the narrowed two-lane road with no protection at all.

Then suddenly it’s all back on for the cyclists and the pedestrians are forgotten. Social distancing, extra width areas are gone in favour of the bike again.

Then a section where cyclists and pedestrians are each treated to fairly narrow lanes.

It would seem that Covid-19 is only present in certain parts of the High Street and cyclists must be protected at all costs, unless of course they are on the wrong part of the High Street.

What absolute tosh this all is and a total waste of our money when other areas have seen more sense and removed their poles.

David Wardell, Gosforth