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Cycle City Ambition Board
Transport Development Specialist
Strategic Cycle Routes Network – for information
Date: 13 May 2015
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Board endorse:
1. The Transport Development team establish a process for signing
off schematic and final alignments of routes in the Newcastle
Cycle Network and report back to the next CCA Board meeting.
2. The Board endorse an increase to the number of routes in the
network.
3. The word ‘Strategic’ be dropped from external facing signage and
communications and only be used for internal discussions.
4. Routes be named by their outer endpoint and numbered
clockwise from the river for those that start / end at the city
centre (eg Route 1, Route 2 etc).
5. Circular routes / links and those which don’t start at the city
centre be designated as ‘Links / Branches’.
6. On signs the word ‘cycle’ would be replaced by a cycle symbol.
7. Information boards be placed at the start and end of routes and
consideration be given to signage at nodes (where links meet
routes).
8. The ‘sunburst’ schematic be used on information boards.
9. The ‘stations’ (nodes) on the sunburst arms be agreed for use on
signs.
10. Decisions on the above be finalised before any signs need to be
put in place.
Context
2.1
2.2
At the start of the strategic routes developments process we discussed
internally what acronym to use on plans and in other references. SR has
been adopted internally as being short and self-explanatory and has
been used throughout this document to cover routes coming in to the
city centre. Other routes, many of which will be circular and not coming
in to the centre, would then be links / branches.
Routes were numbered in order to have an agreed way of referring to
them. They are also usually referred to by the endpoint. Hence the
routes at the moment from the riverside clockwise (without the addition
of the routes suggested below) are currently referred to internally as:
 SR 1 Newburn
 SR 2 West Denton/Callerton
 SR 3 Great Park
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SR 4 Gosforth (NCN725 Great North Cycleway)
SR 5 Four Lane Ends
SR 6 Benfield
SR 7 Walker
Authorisation
3.1
The council agreed to deliver a network of strategic cycle routes as
illustrated by a schematic diagram. The diagram shows seven routes
coming in to the city centre from Newburn, West Denton, Great Park,
Gosforth Park, Longbenton and Walker. This diagram was published in
the cycling strategy, on the website and in the Cycle City Ambition Fund
(CCAF) document and referred to in a number of other documents.
3.2
The detailed alignments of these routes were discussed by Working
Groups of the Newcastle Cycling Forum as well as routes in the city
centre. No decision was made on the West Denton route. Notes from
these meetings were published on the cycling webpages.
3.3
The Working Group also agreed, and the Forum accepted, criteria for the
routes. These were publicised on the Forum minutes, through the
cycling e-newsletter and published on the council website and cited in
the CCA bid as the criteria that will be used in developing routes.
3.4
Proposals for the Walker Strategic Cycle Route (1) led to objections from
local councillors who felt that they had not been consulted properly on
the proposed or detailed alignment of the route in their wards.
3.5
Issues at the Cycling Forum over the alignment of the Gosforth route (4)
have led to accusations that the council changed the alignment of the
route without any discussion and switched it from the High Street.
3.6
These two examples show that there is a need for a clear and published
authorisation procedure for both the proposed alignment and the
detailed alignment of cycle routes.
3.7
The steps to be covered within the process:
 Working group with stakeholders (cycling community,
members, local residents) on a proposed route/alignment.
Officers will contribute initial thoughts at the meeting
 Feasibility report with alternative option if necessary
 Report goes to stakeholders.
 Report with officer recommendation plus any stakeholder
comments/objections to authorising group.
 Route and reasons for choice published
New routes
4.1
Development of bids for regional and European funding have raised the
issue of a cycle route to the airport and proposed developments in the
Callerton area should also be linked to the city centre with a good cycle
link.
4.2
The Forum Working Group did not reach a decision about an alignment
for the West Denton route. A route taking in the desired points
(Wingrove, Fenham, Denton Burn, West Denton) could be extended to
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
the areas of proposed development around Callerton Village.
Establishing this as an intention now will mean that the housing and
access network will take this into account.
European funding is being sought for a cycle link between Newcastle
Airport and Central Station with the suggested route following Ponteland
Road and cycle link from the airport to Ponteland. This will provide a
continuous cycle route from Ponteland, some of the proposed
development sites, Kingston Park and Blakelaw to the city centre.
It would be sensible to designate this Airport/Ponteland route as a
strategic cycle route.
Investigation of the western alignment of what was called the Newburn
route has shown that there is no clear route and what is shown on the
cycle maps as off road path is too steep and rough to be used without
very expensive work.
Elswick, Westgate and Benwell and Scotswood councillors have agreed
an alignment of what was called the Newburn route, as far as the A1.
Access over the A1 is still to be decided.
The Newburn councillors have asked that any cycle link be from
Throckley along Hawthorn Terrace and join up with a West Denton route
instead.
We propose to rename SC1 Newburn as the Lemington Route and link
Throckley to the cycle network via the West Denton route.
Newburn village itself lies on the national cycle route NCN72 which leads
to Scotswood Road. Scotswood Road already has a high standard of
cycling provision and could be designated as a strategic cycle route with
little more expense needed than signage.
DfT demographics suggest there are a large number of people in the
Jesmond area who would switch to cycling. There is an enthusiastic
cycling group already established in Jesmond and a CCAF DIY Streets
project.
The proposed improvements at Haddricks Mill will make that area safer
for cycling. We propose designating a route from the city centre to the
vicinity of Haddricks Mill / onwards to North Tyneside (to be discussed
with their offices).
These additions would bring the number of Routes up to ten.
 R1 Newburn
 R2 Lemington
 R3 Callerton
 R4 Airport
 R5 Great Park
 R6 Gosforth (NCN725 Great North Cycleway)
 R7 Haddricks Mill
 R8 Four Lane Ends
 R9 Benfield
 R10 Walker
Naming routes
5.1
We propose that we continue to name routes by their outer endpoint,
the designation R for routes which start at the city centre and numbered
clockwise from the river.
5.2
Circular routes and those which don’t start at the city centre be
designated Links / Branches.
5.3
There was discussion at the Cycling Forum about naming the routes,
potentially after famous people with an association with Newcastle, or
using colours to distinguish them. The original plan from Aecom and the
first iteration of the strategic route ‘sunburst’ had the routes shown in
different colours. Both names and colours have drawbacks:
- Names need to refer to features that users can relate to;
- With anything other than a destination eg, people’s names,
choices have to be made and ratified. If we have 10 routes this
will take time;
- Long names will mean practical problems of fitting the names on
to sign;
- There are limited colours, not all distinguishable by people with
colour blindness; and
- There are DfT regulations about what colours can be used on
signs.
There may be benefit in designating certain sections with specific names
– so for example John Dobson Street could become Dobson Way given it
has a number of routes leading to and from it.
Signing the routes
6.1
Direction signs and route confirmation signs are covered by Department
for Transport regulations. Design guidelines have been drawn up for
these.
6.2
We propose to use the R (and L/B) acronyms and route numbers on the
carriageway. Design guidelines have been drawn up for this following
DfT regulations.
6.3
Following best practice from Europe and in line with the network of
walking information boards in the city centre, we propose to place
information boards at the start and finish of strategic cycle routes in the
same style as the Hub signs installed as part of the City Centre pedestrian
wayfinding.
6.4
To complement the M for Metro symbol and the B for Bus symbol, a C
for Cycling symbol to be placed on a post above the hub sign and
potentially also included on the signs.
6.5
Two different maps to be included. On one side a map of the Route
being cycled and on the other side a heads up map of the area beyond
the hub sign.
6.6
The title on the hub sign would be ’Route X’ and ‘City Centre to [End
Location]’.
6.7
A hub sign would not be installed at the end of the route outside the City
Centre until the rest of the route is complete. The main ‘stations’ used
on the sunburst schematic would be the same as on direction signs on
the route.