Feasibility Study for the Industrial Area - Part 1 (PDF 5 MB)

6. Transport and Movement
Audit
6.1 Document Review
6.1.1Local Transport Plan (2001-2006)
The key objectives of the Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan
(LTP) 2001-2006 are to:
- Improve access to services and facilities for all, particularly
those with mobility problems;
- Promote economic growth through regeneration and
improved prosperity;
- Improve links between public transport networks and
improve integration of land use and transportation planning;
and
- Improve road safety and reduce the fear of transport related
crime.
The core strategies adopted to achieve these objectives are:
- Changing land use patterns to reduce the need to travel
and to provide greater choice;
- Increasing transport choice by providing alternatives to the
car and to road freight transport;
- Managing traffic to inhibit growth and to reduce its adverse
effects on safety and environment;
- Providing increased road capacity but only where this is
essential after allowing for the effects of the above traffic
reduction measures; and
- Safeguarding the historic investment in infrastructure by
maintaining it in a safe and usable condition.
Within the LTP District Annexe for Newcastle a number of major
and minor schemes are outlined as part of the City Council’s
implementation plan. Schemes relevant to the Walker Riverside
area include:
- Integrated transport: enhanced transport facilities are
sought along Fossway, Shields Road and Walker Road,
which are key corridors in the Going for Growth proposals
for the City’s East End. The principal aims are safety
measures, public transport priorities and facilities, access
for pedestrians and cyclists, and environmental
improvements.
- Hadrian’s Way Cycle Route: development and improvement
of this key cycle route into a high quality tourist cycle
route. Works associated with this in the Walker area have
been completed.
6.1.2Towards 2016: The Challenge
The Nexus report ‘Towards 2016: The Challenge’ sets out a
fifteen year plan for developing public transport in the Tyne and
Wear area.
The report outlines a substantial extension of the current Metro
network, known as Project Orpheus, using an extended light rail
system together with the best of bus technology. The Project
Orpheus proposals for new LRT lines included a route from
Walker to the city centre and beyond, potentially connecting to
the existing network at Byker. The report shows an indicative
route only for the extension.
The Orpheus proposals are now being reviewed due to funding
difficulties and lower-cost non-LRT schemes are likely to come
forward.
6.1.3Walker Riverside Places for People Master
Plan (Llewelyn Davies, 2004)
The Places for People Master Plan identifies public transport as
especially important to the area as there is currently low car
ownership and high bus use.
As part of the study’s strategies and proposals, the following are
recommended:
- High quality public transport route, to run along the Walker
Road corridor (A186) providing a dramatically improved
level of accessibility, and good interchange with the Metro.
Real time information, high quality waiting areas and a
bespoke livery are considered for this route.
- Safe walk and cycle networks – well designed, attractive
pedestrian links to encourage walking and clear, direct
routes for cyclists that link into the existing network.
- Speed and traffic management – to limit speeds in
residential areas.
- Parking management – a balance of on and off-street
parking to be provided, considering security, safety, land
economy and environment
6.2 Strategic Network
Despite its somewhat circuitous alignment the A186 Walker
Road forms a strategically important east-west corridor in
Newcastle and is the ‘natural’ route for traffic heading east out of
the southern side of the city centre. The road connects with the
A167 (M) Central Motorway East, some four kilometres to the
west of Walker, which is a major distributor road built to urban
motorway standards. To the north of Walker the A186 joins the
A187 in Wallsend.
Together with the A193 Shields Road by-pass, the A187 Fossway
forms a much more direct east-west route and also connects to
the Central Motorway East. Just to the north of Fossway, and
running broadly parallel to it, the A193 Shields Road offers an
alternative east-west route, though it is generally fronted by more
residential properties than Fossway.
30 Colin Buchanan