Cyclists of the Tyne Valley - I attended a ‘presentation’ of proposals for the suggested works intended to encourage wider use by cyclists between Hexham and Corbridge at the Wentworth Leisure Centre at 10.00 Friday 12th July 2024. I asked whether this was a follow up to the earlier ‘consultations’ on the proposals which I also attended and contributed to, and was informed that the ‘consultation’ has now finished and these are now the detailed proposals. I’m afraid I was bitterly disappointed by this as it seems to me - as a local pedestrian, cyclist, public transport user and motorist - that the proposals represent a serious missed opportunity and consequently a potential waste of funding and hindrance to eventual real improvements. The staff at the presentation were geared up to explain the detailed design arrived at - and the ‘rationale’ of the funding (Levelling up?) but I could not do other than respond that it shows a serious lack of ambition. The cycle ways created from the mouth of the Tyne to Prudhoe Riverside Park and Ovingham are very good indeed and I believe the parties involved in this exercise should consider those routes as the model for improvements between Hexham and Corbridge. The tyne routes downstream from Prudhoe clearly encourage much wider use by cyclists of all abilities. Instead we in Hexham and Corbridge are ‘presented with’ - - road markings on the urban part of the route in Hexham (which in my view will not help nervous cyclists feel any better about the proximity of motor vehicles and seem to encourage new conflicts with pedestrians where foot and cycleways will ’share’) - traffic lights at the road bridge over the Devil’s Water on the A695 (which in my view will inconvenience all road users and cause cyclists to lose momentum in order to stop at the lights and also have to accelerate from stop alongside the moving traffic, when the lights go green. Motorists will of course be aggravated by the new delay) ...Then there will be the ongoing cost of the traffic lights in perpetuity. Continues ….
Guy Holmes
8mo
…continues - There is an existing, well used and well surfaced footpath from the South side of the Bridge at Corbridge - right along the riverside as far as the Devils Water Bridge on the A 695. Can the team involved in these works pease consider alternative use of the budget to improve and extend this path - which would provide real separation of cyclists from motorists?. Ideally - the addition of a footbridge (or better, a cycle and footbridge) over the Devils Water to extend this route could provide access by a riverside path all the way to Hexham. It could use existing agricultural vehicle access lanes and level crossings of the railway line and so keep costs down. A design competition for the foot/cycle bridge could be a marvellous fund raising opportunity! Such a route would be a real improvement and raising the required funds and seeking permissions for this is a far better use of public monies (wherever they are from) than the desperately limited ambitions of the current ‘Levelling Up’ scheme. Councils are often faced with loss of funds offered if they are not used - but fear that if the scheme presented goes ahead - it will prevent consideration of future improvement
Retired Architect - Views are my own
8mo