Long-awaited plans to redesign Gosforth High Street have been branded a “massive backwards step” by furious cycling campaigners.
Newcastle City Council announced on Thursday that it plans to remove the much-criticised bollards that have lined the high street for two years and install wider pavements, promising a more “people-friendly” area with new seating and greenery. But the proposals were met with an immediate backlash over a lack of any dedicated space for people on bikes.
While campaigners had hoped for a dedicated cycleway running the length of the high street, they fear the council’s latest plans would in fact remove existing cycle lanes at its southern end to make way for an extended bus lane. Sally Watson, of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, called the move a “massive backwards step”.
