Emergency services say it would be "inappropriate" to comment on worries over a set of controversial road closures in Jesmond.
Opponents of a new Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) installed over recent weeks have aired concerns about fire engines, ambulances, and police cars becoming stuck on congested main roads and left unable to respond to emergencies fast enough, with every cut-through route between Osborne Road and the Cradlewell now blocked off. In order to stop drivers rat-running through residential streets, Newcastle City Council has installed bollards on multiple roads – now including Jesmond Dene Road, in an expansion of the scheme having come into force last Friday.
The changes, which have divided locals, have been introduced on an experimental basis for 18 months, with a public consultation running until this September to help decide whether they become permanent. While the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said the LTN had not negatively impacted its crews yet, both it and Northumbria Police said it was “inappropriate” to comment further while the trial is ongoing.
