The latest set of contentious road closures in Jesmond has been met with confusion, anger and pleas for patience.
Locals awoke on Friday to the sight of new sets of bollards installed overnight in an expansion of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) that has become a source of controversy over recent weeks. The new restrictions came into force less than 24 hours after Newcastle City Council had confirmed that it would be blocking traffic from more streets in the area, after complaints that previous closures had intensified rat-running on the residential roads that were initially left open.
Jesmond Dene Road and Akenside Terrace are the latest locations where the measures are in place, in an effort to force vehicles going between Osborne Road and the Cradlewell to stick to the main roads. But for one elderly resident opposed to the closures, seeing more routes blocked off was enough to prompt him to return his council tax bill to the civic centre – with a note attached saying that he refused to pay because of the “total chaos” the bollards had caused.
