Major works to extend a cycle lane in Heaton will not be completed until next year, council chiefs have confirmed.
Staff shortages and “unexpected” disruption caused by utility companies have been blamed for the delays to the Heaton Road project. Controversial plans to extend the area’s cycleway all the way up to the Coast Road were finally signed off by Newcastle City Council last November, having been in the works since 2017.
But it has now emerged that locals will have to wait until 2023 for just the first stage of the scheme to be finished. Heaton Labour councillor Clare Penny-Evans told a council meeting last week that she had been left “quite upset” by the setbacks.
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Jane Byrne, the council’s cabinet member for transport, admitted that local authority chiefs may need to be “more conservative” with future estimates of how long projects will take to complete in order to avoid frustrating residents. The current work on Heaton Road will extend the protected cycle lane north as far as Cartington Terrace, with a second phase taking it all the way to the Corner House junction yet to begin.
Coun Byrne said: “We’ve been in contact with residents to confirm that work to extend the Heaton Road cycle scheme is now expected to be completed by mid-December, with resurfacing due be carried out in January. This has been due to unexpected works by utility companies in the area, as well as staff shortages.
"Although these issues are out of the council’s control, this is something we will learn from and take into account when setting timescales for future schemes of this kind so that residents have a better understanding of when works will start and end. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this delay and thank residents for their patience and cooperation.”
The £735,000 scheme also involves removing on-street parking spaces on one side of the street, imposing a 20mph speed limit between the Coast Road and Meldon Terrace, raised and shorter crossings at junctions with side streets and moving bus stops.
Opponents had previously warned that the changes, developed under the council’s Streets for People project, would create new hazards by making it more dangerous for cars reversing on and off driveways. It was labelled an “accident waiting to happen” and a petition handed to the council in 2019 complained that the proposals are “badly planned and certainly not communicated well”.
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