Newcastle City Council has scrapped a neighbourhood low traffic zone after cries from over 23,000 residents said the scheme was not working.
The transport measures introduced last year, aimed to reduce the number of vehicles using residential streets between Osborne Road and Cradlewell in the Jesmond area of the city.
Despite trying to create safer, cleaner and greener areas, the scheme left locals experiencing congestion and lengthened journey times while businesses said it impacted their trade.
Since then, the council confirmed the measures will now be removed and will now have the opportunity to learn from its mistakes.
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More than three-quarters of drivers said they opposed the scheme
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Councillor Marion Williams, said: “Low traffic neighbourhoods were introduced because communities told us they wanted their streets to be safer.
“However, anything we introduce needs to work for local people and it is clear that some aspects of this scheme have failed to do that.”
She added that there are lessons to be learnt from this pilot, including how we the council can better engage with residents when designing future schemes.
Williams continued, saying: “I want to make clear that we are committed to making improvements to how people move around Newcastle.
“We want a greener future for our city and we want a safer community for families, but, crucially, we want [the people] to shape what that looks like.”
A public consultation ran in the first six months of the scheme last year before being extended to consider the impact the road closures would have on traffic in the area in 2024.
While the U-turn on the scheme was met with much joy, one resident accused the council of creating more of a headache.
Posting on social media, one person said: “If the council has reversed this decision will they now reverse previous road closures which were vocally opposed by residents?
“The traffic reduction on Osborne Avenue was 2,500 cars a day! The council can’t say it’s acceptable to just open the flood gates for traffic to a few streets whilst neighbouring streets remain closed.”
Another resident said: “The pilot achieved its objectives to make streets safer, cleaner and greener. Emergency services unaffected. But because drivers got angry and sent loads of abusive emails, we’ve given up on creating healthier streets. Such a backwards step!”
The council also responded to concerns that the closed-off roads would impact emergency service response times.
Northumbria Police, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and the North East Ambulance Service all said their response times were unaffected.
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Emergency services were unaffected by road closures
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However, the fire service said there were two incidents during the pilot scheme where the closures caused delays but added environmental factors could have been the reason.
Police meanwhile said there had been no impact on their response or any increase in anti-social behaviour and the ambulance service said their response time was unaffected.
