"Our research at Newcastle University was the first to show a direct link between street lighting and local insect declines" A new European research initiative, SAFELUX – The Light We Need, is to transform how we light our roads at night. ⬇ https://bit.ly/49TlB7N #WeAreNCL

Kudos to all those #VikingBiking across Heaton and the City Stadium today.

Emergency services flooded Leazes Lane, just off Percy Street, as a result of the collision on Saturday afternoon

I FOI'd English councils whether they use legal land purchase powers to create traffic-free paths. Just 1% said they have successfully. Why is something that's so common for roads almost never done for cycle routes? And what does it mean for cycling? lauralaker.substack.com/p/cycleways-...

We recently wrote to Newcastle City Council about the impending resurfacing of the busy Fenham Hall Drive/Wingrove Road junction, asking if there will be any improvements for walking and cycling as part of the resurfacing works. It's important to keep making these points!

Our latest blog looks at the resurfacing at the Regent Centre #Gosforth: www.spaceforgosforth.com/regent-farm-...

Excellent news!

“Almost every bus we took was late, and battling through busy city centre traffic, painfully slow at times. It really demonstrated the need for Newcastle City Council to urgently spend the money it has been allocated in the Bus Service Improvement Plan.”

Thanks to @northeastptug.bsky.social for championing disabled access. It’s perfectly possible to integrate bus and rail (as is shown by Gosforth’s Regent Centre).

Trigger Warning for Road Violence. I found out last night that this video forms part of the induction for new students at Jesmond Park Academy. Accompanied by a warning to pupils to look both ways, even when the green man / red light is on, because drivers can't be trusted to stop🚦. Cont.

Somebody has fenced off the main cycle route from Heaton to the city centre, with no warning and no diversion. It's possible to get though via the bin area of Shieldfield House then through a private car park back to the road. Councillors are aware and are try to sort it.

Concrete repairs on the A167(M) viaduct through the city centre start today, and could last until early 2027

The Regent Centre interchange in Gosforth will be the first Metro station in a decade to have ticket gates added, with more to follow as part of a £2.1m upgrade project

The bridge will not be in use for 12-hours on Sunday, with motorists being diverted towards the Tyne Bridge

Concrete repairs on the A167(M) Central Motorway viaduct through Newcastle city centre will start on August 11 and are expected to last until early 2027

This is really important for our community - the camera is there because one set of drivers were blocking the yellow box, which led to other drivers driving on the wrong side of the road through red lights on a junction heavily used by schoolchildren. Our thanks to Cllr @junasathian.bsky.social.

Mainly retweeting because we ❤️ the steps - they are a really quick way to get from Grainger Town to the Quayside.

Hopefully this will encourage more people to use the park and ride across the network when the roadworks start on the Central Motorway next month.

Gosforth’s Regent Centre is one of the sites.

The proposed scheme wouldn't even speed that journey up for drivers. It's only better if you are going along the A19. So you'll have years of disruption, only to still be stuck in a queue at traffic lights on the A189

I refer the Honourable Gentlemen to the answer I proposed last month. bsky.app/profile/mike... The actual average delay is 1 minute. They'll spend billions, and walking and cycling from Crammy to the Business Park opposite will get harder and take longer. So more people will drive.

This is really great data. Despite the Northumberland Line surpassing all estimates and being a huge success, there's still a call to spend money making driving easier / faster, and therefore by inference, rail, less attractive. Then there is the actual delay. On average 1 minute. Cont.

Invest the money in more trains not hugely expensive expansions to already massive roundabouts. @emmafoodymp.bsky.social

Cramlington residents are likely to face delays when Newcastle’s urban motorway roadworks begin next month. SENRUG has a plan for Cramlington rail that would help but rather than lobbying for it, @emmafoodymp.bsky.social & Northumberland councillors are focused on making a massive roundabout bigger.

Things that would help with this: 1. More local rail on the Morpeth line / E Coast mainline to make more local stops. 2. All Northumberland line services to stop at Manors 3. Integrated bus services 4. Park & ride to be improved 5. Safe cycle routes to Grainger Town. Anything else needed?

Worth reading.

Tales from the bus driving seat courtesy of @northeastbylines.co.uk, revealing some of the challenges facing bus companies (and passengers) recently. Our chair, Vicki Gilbert, explains how NEPTUG supports drivers but how the industry requires radical change. northeastbylines.co.uk/news/transpo...

At the recent @lortburnspecials.bsky.social sessions, when asked about Railway 200, @garethdennis.uk emphasised the importance of telling the true story of the railways. Thinking about this re Newcastle, the important story our city fails to tell is that of Robert Stephenson.

We always enjoy following @neheritagelib.bsky.social’s annual fundraising walk - this year he’s fundraising for Newcastle’s Hadrian School, which looks after children with additional needs. His route this year is on lost railways lines including some of the gems of the National Cycle Network.

Thanks, I really like the idea of a little cafe, with toilets. There's something about the passive supervision and feeling of safety at a staffed station, or one with something happening, rather than an empty platform. My idea: bsky.app/profile/mike...

Really interesting analysis of future plans for our region’s rail.

With delays to the new station at Northumberland Park, Manors remains the best interchange between local rail and Metro services north of Newcastle. But it really isn't up to scratch! What should be done to ensure Manors plays an important role in public transport on Tyneside? Paul's ideas below...

This is a mile stretch before Cowgate between a 50 & a 30 zone - the limit needs to be lower. This is the impact of 20mph in our city: “a series of 20mph zones introduced in neighbourhoods […] in 2011 had resulted in a 35% reduction in collisions and average reduced speeds of 2mph within 3 years.”

This is Sheffield but it needs to be a bigger story. It affects us too in the NE Sheffield is a gateway station for NE travellers. How can it be 2025 yet the rail network is not electrified? Why isn’t this headline news?

There are some wonderful pictures of Bradford on this thread - we’re reposting this on as we have fond memories of the Big Red Bridge from @rantyhighwayman.bsky.social’s cycling infra cup. Grey St did rather well in that competition, but our city is clearly now lagging behind West Yorks.

Looking forward to hearing more about these!

Heads up to anyone cycling around the Heaton area. A tree has fallen completely blocking the City Stadium Cycle Way. This has been reported to the council.

Really interesting thread 🐎

Questions about this: 1. Why does this road have so much more freight than others? 2. How does this fit in with climate change targets? 3. Does anyone ever check if National Highways’ claims re congestion etc are met in reality? 4. Why aren’t we investing in rail (safer, greener, very popular)?

More investment in local rail. This is welcome news. We’re also spotting the new trains on the lines. ❤️🚞❤️

We have a lot of sympathy for Bedlington’s Cllr Robinson’s frustration about the delay. It would be helpful if Cllr Sanderson explained what the engineering challenges & complex regulatory processes causing this delay actually are.

1. Our latest blog is our annual look at the air pollution figures - this is good news for many locations thanks to the Clean Air Zone. These figures show that concerns about the CAZ moving the problem around etc are unfounded.

The history of Newcastle’s Central Motorway - residents paid a down payment for this “bold vision” of irreplaceable Grainger/Dobson architecture & ongoing instalments of toxic air pollution. As predicted in 1973, the CME has not alleviated the city’s congestion problem.

NEW: Big study of low-traffic neighbourhoods in London suggest they cut road injuries and deaths by more than a third within their boundaries with no apparent negative safety effect on nearby roads. This feels a *major* boost for proponents of such schemes. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Kim McGuinness and 11 other regional mayors have made a pledge to deliver 3,500 miles worth of connections from schools to homes, high streets, and transport hubs

Good reports from members about this. @garethdennis.uk began by reading from his book about “gadgetbahn” (i.e. a technological solution to a transport problem that won’t work but will block investment in stuff like trains & cycling that do work) - it’s a very useful piece of transport jargon.

Retweeting as the first sentence is often said about #GreyStreet. How would we say “Zacke” in Geordie?

The success of the line is great news but the delay is disappointing. Why railway infrastructure takes so long to build was discussed by @garethdennis.uk & @leighsus.bsky.social at the @lortburnspecials.bsky.social last night (it’s an issue we all need to understand as it could be quicker).

Interesting thread on the bus stop / cycle track issue.