Our question to mayoral candidates was also about “prioritising the provision of a high quality, safe and connected walking, wheeling and cycling network around each school” and all of them committed to this too.

All of our mayoral candidates agreed unequivocally that all possible schools should have school streets by 2030, in the words of our new mayor, Karen Clark “something the public can get behind”.

We currently have 6. We have 56 first/primary schools & 4 middle schools. That’s a lot of work to do.

Due to construction of the new Seafront Cycleway, we're postponing our next Kidical Mass ride until the summer to celebrate the launch of the route. With construction work & diversions, we can't plan a safe route for the numbers that usually join us. Join our mailing list for updates: bit.ly/3YRJ5CY

A successful day at No Time For Waste at the Linskill today, chatting to folk about walking and cycling in North Tyneside.

Issues raised around active travel links to public transport, dangerous junctions on the Coast Rd cycle path, and pavements damaged by regular & normalised vehicle parking.

Bike update, with the No Time For Waste gathering in full swing -

First bikes parked up for No Time For Waste, organised by Buy The Kilo at the Linskill Centre.

We’re there sharing a stall with the North Tyneside Public Transport Users Group (@northeastptug.bsky.social), amidst many other local businesses and campaigns.

Open 10-4 - come along!

A young person was knocked off his bike by a hit-and-run driver this morning outside John Spence School - exactly where the abandoned Preston Rd cycle path should have delivered him safely.

Who will be held responsible and who will respond, before this happens again?

Meanwhile, Preston Road is being resurfaced - we know (unlike FB commenters) that these are different budgets, but pretty galling drivers get a smoother ride while those who cycle get nothing (except fewer potholes to dodge whilst also dodging drivers)

This Cullercoats roundabout is so hostile for pedestrians and cyclists, with necessarily wide arms, all at odd angles, and just one zebra.

With a busy shop, the seafront, the metro, and cafes all accessible via the different arms, it really does need a redesign.

The next North Tyneside Transport Forum, a chance to speak to bus companies and Nexus about services in North Tyneside, is happening online on 26th Feb at 6.30. Details for how to sign up in poster below.

@northeastptug.bsky.social

Good to see the new Northumberland Line advertising for cycle-train journeys.

Though if the carriages were really cycle-friendly you might not need a Brompton…

We've even got a little present from @ntcouncilteam.bsky.social in the form of the first short section of the Seafront Sustainable Route's phase 2 open from Spanish City to the Skate Park - just in time for tonight's social ride! 🥳 🚲

Not too late to comment on the unreliability of the newly-opened, long-awaited inclined lifts at the Tyne Pedestrian and Cycle Tunnels…

This abandoned is important for number of reasons, but critically hundreds of teenage cyclists use it to get to school, currently largely cycling on the pavement to remain safe, but forced into conflict with pedestrians.

This:

“It needs people with courage to stand up and say: ‘This is not in the public interest. I want my kids to be able to get to school under their own steam.’” (www.theguardian.com/news/2024/de...)

Most recently in North Tyneside:
streetlifentyneside.org.uk/2024/10/31/n...

This is the excerpt for this stretch from the plans - difficult to assess the actual widths, but it suggests:

- cycle path was planned to be wider than footpath
- cycle path was planned to be as wide as each half of the carriageway

In reality, neither of those things is true.

And while we’re here making our Bluesky debut…

What’s this about?

It’s a two-way 20mph street leading to a newish cycle path, and apparently the council have created - with two painted cycles - a contraflow cycle lane.

This is the newest section of our new “seafront sustainable route” (along the North Tyneside coast).

It barely meets LTN1/20 for width (it’s two-way) and there’s only paint separating it from the footpath (hence the pedestrian).

Very disappointing.