Our highways are being cycle proofed with all recent and forthcoming major schemes including big benefits for cycling and walking.

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2 Foreword At the outset of our Cycle City Ambition programme we said that we wanted to change how our people travel. We made that commitment with cross-party support in our ten year cycling strategy. Many councilors have made personal commitments too with 67% of us, the highest percentage for an English Core City, signing up in support of the Space for Cycling campaign. The changes have started across the city with new cycle routes being installed, major junction improvements, DIY Streets schemes bringing together neighbours, an Active Travel Centre nearing completion and a lively walking and cycling programme through public health. Our highways are being cycle proofed with all recent and forthcoming major schemes including big benefits for cycling and walking. More people are taking an interest in cycling and the cycling community has a growing expectation - and confidence - that together with a wide range of partners we can make a difference. The proposals set out here will allow us to continue this work and to be even more ambitious in making Newcastle fit for cycling. Councillor Ged Bell, Cabinet Member for Investment and Development Councillor Marion Talbot, Cycling Champion for Newcastle City Council Councillor Jane Streather Deputy Cabinet Member for Early Years and Public Health

3 Bid contents SECTION A - Project description and funding profile Page A1 Project name 3 A2 Headline description 3 A3 Geographical area 4 A4 Total DfT funding contribution 4 SECTION B The Business Case B1 The scheme - summary 4 B2 The strategic case 6 B3 The financial case 18 B4 Package description 18 B5 Package costs 20 B6 Local contribution/third party funding 20 B7 Cycling Delivery Plan Partnership Projects 22 B8 The economic case - Value for Money 22 SECTION C Monitoring, Evaluation and Benefits Realisation C1 Monitoring and Evaluation 22 SECTION D: Declarations D1 Senior Responsible Owner Declaration 23 D2 Section 151 Officer Declaration 23 Appendices 1 CCAF 2 Overall Map 1 2 T&W Cycle Demographics 2 3 CCAF2 Schemes map 4 4 Package description 12 5 CCAF 2 Scheme audits 23 6 Scheme Impacts pro forma 7 Letters of support 8 Pipeline proposals map 9 Scheme Impacts technical note 10 Audits Technical note 11 SRO and Sec 151 sign offs

4 Cycle City Ambition Grants Guidance on the Application Process is published alongside this application form on the Department s website. Please include all relevant information with your completed application form. The level of information provided should be proportionate to the size and complexity of the package proposed. One application form should be completed per project. Applicant Information City Name: Newcastle Bid Manager Name and position: Peter White, Programme Manager, Cycle City Ambition Contact telephone number: address: peter.f.white@newcastle.gov.uk Postal address: 8 th Floor Barras Bridge Civic Centre Newcastle City Council NE1 8PD SECTION A - Project description and funding profile A1. Project name: Newcastle, fit for cycling 2 A2. Headline description: Phase 1 of Cycle City Ambition set the direction for a transformational long-term cycle strategy for Newcastle by aiming for mass participation, and supporting city centre regeneration, housing growth, public health and access to employment and services. This extension will expand and enhance pedestrian and cycle networks between the key city centre gateways, the densely populated inner suburbs and neighbouring authorities. Measures focus on all elements of the door-to-door journey to maximise connectivity, inclusion and participation. Supported by an ongoing community engagement and outreach programme, the extension supports the objectives of our ten year plan encouraging more cycling and transforming everyday travel. 3

5 The improvement in cycling infrastructure linking Newcastle and North Tyneside which would result from further funding for the Cycle City Ambition Grant programme will support our ongoing efforts to further increase cycling for travel to work and local destinations as well as for recreation, and improving the health and wellbeing of residents of Newcastle, North Tyneside and the wider area. Marietta Evans, Director of Public Health, North Tyneside A3. Geographical area: Phase 2 specifies targeted interventions in the Newcastle-Gateshead urban core to improve linkages between key retail, commercial, education and transport gateways. Enhancement of strategic cycle routes will also improve connectivity between the urban core and the travel to work areas in the east of the city and North Tyneside encompassing areas with a high propensity for modal change. Newcastle s existing cycling strategy and our Local Plan leads the way in the development of a high quality cycling network and will play a pivotal role in the development of strategic cycling and pedestrian networks as part of the North East Combined Authority s emerging LTP4. See Appendix 1. A4. Total DfT funding contribution sought ( m): 10,621,445 SECTION B The Business Case B1. The Scheme - Summary Newcastle s proposals are built on the success and lessons learned from Phase 1 and as per the original bid there is a strong emphasis on working with public health and developing programmes that target older people, ethnic minority communities and other hard to reach groups. We have encouraged and continue to support mass participation through Sky Ride and Space for Cycling (for which Newcastle had the highest sign up rate for councillors). We are hosting several major events in 2015 that will give us the chance to illustrate our ambition at what could in effect become an exposition in the city immediately following the general election: - the Virgin Money Cyclone Challenge rides are now recognised as a major national event and will take place on June; - the Faculty of Public Health Annual Conference (the largest national conference for public health practitioners) will take place on the banks of the Tyne on June; - the Cycle City Active City Conference and associated fringe events in association with Landor Links will take place on June, this is a culture changing event for those working to create better cycling and walking cities and our three core themes for this event will be mass participation in cycling, links to public health, and impact of cycling on the local economy; and - Newcastle s Skyride will be returning this year on 27 June with thousands of people expected to participate. 4

6 These events demonstrate our commitment to cycling and to increasing awareness and participation in cycling. Our bid is centred on a clear three stage journey approach which aligns with the door-to-door strategy by making the entire journey safer and more attractive, particularly over shorter distances. The three elements are: 1. By starting at home and improving the immediate surroundings, making the prospect of cycling or walking to local amenities and facilities more attractive. This includes Community Cycling Areas that will build on the community engagement experience of DIY Streets and Retail Friendly Areas of CCA1 and incorporate cycle parking and community centres for cycling activity, embedding cycling as a choice that people feel safe and able to make within their local areas. 2. Incorporating the route to work by improving the quality of strategic routes to Newcastle City Centre, the region s most significant employment hub. This will provide direct links from the surrounding areas, particularly areas with high levels of commuters to the major centres of Newcastle and Gateshead. 3. Enabling the final leg of the journey to work to be completed safely by undertaking improvements within the City Centre. This will strengthen links to main attractors including major development sites, the universities and leisure facilities and transport interchanges such as Central Station, the Metro, and the bus stations. The impacts of investment in the City Centre will be highly visible and provide an ideal opportunity to clearly illustrate and promote our ambitions for cycling in Newcastle and the wider area. The proposals have widespread support from various partners (see quotes throughout document and Letters of support in Appendix 7). They build upon phase 1 and continue to increase cycling by improving the safety and attractiveness of cycling and increasing public awareness. The table on page 7 demonstrates in detail the strategic fit and how the proposals meet the objectives of the original bid. More on the proposals is given below in the Strategic Case, are mapped in Appendix 1 and set out in Appendix 2. Please see Appendix 10 for a further explanation of the methods used in the route audits. We believe that these proposals, and the others in the overall CCAF2 bid will help to enable and promote sustainable transport in Newcastle and other parts of the Tyne and Wear conurbation. Tobyn Hughes, Managing Director (Transport Operations), NECA 5

7 B2. The Strategic Case Local Context Newcastle is the regional capital and economic centre of the North East. It hosts several regional functions including two major universities, one of the largest further and higher educational colleges in the UK, a major regional teaching hospital and a national function in the government s Department of Work and Pensions. The 2012 ONS population figures show 282,500 people living in Newcastle. The latest projections suggest the population will grow steadily to around 291,800 by 2016 and to 298,700 by 2021 which is a growth of 5.7% overall. However more and more we are recognising the city as part of a wider interdependent region and the area covered by the bid reflects this. The population of the bid area is 480,391. The importance of Newcastle as a transport hub reflects its economic significance with approximately 160,000 trips into the Urban Core daily from Tyne and Wear. 44% of people who work in Newcastle also live here while the remaining 56% commute into Newcastle for work from other authorities (16% from North Tyneside, 11% from Northumberland and Gateshead). Good transport connections to, within and around Newcastle are therefore vital to the economic health of the city and the region. Current cycling levels Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that cycling in Newcastle rose by 81% between 2001 and However cycling levels in the North East are still amongst the lowest in the UK despite having grown by 80% by 2011 from the 2001 census census travel-to-work statistics show that of the 2839 people aged living in Newcastle and in employment, 71.7% usually travelled to work by car. There is an emerging modal shift to cycling with potential to significantly increase. Northumbria University has seen cycling by both staff and students increase in recent years. Staff cycling to work has seen a large increase from just over 3% in 2009/10 to over 8% by 2012/13. Student cycling has increased from under 1.5% in 2011/12 to over 3% by 2012/13. Tim Hall, Sustainability Manager, Northumbria University The strategic case submitted in the previous bid remains largely unchanged, however there has been significant progress made in developing our wider strategies through the Urban Core Plan and membership of the North East Combined Authority. 6

8 Planning for the Future: Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan for Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne Many of the previous plans and strategies have been superseded by Planning for the Future: Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan for Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne (the Plan). It is the central document in Newcastle s and Gateshead s Local Plan and sets out the spatial planning framework to deliver economic prosperity and create lifetime neighbourhoods. It is the central document in Newcastle s Local Plan and will guide decisions on development until It was subject to an Examination in Public in 2014 and is expected to be adopted in The three main policies that are relevant to this bid are CS13 Transport and Accessibility covering city-wide area, UC5 Primary and Secondary Pedestrian Routes and UC6 Cycling covering the Urban Core. CS13 states that we will promote sustainable travel choices by protecting and enhancing pedestrian routes, cycle networks and rights of way. The supporting text recognises that pedestrian routes that are well designed and safe encourage walking and this is central to other themes within the Plan to enhance and create places that are people-friendly. Places that encourage public participation in leisure and recreation are those that are attractive and have strong economies. It also states that the Council will create a strategic cycle network across the plan area that provides sustainable access to jobs and services. CS13 is supported by two specific polices for the Urban Core. UC5 lists primary and secondary pedestrian routes that will be a focus for improvement and UC6 states that we will develop cycling infrastructure by completing the Great North Cycleway, improving links to Newcastle s strategic network, improving cycle routes and cycling priority within the Urban Core Distributor Route and through the development of Science Central, East Pilgrim Street and Forth Yards. Our proposals within this bid and the pipeline projects we will be submitting directly support the delivery of these policies and will contribute to the achievement of several of the Plan s strategic objectives. They include: - SO7: Manage and develop our transport system to support growth and provide sustainable access for all to housing, jobs, services and shops - SO8: Improve sustainable access to, within and around the Urban Core by promoting fast and direct public transport links to the heart of the Urban Core increasing walking and cycling and minimising through traffic. - SO10: Provide the opportunity for a high quality of life for everyone and enhance the wellbeing of people to reduce all inequalities. - SO11: To reduce CO2 emission from development and future growth while adapting to the issues, mitigating adverse impacts and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by climate change. 7

9 North East Combined Authority The North East Combined Authority 1 (NECA) was established by an Order in Parliament during April As well as assuming the role of the former Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority, for the first time there is one organisation with responsibility for strategic transport for all seven local authorities in the region, bringing together an area of nearly 2 million people that reflects a selfcontained travel to work area. Newcastle and the employment areas of the north have the largest travel to work catchment of all sites in the north east. A key aim of the Combined Authority is to maximise transport opportunities for its residents. Expanding the existing cycling offer in the area will contribute to this objective, providing more residents with attractive, safe, high quality infrastructure which will encourage and support them to increase their frequency of cycling. NECA are keen to promote the use of Sustainable Transport and encourage modal shift in order to reduce levels of congestion and carbon emissions. The development and expansion of quality pedestrian and cycle networks will assist in the fulfilment of this key objective, helping to de-carbonise our transport network and improve accessibility to key locations and facilities, especially for those without access to a private car and those whose journeys are relatively short. This also helps to support our health targets through encouraging the active travel offer in the region. The CCAF2 schemes will directly support a number of the objectives of NECA s emerging Transport Plan for the North East (LTP4). LTP4 provides a framework for a joint approach for transport in the north east region, covering the seven authority footprint. While LTP4 is undergoing development throughout 2015/16, it is expected to incorporate a more people-focussed approach with an emphasis on creating inclusive and healthy communities, improving accessibility between places to support economic growth, greater integration and resilience of our transport networks and an approach to reducing carbon emissions. The current Local Transport Plans in the region also complement the aims and objectives of the North East s Strategic Economic Plan (SEP). More and Better Jobs 2, was published in spring 2014 by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership. It sets out a clear sense of direction for the region s economic future in order that our economy can provide over one million jobs by While aiming to improve transport connectivity, the report also sets out NECA s commitment to reducing carbon emitted by transport. The expansion and development of the region s cycle networks will not only assist with this priority but also result in better integration of transport modes. The NECA area also hosts three Local Sustainable Transport Fund programmes, all of which promote behaviour change to encourage sustainable travel in order to alleviate congestion and reduce carbon emissions. The programmes are overseen by the North East Sustainable Transport Group through which 1 The North East Combined Authority is comprised of the seven local authorities: Durham County Council, Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Council and Sunderland City Council. 2 North East Local Enterprise Partnership. More and Better Jobs : A Strategic Economic Plan. March

10 we share and co-ordinate our experiences across the wider region enabling us to ensure the lessons from a successful ambition bid are shared with our colleagues across the region who are delivering cycling projects through the LSTF. The proposal will assist in the delivery of sustainable low carbon travel choices and help achieve our goal of integrating alternative travel options. Mark Wilson, Head of Transport Policy, NECA Rationale for making the investment Newcastle is the main economic centre within the North East area. We are a core city with a large travel to work catchment and are the only area in the North East to import a surplus of trips every day. Our proposals for investing in infrastructure to promote cycling as a mode of choice are linked to a clear three stage journey approach: - starting at home and improving the immediate surroundings making the prospect of cycling or walking to public transport facilities more attractive; - ensuring the routes to the most significant employment hub in the region (Newcastle City Centre) are of sufficient quality to enable people to make cycling a realistic choice; and - ensuring that the final leg of the journey is safe and that the City Centre reflects our ambitions to be a City where people of any age are able to cycle safely. This approach fully supports the principle set out in the door-to-door strategy which states that not just part of the journey but the entire door-to-door journey must be attractive, convenient and straightforward. Along with our partners Sustrans and Nexus we have carried out an analysis of MOSAIC data for Tyne and Wear that shows areas where the population is more likely to change travel mode. This has been used to confirm the alignment of the strategic route network and to focus the areas that will see community cycling schemes due to their propensity to change (see Appendix 2). Home The community areas which form this bid target residential areas identified through the MOSAIC analysis. They are also near or on strategic cycle routes that will be improved under other proposals in the CCA1 and a successful extension bid, enabling longer journeys into the city centre. Areas with propensity to change behaviour in Newcastle include Gosforth, Jesmond, and Heaton. More widely, areas within North Tyneside including Tynemouth and Whitley Bay show clear potential for people to change modes on their commuting trip to Newcastle (this area is a focus within our pipeline bid as part of the routes to Metro element). Within these areas with the potential for modal shift: Heaton and Ouseburn, Jesmond and Arthurs Hill have been designated as potential Community Cycling areas. These are residential areas with 9

11 established 20mph zones where rat-running, uncontrolled parking and lack of pedestrian and cycle priority for crossing make the streets feel unfriendly. They are also areas where most of the housing is Tyneside Flats which present their own difficulties for storing bikes. Our projects will build on the community engagement experience of working with our partner Sustrans on DIY Streets and Retail Friendly Areas of CCA 1 and incorporate cycle parking and community centres of cycling activity as well as improved access to Metro stations. The proposals build on the work already done in CCA1 where Sustrans has been one of the council s partners in developing routes, working with local cycling organisations and engaging with issues that matter to local communities. We want to continue this cooperation and the lessons we have learned as an area will enable us to accelerate delivery of the second phase of work. Newcastle s involvement in Bike Life, the Bicycle Account, will enable us to monitor and report on progress as an area to the wider community. Bryn Dowson, Regional Director, Sustrans North East Home also encompasses the walking and cycling promotion work being done though Public Health. As part of the CCA1 bid, 776,000 of public health funding was allocated to a behaviour change programme. This provides a universal offer but also targets specific groups who are less likely to take up cycling. Based on NICE guidance we offer cycle training, maintenance sessions and training, led rides and a development programme to recruit and train cycle champions. A dedicated Cycling and Walking coordinator has been appointed and has facilitated a number of training sessions and activities over the winter. The coordinator has been successful in engaging with the target groups such as ethnic minority groups and young people. Our cycling training programme is also currently engaging with groups to encourage more people onto the cycling programmes. We have commissioned a pilot walking and cycling programme for older people with Sustrans which has been running very successfully since October 2014 and we are exploring ways of sustaining this within the current programme of activities. To support our activities we have commissioned a marketing programme, Cycling the City which aims to normalise cycling. This was launched recently and involves images of people cycling as part of their everyday activities. This is the overarching ethos of our programme. The campaign uses a variety of materials to promote the message including utilising council vehicles as mobile billboards to spread the cycling message. We are also using social media to engage with our target audiences. One of the advantages of the current programme is that it will support the infrastructure development - when the cycle routes are completed we will work with local communities to deliver, for example, training to increase people s confidence and get them used to using the new routes. We are currently exploring how we can integrate cycling in to other activities we commission. We are piloting using electric bikes as part of a programme of activities people leaving our Weight Management programme can engage with. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that we build physical activity into people s everyday lives. Lessons learned from all of these will help us to target hard to 10

12 reach communities. To ensure our evaluations have academic rigour, we have commissioned a local university to provide the evaluation of the programmes. Routes to work, leisure and learning The strategic cycle routes will be direct links that connect the surrounding areas to the major employment centre of Newcastle. The routes we are focusing on this extension bid are outlined below: NCN725 the Great North Cycleway: we will deliver more of the regional north south route. The proposed programme will complete the Great North Cycleway through Gateshead Town Centre. The route links a significant proportion of Gateshead residents with the employment, education, leisure and onward travel opportunities offered by Newcastle and Gateshead centres. It also provides a direct link between new student accommodation in Gateshead and Northumbria University in Newcastle. Newcastle s match funding will ensure a major traffic junction (which is part of the Great North Cycleway) in the north of Newcastle is redesigned and provides segregated safe space for cyclists. An element of our pipeline schemes is also focused on this route in the north of the city. Newcastle s strategic route SR5: this runs from the city centre to Sandyford Road and onward to the Coast Road. This route provides a major link to the east of the city and connects communities with high potential for modal shift such as Jesmond and Heaton and further beyond to North Tyneside, providing direct links to the major employment hub of Cobalt Business Park and other key development sites. The route also links two proposed community cycling areas. The Town Moor Barras Bridge link: this is part of Newcastle s strategic route network (SR3) and will strengthen links to the north west of the city giving access to the university and hospital and connecting to Gosforth and Kenton, both areas with high potential for modal shift. Pedestrian and cycle improvements are important here as the off road route across the Moor is already well used and the two roundabouts on the route have records of collisions involving cyclists that are higher than we would wish to see. The route will become increasingly important in the future as 8,400 new homes have been allocated to the north west of Newcastle under the Core Strategy and Urban Core plan. Cyclists from the housing sites will join this route at the north end of the Town Moor. An additional proposal for this new route to the housing sites and would address community severance issues is part of our pipeline application (P2 in Appendix 8). Improvements to SR6 Heaton Road to Benfield Road: this will support the Community Cycling area at Heaton and Ouseburn and link to SR5 and links to the City Centre via the City Stadium work which has been delivered as part of CCA1 works. A proposal for improvements to a major pinchpoint over the central motorway on this route is being developed as a pipeline application (P1, Appendix 8). Our pipeline application for a permeability pot will ensure that a green orbital radial route can connect strategic routes in this area providing a beneficial leisure route (F13 on map in Appendix 8). 11

13 Work Improving conditions within the city centre will strengthen links to main attractors including the universities and leisure facilities and transport interchanges such as Central Station, the Metro, and the bus stations. Potential improvements to Mosley Street/Collingwood Street and Westmorland Rd/Rye Hill will continue improvements made under the major scheme substantially complete at Central Station (which includes a two-way cycle track). This east-west link will improve access across the city centre enabling people from the east or west (or Gateshead) to access major attractors at the south of the City Centre such as Newcastle College, Science Central, the Stephenson Quarter and Central Station, while also presenting a cross city route for other purposes. The area in the vicinity of the station has seen significant investment in recent years which has created jobs and opportunities. This is likely to continue and work is ongoing for the second phase of the station regeneration and preparation for the arrival of HS2 trains. Our proposals are aligned with this work. Improvements to Gallowgate/Percy Street will improve connections through the heart of the City Centre and open up links from the west, north and east of the City Centre. They will also provide a direct link to the key development site at Science Central which has been allocated for science and research mixed use development. The development of this site will incorporate a residential element with attractive routes for pedestrians and cyclist across the site. It will also improve connections between the city centre and the residential area to the west which has been identified as an area with high potential for modal shift and as a community cycling area. Our infrastructure proposals will be complemented by closer co-operation with the LSTF Go Smarter to Work programme and integration of our cycling information with their successful Go Smarter website and journey planner. We currently offer business focused engagement packages that enable businesses within the city centre to access a range of services that help to promote sustainable transport. Delivering our infrastructure will clearly support this and in turn, our planned outreach and engagement work in the city centre for 2015/16 through Go Smarter will act to promote Cycle City. Through our Go Smarter to Work programme we have seen a rise in the interest in cycling among people who work in the city centre. The proposals in this bid will provide a backbone of infrastructure on which we can build further encouragement and support for even more people to get on their bikes. Melanie Carls, Go Smarter Programme Manager A map showing the schemes can be found in Appendix 3. More information on each proposal with existing problems and rationale are given in Appendix 4. A detailed analysis of the issues on the route using the Welsh Analysis Tool is given in B4 and Appendix 5. 12

14 Meeting original bid objectives The table overleaf shows how the proposals meet the objectives of the original bid. The proposals build upon CCA 1 and continue to enable people to make the choice to cycle by improving its attractiveness and safety while increasing public awareness. The Community Cycling Areas develop the concept of DIY Streets and extend this into the wider neighbourhood. This supports the principles of the door-to-door strategy and will greatly improve the attractiveness of cycling over car journeys, particularly over shorter distances. The table also illustrates how the proposals fit in with the strategic objectives of the Cycling Delivery Plan and other key policies. 13

15 Objectives of Original bid The proposals in this bid will Fit with other policies To increase cycling by delivering a step change in the quality, attractiveness and perception of cycling opportunities within Newcastle. Continue to deliver by - building on the toolkit of infrastructure measures developed in Phase1 to provide coherent, consistent network - extending strategic routes begun in Phase 1 - install sections of other strategic routes as set out in the 10 year strategy - review and extend proposed strategic network Cycling Delivery Plan long term vision; experience in developing cycling infrastructure is contributing to cycle and pedestrian proofing other schemes. Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan Policies CS13 Transport and Accessibility and UC6 Cycling To make cycling more competitive with car use (particularly for shorter journeys) To heighten public awareness and acceptability of cycling To enhance the public realm / street scene and create more attractive, safe and welcoming local environments - Trial a neighbourhood approach to encourage cycling and walking journeys for short journeys - Work with public health and leisure services to increase neighbourhood support for cycling and walking - Link trial neighbourhoods to strategic routes for longer journeys - Improve cycling links to metro stations - Increase cycle permeability in the city centre - Continue the programme of promotion and public engagement on proposals. The announcement of Phase 2 will be the starting point for engagement around how to incorporate a walking strategy into our work - Work with public health to promote and support cycling among hard to reach groups - Promote safety of cycling and health benefits - Improve known collisions sites on routes and monitor collision figures - Use the neighbourhood approach to enhance local streets scenes - Continue to enhance the environment in the city centre and on strategic routes - By encouraging a switch from car to active travel, cut congestion and carbon emissions in the city centre - Add to the rationale for our bid to OLEV for a Low Emissions City Scheme Cycling Delivery Plan - Commitment to door-to-door journeys; steps to meet needs of hard to reach groups NECA- Quality of Life; Access to Opportunity Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan Policies CS13 Transport and Accessibility and UC6 Cycling Cycling Delivery Plan long term vision; development of walking and cycling plan; steps to meet needs of hard to reach groups NECA- Quality of Life Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan Policies CS15 Placemaking, UC5 Primary and Secondary Pedestrian Routes, UC12 Urban Design and UC16 Public Realm 14

16 To ease congestion / bottlenecks and smooth traffic flows into and out of the city To enhance access to employment, training and services for all sectors of the community, with a specific focus on improving access to: -urban employment centres -development sites that have the potential to create housing -development sites that have the potential to create jobs -the Enterprise Zone, located along the North Bank of the Tyne - Improvements on the cycle route along the Coast Road will encourage a change to cycling, easing congestion and bottlenecks - Improvements to lights at junctions especially on the Coast Road will smooth traffic flow - Improvements to the Great North Cycleway in Gateshead will encourage cycling and ease pressure on congested river crossings - All strategic routes lead to the major regional employment, education, leisure opportunities in the city centre - The Claremont Road route links to SR4 and the housing developments at Great Park. The proposed new route over Nuns Moor will access new developments in the north west of the city. The Coast Road route will link proposed housing developments in North Tyneside to the city centre - The Coast Road route will have links to Silverlink and Cobalt Business Parks and directly to key employment sites - A future scheme is being developed to continue SR7 to the Enterprise Zone on the North bank of the Tyne NECA- Economic growth and jobs; Access to Opportunity Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan Policies CS13 Transport and Accessibility NECA - Economic growth and jobs; Access to Opportunity; Quality of Life Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan Policies CS13 Transport and Accessibility and UC6 Cycling Existing Problems and Barriers Audits of the proposed routes have been undertaken by Sustrans using the Welsh Government audit tool. The results of these audits show that there are issues with poor connections to other routes and routes are often segmented with no clear indication of how to continue their journey. There are varying levels of surface defects and there are safety issues with risks from kerbside activity and collisions. Detailed assessments of the routes are included in Appendix 5. Newcastle has scored highly against other metropolitan areas in relation to our cycle training but we are below average in the provision of cycle routes, cycle crossings, and direction signage (National Highways and Transport surveys). This extension bid and our pipeline scheme submissions will give the city the opportunity to address these issues across significant parts of the highway network. Carbon reduction Three areas affected by these proposals - Newcastle city centre, Gosforth and Gateshead Town Centre - are Air Quality Management Action areas. Their air quality is monitored and they have action plans aimed at reducing pollutants. The proposals in this bid are in line with the Air Quality Action Plans. Newcastle and Gateshead are both engaged in wider air quality improvements measures and it will not be possible to quantify the benefits of increased cycling but the proposals outlined in this bid will support a reduction on vehicle traffic, a major source of air pollution. 15

17 Research at the Transport Operations Research Group has looked at win-win for climate change and air quality and cycle and walking emerge as the most important (if not the only) driver for success. Prof. Margaret Bell, Science City Professor of Transport and Environment at Newcastle University Public Realm The vision for the Urban Core is to create an area in which walking and cycling are both safe and enjoyable recognising that attractive and economically-thriving cities are those that encourage public life and recreation in their public spaces. Barras Bridge is a major gateway into the city situated at the front door to Newcastle University and improvements will expand the amount of space dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists while providing legible more direct routes and enhanced public realm in this area. This will be achieved by reducing the dominance of roads to allow wider footpaths and improving links between the main entrances to the university campuses, to the city centre and to the RVI. The City Council s emerging proposals for Barras Bridge are of great importance to us and we are willing to support the delivery of pedestrian safety improvements at this location including through match funding contributions. We have been working very closely with the City Council to develop proposals and look forward to continuing our relationship as we work in partnership to deliver a huge improvement in this area of the city. Clare Rogers, Head of Estate and Support Services, Newcastle University How the proposals have been selected The proposals have been guided by the plans set out in CCA1 and in Delivering Cycling Improvements in Newcastle; A ten year strategy They extend or complete strategic cycling routes begun in Phase 1, extend single street community engagement to whole neighbourhoods and work with major city centre redevelopment proposals to ensure the heart of our city is fit for cycling and walking. It was not felt sensible or feasible to deviate substantially from the original proposals. However, experience from our successful regional LSTF programme and an increasing recognition of the effect of people travelling to Newcastle City Centre from outside our local authority area has led to more working with neighbouring local authorities to encourage sustainable travel to work. Despite the demanding timescales involved in developing the proposals, they have been: - discussed and approved by the CCA Technical Advisory Group, a regular meeting of cycling and pedestrian organisation representatives who work with us on the early stages of scheme design; - discussed and approved at the Cycling Stakeholders Forum a bi-monthly meeting of the cycling community; and - approved by our CCA Board. 16

18 The momentum being built up through CCA1 and related sources provides great encouragement that cycling infrastructure investment will pay dividends through increasing cycle use and improved general health and well-being. John Litherland, Chair Recyke y bike and Co chair Newcastle Cycling Stakeholders Forum We have been working with Sustrans to audit routes and have also done some work with a small company called Travel Ai to track cycle movements through an app called WeCycle. This has involved us encouraging our local cycling community within Newcastle to use this opt-in app that provides information to us as local highways authority on their movements. Take up among cyclists has been slow but initial results show a concentration of cycling on routes and areas that we are working on under CCA1 or are proposing for the extension. We intend to pursue this method of tracking cycle journeys to better inform route planning and monitoring of effectiveness of routes. 17

19 B3. The Financial Case Project Costs Table A: Funding profile (Nominal terms) 000s Total DfT funding sought 3,540 3,540 3,540 10,621 Local Authority contribution , Third Party contribution TOTAL 4,803 4,803 4,803 15,031 Notes: 1) Department for Transport funding is for the three years from 2015/16 to 2017/18. 2) Bids should seek to identify enough local contributions to bring the total spend on cycling to at least 10 per head. This package of funding reflects a committed spend per head of with additional local contributions available for pipeline schemes to ensure an appropriate match for those elements. B4. Package description Please provide a detailed description of each of the package elements being bid for. The package is built on the ten-year programme approved in the CCA1 bid and already underway. There are three core themes based on providing integrated door to door journeys: - Home - Route to work, leisure and learning; and - Work (the city centre) The infrastructure improvements will use the toolkit of interventions developed during CCA1 which is based on: - LTN 2/08 Cycle Infrastructure Design and LTN 1/12 Shared use routes for pedestrians and cyclists - Manual for Streets 2 - Sustrans Design Manual: Handbook for cycle-friendly design - CROW Design manual for bicycle traffic - The London Cycling Design Standards - Recommendations of our CCAF Technical Advisory Group; and - Best practice being shared through the Cycle Cities Group. 18

20 The principles to be followed were outlined in the original bid and based on discussion with the cycling community, in that our infrastructure should: - Link to the city centre and key destinations; - Enable uninterrupted, unobstructed movement at an average speed of 12 mph on strategic cycle routes; - Be easy to follow with adequate signs or on carriage branding; - Be well surfaced and well maintained; - Enhance the environment, with a distinctive character which improves its surroundings; - Identify and address cyclist casualty locations; - Manage conflict with motor traffic and pedestrians; - Raise awareness with motor traffic and pedestrians; - Clarify the positioning of cyclists and other highway users; - Be consistent in design approach; and - Be enforced by design as well as by statutes. Infrastructure solutions will include: - Lowering speed limits and reducing traffic volume where feasible; - Separate space for cyclists where possible either in lanes using Orcas or other segregation, or on two-way tracks; - Removal of pinch-points; - Replacing refuges with zebras or other crossings where appropriate; - Improved crossings at junctions for cyclists and pedestrians; - A hierarchy of bus stop by-pass designs appropriate to the space available; - Use of coloured surface as a safety aid eg across junctions; and - Raised tables and narrowing radii at side streets. We will continue to explore innovative solutions and learn from best practice in the UK and elsewhere. We are committed to delivering the highest quality designs possible within the context of each locality. As such we are interested in the principles of the Cycle Proofing Working Group to ensure we achieve the highest quality of designs. Although the city centre core will be cycle friendly it will be pedestrian dominated. There is also a need for a faster cycle route around the city centre linking the start points of the strategic routes and avoiding the need to cross the core. The long term ambition is a cycle circular which will be developed gradually as the city centre is redeveloped and the routes incorporated in this bid will progress our work to create this infrastructure. Detailed descriptions of our packages can be found in Appendix 2. 19

21 B5. Package costs A breakdown of the proposed package of measures with the DfT funding required. This should align with the funding profile in Section A. DfT funding sought LA contribution 000s Total Community Cycling Areas Routes to work City Centre Total Gateshead Newcastle North Tyneside Total B6. The Financial Case - Local Contribution / Third Party Funding Please provide information on the following points (where applicable): a) Any non-dft contribution may include funding from organisations other than the scheme promoter. Please provide details of all non-dft funding contributions to the scheme costs. This should include evidence to show how any third party contributions are being secured, the level of commitment and when they will become available. As highlighted in Section A4, approximately 10.6 million of funding is being sought from the DfT, profiled and packaged over the three years as specified in Sections B3 and B5 respectively. This value is the maximum funding that can be sought from the DfT, based on providing 7.37 per head across a population of 480,391. The local authorities of Gateshead, Newcastle, and North Tyneside are committing 4.4 million as local contributions at this stage. While third party contributions are available for certain elements, these have not been referenced here due to the timescales involved in pulling the bid together. Guidance indicates that bids should seek to identify enough local contributions to bring the total spend on cycling to at least 10 per head of population for each year of the three scheme years. Our local contribution, aligned with investment of 7.37 per head from government would create a package that provided capital investment of per head of population. 20

22 Local Contributions Our local contributions are primarily made up of devolved transport funding for aligned major schemes including major junction works in Newcastle and North Tyneside and corridor improvements in Gateshead. Newcastle City Council will invest a total of 2.8 million towards the delivery of the cycling schemes in this extension bid. This funding will be delivered from the devolved funding for the Northern Access Corridor. This corridor will provide improvements to cycling at two junctions that deal with significant numbers of cyclists and vehicular traffic, both are on the strategic route network (SR3 and SR4 the Great North Cycleway). North Tyneside Council will provide evidence of a 600k local contribution to support delivery. This will be taken from devolved funding for a local major scheme A1058 Coast Road (Billy Mill and Norham Road junctions) as this scheme includes works which improve cycling access and safety at junctions on the Coast Road, creating a legible and consistent route through the area. Gateshead Council has identified a number of funding sources to provide local contributions. Scheme specific contributions have been identified as part of the Great North Cycleway and Hills Street schemes, totalling approximately 178.5k between 2015/16 and 2016/17. Further contributions have been identified from the LTP cycling block ( 221.5k), Eighton Lodge P&R (a cycling element totalling 10k) and a combination of additional LTP funding and development contributions ( 600k). This gives a total funding contribution of 1.1 million over the three year period. Additional Funding Additional funding will be available to provide match funding support to our pipeline schemes all of which are align with this extension bid. We also believe a successful Cycle City extension would enable us to access further funding in future years including from developer contributions, European funding opportunities and our own funding. Where the contribution is from external sources, please provide a letter confirming the body s commitment to contribute to the cost of the scheme. The Department is unlikely to fund any scheme where significant financial contributions from other sources have not been secured or appear to be at risk. Letters detailing evidence of funding commitments from Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council and North Tyneside Council are provided in Appendix 7. 21

23 B7. Cycling Delivery Plan Partnership Projects Acceptance of this grant means that the party agrees to work with the Department for Transport as a partner in the realisation of the Cycling Delivery Plan (currently in draft and due to be published in 2015). We agree to work with the Department as partners of the Cycling Delivery Plan: Yes No B8. The Economic Case Value for Money The expected impacts have been estimated using the same assumptions as in the original bid. A technical note can be found at Appendix 9. Sustrans have worked with Newcastle City Council to audit the proposed cycle routes for the Cycle City Ambition extension. The Welsh Active Travel Cycle audit tool has been used to give a baseline score for the cycling conditions along each route based on five core principles of cycle route design. Further details of this are given in Appendix 10. SECTION C Monitoring, Evaluation and Benefits Realisation C1. Monitoring and Evaluation Evaluation is an essential part of scheme development and should be considered and built into the planning of a scheme from the earliest stages. Evaluating the outcomes and impacts of schemes is important to show if a scheme has been successful. Please confirm that you are committed to working with the Department and Sustrans to improve current monitoring and evaluation plans, and that you agree to improve processes where needed to enable end of programme comparisons across the Cycling Ambition cities. Yes No We recognise that monitoring and evaluation are essential components and are committed to working with the Department to improve current monitoring and evaluation processes. We are committed to reviewing the benefits of improvements including cycling levels and the wider effects on areas such as public health and the impact on the economy. Newcastle is currently working with Sustrans to develop Bike Life to record progress on cycling improvements and has agreed to measure several outputs in addition to the common data set. 22