New measures to help improve bus reliability and road safety are set to be installed on one of the city’s busiest routes for buses.
In Gosforth, a new section of northbound bus lane will be installed on the flyover from the Great North Road (Brunton Lane) to the approach to the Rotary Way roundabout. This is to improve bus journeys and reliability on a key bus corridor, as well as improve road safety with a new puffin crossing at High Gosforth Park.
Cllr Owen Burbidge, cabinet member for Inclusive Economy and Skills, said: “This scheme delivers the reliable, accessible bus services people expect. We’re giving people a genuine choice not to need to rely on their car for everyday journeys.
“Gosforth is one of several corridors where we are making roads safer and building better-connected communities. Creating a more sustainable transport network and making it genuinely easier for residents to travel around the City.”
Work will start on Monday 10 August, during the daytime to install the new crossing and should last for up to three weeks. To carry the work out safely and efficiently, lane closures and temporary traffic signals will be required.
Once this work is complete, overnight works will start to install the new bus lane, including footpath and carriageway resurfacing. This work is scheduled to start from 10 September and should last for up to two weeks.
These measures are part of a package of improvements to improve bus reliability on Great North Road, funded through the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) which aims to get more people using the bus by improving service reliability across key corridors. As part of the Great North Road improvements, a new northbound bus lane will also be installed between Forsyth Road and the approach to Blue House Roundabout. These works will be scheduled for later in the year.
Newcastle City Council’s BSIP scheme is part of the North East Strategic Mayoral Authority BSIP initiative, which is supported by £163.5m in government funding.
