Agenda item

To receive the 2019/20 information report in relation to the North Tyneside Transport Strategy.

Cabinet received the North Tyneside Transport Strategy Annual Information Report which summarised the work undertaken to demonstrate progress against delivery of performance of the Transport Strategy during 2019-20.

The annual information report, included at Appendix 1, demonstrated progress against delivery of the Transport Strategy.  A Transport Strategy Data Factsheet summarising the key performance data for 2019/20 was included at Appendix 2.

The Authority’s programme of investment during 2019/20 had delivered six major schemes to improve the operation of the Authority’s transport network, support its Local Plan objectives and improve provision for sustainable travel. The Authority had improved traffic management technology on its network, while supporting the efficient operation of the network by improved management of road works by utility companies through the Streetworks permit system.

The numbers of road collisions and associated casualties continued to decrease in North Tyneside. Serious collisions had decreased in 2019, which compared positively with the regional picture, while slight collisions had more than halved since the baseline years 2005-09.

The figures suggested that the Authority’s targeted major scheme investment had helped to reduce the number of collision cluster sites (those with more than five collisions over a three-year period within a 50m radius) although clearly there remained a need to continue the Authority’s ongoing work to analyse and reduce road collisions. There was also a decreasing trend in the number of collisions which involved somebody cycling, even as everyday cycling became more popular.

To support the sustained growth in everyday cycling in North Tyneside, the Authority had continued to invest in high standard cycling infrastructure: for example, the Authority’s major scheme at the A189 Killingworth Road included a 2.5km protected cycleway (phase 1 complete; developer-funded phase 2 to follow). Equally, it remained important to continue to engage in training which encouraged people to travel more sustainably and support road safety. Road safety education was offered in schools, and national standard ‘Bikeability’ cycling training was delivered to increasing numbers of children in the borough.

It would remain important to continue to engage with schools in the borough to encourage children and their parents to travel actively to school or use ‘park and stride’ rather than drive to school gates. Following North Tyneside’s participation in the national pilot of the “School Streets” event, where the street outside a school was reserved for cycling and walking, working with Sustrans, there were opportunities to hold similar events more regularly. The Authority’s ongoing ‘Go Smarter’ programme promoted the use of sustainable and active transport in schools, as well as involving children in identifying improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure, and was achieving a shift away from car use of up to 15%, which helped to support air quality and health objectives.

Since mid-March 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic had had substantial and wide-ranging effect on many aspects of people’s life and work. As the Government began to ease the national ‘lockdown’ measures, the ongoing restrictions on travel and requirement for social distancing would have a significant effect on how people travelled for work and personal business and how goods were distributed. The Authority would continue to review the latest Government guidance so as to continue to manage the highway network safely and effectively whilst supporting residents, business and visitors during the recovery period. This would include looking at ways to continue to maximise the air quality benefits obtained during the lockdown period, while recognising the need to reduce carbon emissions from transport to address the climate emergency.

People in the borough had been cycling much more over the last three months, which had wide-ranging benefits for people’s health, carbon reduction and air quality as well as reducing queues of cars on the highway network. The Authority planned to capture this opportunity by moving swiftly to provide more protected cycling routes which would make it quicker and easier to get around the borough by cycle, alongside supporting people’s travel needs and local businesses in the new circumstances by reallocating road space to walking and cycling.

Resolved that the content of the report and associated supporting information contained in Appendices 1 and 2 to the report be noted.