Tyne Dock, South Shields
New links to the cycle and pedestrian network in Tyneside are being developed to help people negotiate the A194 and two of Tyneside's busiest roundabouts. The new routes will improve access to the National Cycle Network Route 14 near the Port of Tyne in Tyne Dock and enable people to enjoy making their everyday journeys to work, the shops or for fun by bike or on foot.
Councillor Audrey McMillan, Chair of the Riverside Community Area Forum explains: "The Borough's cycle network is used by commuters as well as those who want to walk and cycle for fun and these improvements will help our efforts to reduce traffic in the Borough."
The new facilities will provide a combination of shared and segregated off-road cycle and pedestrian pathways along the A194, leading to a Toucan crossing on the Western Approach. This much needed crossing, designed for both pedestrians and cyclists, will span both carriageways of the Western Approach between the Port of Tyne and Temple Town roundabouts.
The scheme will connect the main employement centres of the Port of Tyne and the Middlefields Industrial Estate with Jarrow Road, Hudson Street, South Eldon Street and West Way, helping cycling commuters who use these routes to cross the carriageways on the Western Approach safely.
The scheme will augment the existing cycling and walking links to schools within the locality, and pupils from Saint Peter and Paul Primary School and Stanhope County Primary School have been involved in developing artwork to be incorporated into the proposals.
Part of a wider road safety scheme
The improvements will be delivered as part of a wider road safety scheme around the Port of Tyne roundabout, which will also involve the installation of part-time traffic signals to enable safer egress of goods vehicles from the Port of Tyne.
South Tyneside Council will also be taking steps to ease congestion at the roundabout by creating an additional lane for traffic approaching the Port of Tyne roundabout heading out of town on the Western Approach as well as an additional lane for traffic exiting Hudson Street.
The road safety and cycle network scheme will take around 20 weeks to complete. The Council is currently working with utilities and telecommunications companies to arrange service diversions ahead of the works, which will start by October 2011.
Latest News
Works update
Works are well underway with many parts of the scheme already in use. All remaining works will be finalised in May 2012.
Tyne Dock Portrait Bench
As part of a unique national public art project, each route will have a Portrait Bench installed alongside a section of pathway. A Portrait Bench is a simple bench with three life-size effigies of characters chosen by the local community to represent the culture and history of the area.
Following a public vote, the three characters chosen for the Tyne Dock portrait have been accounced as: Sarah Millican, a centurion and Norman Fay. Work to install the Portrait Bench is currently on-going
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