Being the cynic I am I found it a bit odd that the newly reopened High Level Bridge from Newcastle to Gateshead has been opened for buses and trains only.
The official line is that the bridge is no longer suitable for the weight of cars.
But buses and trains are nice and light? Surely a multi-carriage train will weigh more than the amount of cars the bridge could physcially hold? (its not a long bridge!)
I guess it fits in nicely with the councils anti-car policy but is there any scientific logic behind this? Goodness knows we can ill afford losing a crossing point with the engineered congestion around the Tyne bridge.
Edited by Webmaster on 16/04/2009 at 01:33
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Re-opened for buses and taxis only in a Southbound direction as new crash barriers make it too narrow for 2 way traffic.
Althought the authorities come out with a lot of statistics as to why public transport only should use this route, the policy is still in keeping with the Labour doctrine of "public transport good, private cars bad".
Newcastle's problems with vehicles crossing the Tyne date back to the corruption and incompetence of the T. Dan Smith era. The dual carriageway system on the Gateshead side of the Tyne Bridge hangs in mid-air where it should continued onto a new Tyne crossing to connect with the Central motorway.
Instead, we get the awful mess of lane and traffic lights leading Northwards onto the Tyne Bridge.
"Use the Metro," you might say. My daughter lives in Sunderland and works in the West of Newcastle, far from a Metro station. She would love to use public transport but does not want to spend half her life on the buses.
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I tend only to venture to Newc in the car late at night when it's possible to use all of the bus lanes etc. I'm quite a big fan of the new ones past Central Station as their operating hours aren't well signposted, this means that most cars move over to the right hand lane and I can shoot along the "No Car" lane when I'm driving late at night. :-)
Any other time and I'm afraid to say that the city is an abortion to drive around.
Edited by Blue {P} on 15/04/2009 at 22:41
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When I drove my baby blue Fiat Panda 4x4, I always wanted to try taking it on the "no car lanes" in Newcastle on the basis that a lot of people looked at it and said "that's no car!".
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I wondered what that half-finished 'floating' bit of road was for!
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Yes I'm sure Newcastle is like everywhere else in that 'no car/bus lane' means buses/taxis/vans/plod/tractors/bikes/horse & cart can use them but no cars!
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