Seven key junctions have been identified for improvement along busy commuter routes Ponteland Road and Stamfordham Road, which are towards the Woolsington and Westerhope areas of the city.

At the same time, the council plan to upgrade walking and cycling facilities to encourage more sustainable ways of travel and improve safety. Smart traffic signals and sensors will also be installed, meaning that the junctions will be connected to a central control and programmed to take into account different traffic flows.

Cllr Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council said: “Newcastle is growing, bringing new communities, families and jobs to the area which means we need to have the right infrastructure in place.

“To make several of the junctions work better, we will remove roundabouts and install signals to balance traffic flow at different times and improve safety.

“Roundabouts can be very useful at non-peak periods at moving vehicular traffic but at peak-times we see traffic build up on some of the arms and not the others which leads to delays and is an inefficient way of managing traffic.

“They can also be difficult for people on foot or bikes to cross the road so this gives us an opportunity to upgrade the crossing facilities and make the local area safer.

“Without these improvements, we would see congestion build up which goes against our aims to tackle climate change and improve air quality.”

The seven junctions are:

Brunton Road with Brunton Lane

• The improvements include installing signals to replace the current priority T junction and upgrade walking and cycling facilities

Ponteland Road with Station Road

• The improvements include installing signals to manage traffic through the T junction more safely and upgrade walking and cycling facilities

Stamfordham Road with Pooley Road

• The improvements include removing the roundabout, signalising the junction and upgrading the walking and cycling facilities

Stamfordham Road with Springfield Road

• The improvements include removing the roundabout, signalising the junction and upgrading the walking and cycling facilities

Ponteland Road with Etal Lane

• The improvements include signalising the existing roundabout and upgrading the walking and cycling facilities

Ponteland Road with Harehills

• The improvements include removing the roundabout, signalising the junction and upgrading the walking and cycling facilities

Ponteland Road with Springfield Road

• The improvements include removing the roundabout, signalising the junction and upgrading the walking and cycling facilities

Funding is secured from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund for the Brunton Road with Brunton Lane and Ponteland Road with Station Road and these improvements will be completed in 2021.

The council is seeking further funding to complete the remaining junctions through section 106, which requires housing developers to fund the junction improvements, as well as further government funding pots.

By engaging with the public at this stage, the council can then progress with the junction improvements as soon as funding is in place.

Residents can leave their comments on the designs at https://newcastlejunctions2019.commonplace.is/   by 6 October.  Comments from the public will inform the detailed designs for the junction which we expect to finalise in early 2020. The final designs will then be subject to further statutory consultation.