Design process
These streetscape projects were prompted by both the £6.5 million Grainger town public realm improvement programme, and by the City's £7 million Quayside transit scheme, which included a key objective to retain and enhance the high level of bus use in Newcastle. Around £1.2 million was spent on the public realm works in Side and Sandhill. The positive urban design outcomes arose from the need to ensure that essential transport initiatives were not at the expense of conservation and urban design objectives. This required a very close working partnership between engineers, planners and design officers in the City Council, and with bus companies and transport operators. The result is some unique solutions aimed at reconciling the multiple functions of streets, generating innovative and creative urban design.
The arrangements for both Blackett Street and Side/Sandhill fall outside conventional highway arrangements. Both use 'pedestrian zone' status to avoid the use of yellow lines, but both are open to bus, bicycle and some occasional motor traffic. The Department for Transport's Traffic Signs Regulations do not easily allow for such flexibility without moving away from the more instantly recognisable and understood signs. At the foot of Dean Street, bicycle bypasses have had to be built in to avoid the formal signs. On Blackett Street, a special code of practice and voluntary agreement has been agreed with the relevant bus company.
Inspiration and ideas for Grainger Town's regeneration were drawn from examples around Europe and the rest of the UK, and numerous study trips were undertaken as part of the design process. The English Historic Towns Forum played an important supporting role. A public art programme generated some excellent contemporary street furniture on Blackett Street, and inspired a distinctive pattern to the steep paving of Side, combining a practical response to the street geometry as well as reference to the river below.
Introducing a less formal relationship between traffic and other civic functions, especially on Blackett Street, required a re-examination of risk assessment and safety auditing within the City Council, and required extensive meetings with the public and with specialist groups to provide reassurance. The City's experienced Access Forum, with important input from the RNIB, allowed numerous kerb details to be resolved. In common with Kensington High Street, commitment to carefully observe and monitor operations and to modify arrangements where necessary was essential to retaining broad public support.
