MetroGreen Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report 16 April 2019 Commissioned by Gateshead Council Mott MacDonald Time Central 6th Floor 32 Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4SN United Kingdom T +44 (0)191 261 0866 mottmac.com Commissioned by Gateshead Council Civic Centre MetroGreen Regent Street 377771 010 C Gateshead Area Action Plan Evidence NE8 1HH Mott MacDonald Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report 16 April 2019 Mott MacDonald Limited. Registered in England and Wales no. 1243967. Registered office: Mott MacDonald House, 8-10 Sydenham Road, Croydon CR0 2EE, Commissioned by Gateshead Council United Kingdom Mott MacDonald | MetroGreen Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report Issue and revision record Revision Date Originator Checker Approver Description A 10/05/18 Draft Issue of Chapters with exception of Chapter 6 and 7 which are awaiting further information B 06/02/19 Update following receipt of further information C 16/04/19 Final issue Document reference: 377771 | 010 | C Information class: Standard This document is issued for the party which commissioned it and for specific purposes connected with the above-captioned project only. It should not be relied upon by any other party or used for any other purpose. We accept no responsibility for the consequences of this document being relied upon by any other party, or being used for any other purpose, or containing any error or omission which is due to an error or omission in data supplied to us by other parties. This document contains confidential information and proprietary intellectual property. It should not be shown to other parties without consent from us and from the party which commissioned it. This r epo rt h as b een pre par ed s olely fo r us e by the par ty which co mmissio ned i t (t he ‘Clien t’) in conn ectio n with t he c aptio ned pr oject. I t sho uld not b e us ed f or a ny o the r pu rpos e. No pe rson oth er t han the Clie nt o r a ny pa rty w ho h as ex pres sly ag ree d te rms of r elianc e with us (t he ‘Re cipien t(s)’ ) m ay r ely on the cont ent, i nfo rma tion or a ny views exp resse d in t he rep ort. W e acc ept no d uty o f ca re, resp onsibility or lia bility to any oth er recipie nt of this docu men t. T his r epo rt is c onfid ential and cont ains p rop riet ary in tellect ual p rop erty . 377771 | 010 | C | 16 April 2019 Mott MacDonald | MetroGreen Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report Contents Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 3 2 Legislation and Policy 5 2.1 Legislation 5 2.2 Policy 5 2.3 Metrocentre Existing Emergency Procedures 14 3 Existing Evidence Review 16 3.1 Introduction 16 3.2 Tyne Crossing West Study (Mouchel - March 2010) 16 3.3 Newcastle Gateshead Local Development Framework New River Crossing Options, (WSP / JMP - August 2012) 17 3.4 Newcastle Gateshead Local Development Framework – Modelling Assessment, Additional Evidence (WSP and JMP - March 2013) 18 3.5 The Third Local Transport Plan for Tyne and Wear Strategy 2011 – 2021 (Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority - March 2011) 19 3.6 Metro Futures (Nexus) 20 3.7 New River Tyne Crossings Joint Position Statement (Gateshead and Newcastle City Councils - January 2016) 21 3.8 MetroGreen Access Strategy (Draft) – (Gateshead Council – December 2013) 22 3.9 A1 Newcastle Gateshead Western Bypass Stage 3 Report (Halcrow, Hyder, WSP, February 2015) 24 3.10 Conclusions 25 4 New Evidence and Consultation 27 4.1 New Evidence 27 4.2 Consultation 27 5 Accessibility Audits 28 5.1 Introduction 28 5.2 Agreed zoning areas 28 5.3 Walking and Cycling 29 5.4 Public Transport 30 6 Car Parking Review 45 6.1 Introduction 45 6.2 Data Collection Methodology 45 6.3 Survey Results 46 377771 | 010 | C | 16 April 2019 Mott MacDonald | MetroGreen Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report 7 Review of Transport Modelling 50 7.1 Introduction 50 7.2 Data Sources 50 7.3 MetroGreen Initial Traffic Modelling – Baseline Reporting Note (May 2018 – Gateshead Council) 50 7.4 MetroGreen Leisure Development – Initial Model Testing note (August 2018 - Gateshead Council) 50 7.5 MetroGreen Road Network Note (November 2018 – Gateshead Council) 51 7.6 Summary 51 8 Tyne Crossing Note (January 2019) 52 8.1 Introduction 52 8.2 Document Summary 52 8.3 Overall Findings 53 9 Interrelation with Other Topic Themes 54 10 Conclusions 55 10.1 Stage 1 Considerations 55 10.2 Next Steps 57 A. Accessibility 59 A.1 Walking and Cycling Accessibility Audit 59 A.2 Pedestrian routes through the Metrocentre 59 B. MetroGreen Initial Traffic Modelling – Baseline Reporting Note (May 2018) 61 C. MetroGreen Leisure Development – Initial Model Testing Note (August 2018) 62 D. MetroGreen Road Network Note (November 2018) 63 E. Tyne Crossing Note (January 2019) 64 377771 | 010 | C | 16 April 2019 Mott MacDonald | MetroGreen 1 Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report Executive summary 1.1.1 This Stage 1 Transport and Accessibility Report includes a review of existing evidence, a review of the transport modelling undertaken by CH2M, the results of an accessibility audit undertaken to assess the walking, cycling and public transport baseline, and a summary of a car park survey. The report will be used to inform the Stage 1 Baseline Report which will assess and summarise the technical studies required for Stage 1 of the Area Action Plan. 1.1.2 The Accessibility Audit (completed March 2018) concluded that the dominance of the car and existing highway infrastructure in the study area is currently detrimental to the connectivity and accessibility of facilities to support walking and cycling. Provision for walking and cycling varies across the study area, however, there is very little infrastructure available to support north to south movement. In addition, there is currently insufficient direct connectivity by public transport to employment facilities in the surrounding areas. 1.1.3 The results of the traffic modelling undertaken for both the AAP Policy, and AAP Policy plus additional leisure development runs, highlight a number of junctions that are likely to be problematic and experience congestion and delay, with the extent of problems and the number of junctions affected increasing with the leisure run. Several junction locations are identified as experiencing major or severe increases in queues and delays. Further work including additional model runs will be required to understand the extent of the impact on the road network and these should feed into future stages of the AAP. This work will need to be informed by an understanding of the patterns of leisure and other journeys, particularly the degree to which they may be undertaken as linked trips. Potential mitigation measures will be identified and fed into future stages of the AAP preparation. 1.1.4 Modelling has also been undertaken to assess the potential impact of new bridge provision over the Tyne in the vicinity of MetroGreen. This has indicated that that a new bridge is not a requirement for the quantum of development delivered by the MetroGreen AAP and it has therefore been confirmed that bridge proposals should no longer be included in the future stages of the MetroGreen AAP. 1.1.5 Survey data from the car park surveys confirms that there are currently no capacity issues evident at the Metrocentre on typical days outside of peak shopping periods (such as Christmas). However, overall occupancy on a Saturday is high at 90% meaning visitors are probably spending time finding vacant spaces that could be spent using the facilities. This probably adds to traffic levels on the internal highway network. 1.1.6 This Stage 1 Transport and Accessibility Report has identified the following opportunities for potential consideration within future stages of the AAP: ● Reduce severance and improve permeability to overcome the dominance of the road network in the area; ● Provide continuous, dedicated pedestrian facilities throughout MetroGreen which are well designed and clearly signposted; ● Provide a transformative cycle network by maximising the opportunities presented by the presence of the National Cycle Network route 14 and highway layouts; ● Improve the integration of public transport facilities with walking and cycling routes with particular focus on the existing public transport interchange; 377771 | 010 | C | 16 April 2019 Mott MacDonald | MetroGreen 2 Area Action Plan Evidence Stage 1 - Transport and Accessibility Report ● Address the existing disconnect between the different districts of MetroGreen by maximising the Sense of Place and improving connections with the riverside and open spaces; ● Create a 24hr offer for MetroGreen in order to improve the perception of personal security and quality of the environment thus enhancing the liveability of the area; ● Improve direct connectivity by public transport to key employment facilities both in Gateshead and Newcastle; ● Any new highway infrastructure required should support access to the passenger transport interchange and include public transport measures (e.g. bus stops, bus lanes, bus gates) to ensure accessibility to key facilities is consistent across the study area; ● Opportunity to maintain existing levels of parking provision for retail within the study area while increasing the number of households who can reach the Metrocentre by public transport; ● Provision of parking for new housing should reflect the aspiration to create a sustainable community which is not reliant on private car use.