Appendix 10: Cycle Route Audits

Introduction

Sustrans have worked with Newcastle City Council to audit the proposed cycle routes for Cycling City Ambition Fund 2. The Welsh Active Travel Cycle audit tool has been used to give a baseline score for the cycling conditions along each route based on five core principles of cycle route design:

Core Principle Design Indicator

  • Cohesion - connections, continuity, way finding and density of network
  • Directness – deviation of route, frequency of stops, delay at junctions and links, gradients
  • Safety – speed of traffic, traffic volumes, risk of collisions, complexity of junctions, legible road markings, kerbside conflicts, hazards
  • Comfort – surface defects and type, effective width, way finding for visitors
  • Attractiveness – lighting, isolation, pedestrian impacts, street clutter, cycle parking

Each of the 25 Design Indicators is scored according to a matrix with 0 being poor, 1 needs improving and 2 being good, giving each route a total score out of 50. Each audit has been carried out using data from various websites – traffic and cycle flows and gradients and site visits to check conditions.

The Scoring matrix for the Design Principle Cohesion – Design Indicator Connections is shown below to illustrate the scoring matrix.

Indicators / ! (Critical) / 0 (Red) / 1 (Amber) / 2 (Green) / Score
  1. Cohesion – Connections
/ Ability to join/leave route safely and easily: consider left and right turns / n/a / Cyclists cannot connect to other routes without dismounting / Cyclists can connect to other routes with minimal disruption to their journey / Cyclists have dedicated connections to other routes provided, no interruption to their journey / 1

Some Design Indicators have Critical scores e.g. 15. Safety – cycle lane less than 1.5m alongside parking.

The Target score for a good cycle route is 35 out 50 which is expressed as a percentage of 70%.

Cycle City Ambition Fund 2 – Tyne & Wear Bid Route Audits scores

Bid
Route / Audit score
Schemes / Ref / District / RouteName / Description / Length (Km) / (Max 50)
City Centre / CCAF2.1 / Newcastle / Claremont Rd to Gallowgate / Urban route in city centre / 0.93 / 20.5
City Centre / CCAF2.2 / Newcastle / Westgate Rd to St James Boulevard / Access to Central Railway station / 0.97 / 16
City Centre / CCAF2.3 / Newcastle / Central Station to Swan HouseRbout / Mosley Street urban city centre route / 0.35 / 20
Strategic route / CCAF2.5 / Newcastle / Sandy Ford Road / Urban route to city centre / 1.30 / 23
Strategic route / CCAF2.5 / Newcastle N Tyneside / A1058 Coast Road to Tynemouth pool / Off road route alongside Trunk Road / 10.44 / 23
Strategic route / CCAF2.6 / Newcastle / Town Moor to Barras Bridge / Urban route in city centre / 0.73 / 17
Strategic route / CCAF2.8 / Newcastle / Benfield Rd / Heaton Road to Benfield Road / 2.24 / 19
Strategic route / CCAF2.7 / Gateshead / High Street West / Great North Route / 0.70 / 20
Strategic route / CCAF2.9 / Gateshead / Hills Street / Route to Tyne Bridge / 0.14 / 20
Total / 17.80 / 19.83
Percentage / 39.67%
Threshold / 70%

As the table above shows most of the routes score well below the current 35 out of 50 (70%) threshold for a good cycle route. This is not surprising assome routes have had no cycling improvements along them and for others the current interventions are not to the Design Indicator standards. The highest scoring routes CCAF2.5 Coast road and Sandy ford road – 23 out of 50 - have off road shared cycle paths along lengths of them so score well on directness and safety but have poor scores at the junctions for safety and delay especially crossing slip roads.

Using this audit has given us a baseline figure which is reasonably transparent and understandable. The audit tool can be used to score proposed schemes and the implemented scheme which should result in higher scores.

In addition each route has been videoed each way to give a cycle user view of the route which can be referred to for virtual site visits and compare with the implemented scheme.