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City cyclists are to get their biggest gift yet as planners dream up £1m cycle super-highway to run through the centre of Newcastle.

The junction between St Mary’s Place and John Dobson Street will be closed to cars, with traffic transferred to single lanes and a new pedestrianised area with trees proposed to run down the centre of the current road.

With a £10.5m grant in the pipeline for other cycling schemes, Newcastle City Council also hopes to create a new route between Science Central and Arthur’s Hill, a £2.5m link between Ouseburn, Heaton and Jesmond and a fully upgraded Coast Road route.

John Litherland, chair of Newcastle Cycling Stakeholders Forum and the Recyke Y’Bike in Byker, said: “Newcastle is one of eight cities awarded Cycling Ambition Funding resources from the Government and this is a very ambitious project.

“I think we are on the cusp of cycling becoming a much more mainstream way of getting around the city and the proposal for John Dobson Street is likely, if successful, to be replicated in other parts of the city so in the longer term we will have a much more complex network so people can get home to school and work.”

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The plan for John Dobson Street is the biggest project of its type ever undertaken by the authority and will cost £1.1m, which comes from an initial £5.7m award from the Cycle City Ambition Fund.

Cars will no longer be able to turn left into John Dobson Street, however buses and taxis will be able to drive on a new single carriageway road.

The other carriageway will allow cars, buses and taxis to drive in the opposite direction up to Ridley Place so that local access it possible for any shop-keepers and people who live in the area.

The council hopes that the new-look street will help create a better link between Northumberland Road and Northumberland Street, make it easier for people to cross the road, help buses stick to their timetables and keep speeds low.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

The two way cycle track will also better protect cyclists from traffic, and link up a key national cycle network route, the 725 between Blyth and Darlington.

Cabinet member for investment and development, councillor Ged Bell, said: “These major improvements are part of our ambitious plans for the city.

“We set out last year how we are committed to making Newcastle one of the safest and easiest cities to get around.

“The John Dobson Street scheme confirms the council’s commitment to put Newcastle firmly on the map as a true cycling city.”

The plans will be consulted on with residents however a final design is hoped to be completed by April, with work to start in the summer taking around a year to complete.

The work will be phased and one of the last tasks will be to close the junction between St Mary’s Place and John Dobson Street to cars.

Mr Litherland, who has been chair of the Newcastle Cycling Stakeholders Forum for around a year and who has been consulted on the council’s initial plan, said: “There’s a history of two things that happen when there’s new cycling schemes.

“The first one is general opposition from those who don’t want to see change and the second is after three or four years, there’s general acceptance.”

Local residents and businesses can look at the plans which go on display at Newcastle City Library between Monday, February 9 and Friday, February 15.

They can also be viewed on the website www.newcastle.gov.uk/jds and comment on plans at www.letstalknewcastle.co.uk .

The public will be consulted on just one model for John Dobson Street, unlike the controversial Gosforth red-route and new cycle lane scheme which asked residents to chose between two designs, or a third option to do nothing.