A vision has been unveiled showcasing how a new Tyne and Wear Metro station could be built for Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley.
“Blue sky” proposals drawn up by Miller Partnership Architects suggest opening a new Metro stop between Byker and Manors to serve the growing number of residents and businesses who call the trendy neighbourhood home.
While the concept is purely illustrative and there are no firm plans to actually build the station, the Heaton-based designers believe the idea could offer a long-term solution to congestion problems in a part of the city that has become ever more popular as it has undergone a spectacular regeneration from an old industrial hub to one of Britain’s coolest communities.
They say that Ouseburn is lacking in easily-accessible public transport links and that most pedestrian routes to areas like Heaton, Sandyford and Byker are “narrow and steep”, leaving more people to resort to using cars despite the valley having “congested narrow roads” and a shortage of parking spaces.
Architect Stephen Miller told the Local Democracy Reporting Service how he thinks a new station could be built on the viaduct that carries the Metro past Ouseburn, with passengers accessing it via stairs or a lift just off Stepney Bank.
Mr Miller, who was inspired to revive an idea that has been on his mind since the original masterplan for the Ouseburn’s transformation was being developed, added: “As architects working in the valley for a number of years, access and parking is one of the key issues that comes up again and again with any development down there.
“Anybody who is proposing a development down there comes across the same issue.”
However, bosses at Metro operator Nexus have warned that turning the vision into a reality would be a major challenge – and claimed there would only be a “limited” upside.
Customer services director Huw Lewis said: “The concept of a new Metro station on Byker Viaduct is interesting but would bring with it huge technical challenges while delivering limited new benefits for the public.
“The station itself would only be 700 metres from Manors station, while Byker station also offers access to Ouseburn from the other side of the gorge. The valley bottom is already linked to Newcastle city centre by the Q3 bus on Walker Road and there are very frequent buses crossing Byker Bridge, close to where this station is imagined.
“Building a station onto and round an existing viaduct would be a challenge in its own right, and the walking route from the station down to Ouseburn itself would be difficult and inaccessible for a lot of people.”
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Dale Bolland, of the Ouseburn Trust, expressed hope that Nexus would look further into the idea.
He said: “When the Metro was first being built, there was hardly anything happening in Ouseburn – now there is a lot happening. I hope that Nexus will at least do the sums on it.
“At the moment there are about 2,000 cars coming into Ouseburn every day and the trust’s transport group is trying to work with the council on how we can dissuade people from owning cars and to use public transport, walking, or cycling instead. At the moment, getting public transport in Ouseburn is quite tricky.”
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