Newcastle's Grey Street revamp plan gets £2.5m boost

Civic centre bosses say they are talking to Grey Street businesses before finalising their plans

Plans to make major changes to one of Newcastle's main streets permanent have been backed with £2.5m from the government.

Most parking bays were removed from Grey Street last summer and traffic restricted to southbound only to create space for social distancing.

A further overhaul of the Georgian street is planned by the city council.

An initial design includes wider pavements, a new cycle lane and "pocket parks".

Plants would replace bollards put in place last year when changes were introduced amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The newly announced money, from the government's Active Travel Fund, would go towards the expected £4m total cost of making the alterations permanent.

'No longer a car park'

The proposed changes were intended to make the street a "cleaner, healthier and more people-friendly place", a council spokesperson said.

"As part of the engagement with local businesses we have been looking at what their needs are and what measures would best suit the range of different requirements.

"We are also monitoring the temporary measures that are currently in place to understand how they are working and how they may need to be altered."

The removal of many vehicles from Grey Street won praise from several businesses last year, including the Theatre Royal, whose chief executive said the area "no longer looks like a car park".

Newcastle City Council has been awarded a further £1.3m to put towards changes around the Royal Victoria Infirmary, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It comes after a new cycle lane was installed on Queen Victoria Road last year as another temporary social distancing measure.