Transport Insights

Newcastle City Council is reportedly thinking about installing a barrier to tackle toxic air pollution on a road where illegal levels of nitrogen oxide (NO2) are forecast to persist until 35 years after what should be strict legal limits became law.

The BBC reports:

Stephenson Road in Heaton, Newcastle, has high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Newcastle City Council is exploring whether a barrier, or rerouting the pavement itself, could reduce the amount of pollution pedestrians are exposed to.

According to the BBC:

Annual average NO2 levels estimated by a monitor on Stephenson Road, on the entrance to Jesmond Park West, are 1.6 times higher than average UK permitted maximum levels and 6.45 times higher than the World Health Organization’s advised amounts.

This is not a small exceedance and the BBC reported last year that “difficulties tackling the problem means the city is not forecast to meet targets until as late as 2045 -13 years behind the rest of England”.

These targets are in fact legally binding limits introduced by the Air Quality Directive in 2010 and the BBC correctly points out that NO2 can exacerbate asthma and impede lung development, as well as increase the risk of lung cancer.

Northumbria University air pollution expert Prof Anil Namdeo told the BBC that a well-designed barrier could protect cyclists and pedestrians using the footpath on that part of the road but would not have an effect on those using the road itself, such as drivers and cyclists, as it would not change NO2 concentrations in the road. He said:

Reducing diesel traffic on that corridor is the only way to genuinely fix the air quality there.

The BBC noted last year that Newcastle introduced a Clean Air Zone in January 2023 but that it does not include Stephenson Road.