Newcastle Central Motorway speed limit could be cut as council commits to safety review

Newcastle City Council says it will review the 70mph stretch of the A167 between the city centre and Cowgate junction, after facing calls to improve road safety across Tyneside

01:00, 11 Jul 2025

The speed limit on Newcastle's Central Motorway and other busy routes could be cut, after a plea to make the city's roads safer. Newcastle City Council[1] bosses have committed to review the 70mph stretch of the A167 between the city centre and the Cowgate junction.

Transport officials were challenged on Wednesday evening to take action to reduce danger on Tyneside's highways, after 10 people were killed on Newcastle roads in 2024. Campaigner Alistair Ford called on the local authority to introduce new 20mph restrictions in a series of built-up areas near to schools, shops, and other amenities.

Dr Ford, a member of the Green Party and the North East Public Transport Users Group, said that such measures had been proven to enhance safety elsewhere in the UK and should be used in busy locations like Fenham Hall Drive in Fenham, Chillingham Road in Heaton[2], and Shields Road in Byker.

Addressing city leaders at a full council meeting, he also called for the council to eliminate all 70mph routes within Newcastle's borders - including the Central Motorway, where the limit increases from 50mph to 70mph as vehicles head north away from the city centre before dropping back down to 30mph at the Cowgate junction less than two miles away.

Dr Ford said: "Thousands of vehicles a day accelerate from 50mph to 70mph for a distance of a mile, and then reduce to 30mph again - massively increasing noise and air pollution emissions. This impacts the people living alongside the road to save drivers a few seconds on their journey times."

He told the council that Wales' controversial switch to a default 20mph speed limit in 2023 had resulted in a 28% drop in casualties. Labour[3] councillor Juna Sathian, the council's cabinet member for transport, replied that civic centre transport chiefs could not commit to an equivalent blanket conversion of all 30mph routes to 20mph, but was "open to reviewing current limits" in locations of concern.

She added that the council was "committed to safer, healthier streets" and that a series of 20mph zones introduced in neighbourhoods around the city in 2011 had resulted in a 35% reduction in collisions and average reduced speeds of 2mph within three years.

On the call to eliminate all 70mph stretches of road, Coun Sathian added: "We will review this where we have control, particularly along the A167 corridor as part of our commitment to reduce emissions, noise pollution, and road danger. Any proposed change will also need to align with national guidance and be evidence based."

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References

1. ^ Newcastle City Council (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
2. ^ Heaton (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
3. ^ Labour (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
4. ^ sign up to receive it here (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)