Hi, this is our week 1 blog for the project “Digital visualisations for transport scheme engagement (focus on Heaton road)”, which is being done our group Newcastle University’s Transportation Committee or NUTC, which consists of 3 of us, Kim, Sofia and Gabriela. We are from different countries and have therefore different ideas of planning and are able to have a wider range of background knowledge from many places, which we think could be an advantage for us in this project as we may be able to benefit from our different lifestyles and come up with a range of solutions that would be beneficial in many different parts of the world. The skills we bring to this project vary between organisation, planning, research, visualisation/ creativity, analysis and communication. We chose this particular project as we found it particularly interesting as we all have taken an interest in transportation and in developing a sustainable infrastructure, hoping to create a more beneficial environment for the locals.
Aims
Our project is based in the location of Heaton Road, its objectives is to create less parking spaces along the roadside in preparation for a bicycle route along the road in which would create a safer environment for pedestrians. As it is the first week of the project our aim is to get a better understanding of the clients expectations and be able to identify ourselves as fellow cyclists and understand more the routes needed to link residential areas to more public areas, such as shops or schools. We also believe we need to focus on accessibility, safety, an appealable route and an incentive for people to want to take the route.
To prepare for our client we think we should take a more questionable approach upon the first meeting, to learn more about the project from them to help us gain a greater understanding of the locals and what they would want out of it. After this we believe it would be easier to bring propositions to the client of different approaches we come up with and imagine could be a suitable plan.
Questions for the Clients
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The sort of questions we currently have are more uncertainties of their preference of formatting of our propositions.
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Any specifics that should be included within our proposition
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The current situation for cyclists and pedestrians in the area
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How connected will the bicycle lane be once incorporated into the road
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What is the main outcome of the scheme and what is the most important objective predicted
Hello team NUTC, thanks for your first weekly log. It looks like you have had a good look at your project brief and thought about your team’s purpose in relation to the project, the wider area, and the proposals for Heaton Road. In the kick-off meeting with the project partner, you’ll get additional opportunities to review your project purpose, aims, and objectives; and also respond to your questions. It’s also nice to see some positionality, by trying to understand the viewpoint of cyclists for instance. It is also great to see that you introduced some structure in the forms of headings, paragraphs, and lists. It is easy to overlook but very important to improve comprehension.
Some additional things to consider: When you say ‘our projects objective is to reduce parking space’, consider if that really is the real objective (it sounds more like a means goal to get to a different traffic situation in the area?). And why would that be useful and proposed by the council? Also in the next coming weeks try to explore the subtle differences between the council’s proposals and your project’s role in relation to the local Space for Heaton group and your project partner. Tomorrow we’ll map out the various stakeholders so this will be useful for this.
Hi team, good to see you are taking a cautious and exploratory approach to your project and waiting to see what comes out of the client meeting today. I think you pose some really good questions too and I hope you get some useful answers from them today!
Building on Sebastian’s comment, think about the role that the council plays – and I think I touched on this in the seminar – in having to please many different groups, including those who need to drive for many different reasons, and those not living in the area or in Newcastle. How will their views be incorporated into the plans? As you will learn, the cycle lane is a very controversial project locally and I would proceed with the caution that you are already taking, as I know for a fact many people (business owners, those picking up their children from school, those with mobility needs and so on) would be unhappy about losing their ability to park outside of shops. Something to keep in your mind going forward at the very least.