(18 Apr 2022, 1:18 pm)Adrian wrote There's even less future proofing in towns and cities, as I guess nobody foreseen the rise in popularity of the private car and ease of ownership. You've got severely limited options in town and city centre to expand highways, especially somewhere like Newcastle, which has already seen more than enough demolition for roads. 

I get the argument that the traditional route is usually shorter for most road users, but those in a private vehicle have the option to take alternative routes. Public transport generally can't, and wouldn't serve people if it did.

I'm sure they knew exactly what would happen when the biggest shopping centre in Europe was being built and the numbers of people it would attract though. Ditto with the Garden Festival in 1990 and the supposed investment that was going to bring.
Coupled with the planning for places like Retail World and the growth, improvements and development of links to the airport (metro and A696) in the same time frame. 

To not factor that in, but plan for another bypass of the bypass a few years later (will see if I can find a link for that) maybe shows how limited the plans were.

Edit:

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/b...0.1248441/

Just found this in skyscraper city.

Double edit: reference to the bypass for the western bypass in here https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie...php?t=1856&start=40 West via Dunston and out via Whickham.