A ban on traffic at drop off and pick up times at a primary school has been welcomed by parents. Whitehall Primary has joined six other schools in the School Street Scheme.
The UK-wide scheme, which began in Scotland in 2015, aims to encourage more children to walk to school, reduce air pollution and increase safety. One parent, who always walks to school from St George, said she already feels safer.
Abby Hechavarian, who walks into school from St George, was initially concerned that the closure would cause congestion on neighbouring streets but said after the first week, Westminster Road is not as busy as she expected. She added: “So far it doesn’t seem as busy as I thought it would be.
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“From what I’ve noticed you do see a lot of cars parked on yellow lines, on corners where they shouldn’t. That’s all been stopped now. It’s much quieter and safer directly around the school.”
Another said she has found the scheme inconvenient for driving and will probably start walking into school as a result.
Local ward councillor, Barry Parsons who worked with parents to help the scheme get implemented, said that is was “great to see” the work that parents have done “over the years to promote active travel” come to fruition. On fears of traffic being pushed to neighbouring streets, he said there was no evidence.
Cllr Parsons said: “I do think very often this idea of traffic displacement can be overblown and a bit of a myth. Very often people say without evidence that this is going to cause traffic to go somewhere else with big problems elsewhere but very often it doesn’t materialise because actually over time people switch how they travel.
“The team are going to be monitoring the effects on the traffic and we’ll see over the next few months what actually transpires. The school street in Redfield Educate together that’s been running for a year now and I’ve only heard positive things about that.”
The school crossing patrol Gillian Beard, who is also there to ensure the safety of children attending The Limes Nursery, is now positioned at Westminster Road, where through traffic remains. Woodcroft Avenue, which is part of the scheme and connects to Westminster Road, is now one-way.
Gillian said that the road is a lot busier than Johnson Lane zebra crossing where she was previously stationed: "There's no crossing to help with cars to let them know where we are, it's more exhausting, there's more fumes." She said that after 10 years of doing the job she can feel the difference in her throat during the summer holidays.
Tom Burton, who took over from Sarah Allen as the headteacher this September, is outside the gates everyday in a School Streets hi-vis, alongside other staff. Bristol City Council staff are on hand to remind drivers of the road closures.
Mr Burton said, “The vast majority of parents so far have said that it’s a good project and it’s much-needed and are really happy that we’ve got it in place. It seems to make the area outside of school much calmer and it’s also better for the environment not to have the fumes of vehicles passing.”
Whitehall Primary school joins Wansdyke Primary in Hartcliffe and St Peter's C of E Primary in Bishopsworth , which were the first to launch it, and also Victoria Park Primary in Bedminster , Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy and Chester Park Juniors in Speedwell. Minerva Primary Academy in Hillfields joined the scheme in September.
In 2018, 37 per cent of children in Britain killed by road traffic accidents, died during the hours of the school run according to the the Department for Transport (DfT). A report from Admiral shows that road collisions during school run hours fell by 43 per cent during the holidays.
The streets surrounding Whitehall Primary are now closed to traffic between 8.30am and 9.15am in the mornings and between 3.10pm and 3.15pm in the afternoons on school days. Blue badge holders are exempt from the scheme which sees the closure of Woodcroft Avenue and sections of Johnsons Lane and Johnsons Road.
The existing one-way on Johnsons Lane has been extended to Oakleigh Avenue and a new permanent one-way is now in place on Woodcroft Avenue going southbound. Cyclists are exempt from the one-way and residents and carers of residents can apply for an access permit during hours of road closures.
For more information and to find out how to apply for your school to be part of the School streets Scheme visit the website or see Travelwest.
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