Street closures are being introduced outside a number of schools in North Tyneside to help keep children safer and healthier.
Langley First School and Hadrian Park Primary School will begin closing the roads outside their gates after half term (w/c 22 February).
Denbigh Community Primary School and Wellfield Middle School will follow as soon as schools are able to fully reopen as current national restrictions are eased.
The School Streets schemes involve the closure of streets outside school gates to motor vehicles during drop-off and pick-up times each day.
The closures will be in place for 18 months initially – but could be made permanent if appropriate - and cones will be put out and signage displayed to show restricted areas, which will be marshalled by school representatives, as well as the times they are in place.
Residents of the street and certain other vehicles will be allowed entry.
These are the first School Streets in North Tyneside and follow a successful one-day trial at Monkseaton Middle School in 2019.
The scheme, which will be delivered for the local authority by its partner Capita, will have a number of benefits and it is hoped it will encourage more parents and children to take up active, sustainable forms of travel to school.
Cllr Carl Johnson, North Tyneside Council’s cabinet member for Environment and Transport, said: “I am delighted that we’re introducing the School Streets scheme to four schools in the borough.
“There are many benefits such as making it a safer environment for children travelling to and from school outside the school gates where we know there can be issues with vehicles driving up and down and stopping.
“It’s also a great way to encourage active travel by increasing the amount of exercise children are getting during the day.
“The scheme also supports our commitment to improving air quality in the borough, following our declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019, and will help facilitate social-distancing alongside some of the measures schools currently have in place like staggered drop-off and pick-up times.
“We know this may cause some inconvenience but we would like to thank everyone for helping keep our children healthier and safer and we are grateful to the schools involved who are all very supportive of the project.”
Cllr Sarah Day, North Tyneside’s Cycling Champion, added: “This is really good news and a fantastic opportunity to get more young people out on bikes, on foot, on scooters, or any other form of active travel.
“There are so many positive benefits from the scheme and I look forward to seeing lots of happy, smiling faces out and about enjoying the fresh air on their way to and from school.”
Chloe Fletcher, Year 3 Teacher at Hadrian Park Primary School, said: “We are really excited to be included in the School Street scheme. The traffic restrictions that will be applied outside of our school will make active travel easier and safer for all of our pupils.
“As a school we are currently developing cycling across the curriculum and have a vision that all children are able to cycle safely by the time they leave primary school. The school street will make cycling to school a viable option for our children and have numerous health and well-being benefits. We would like to thank those involved in making this happen for helping to keep our pupils safe and healthy.”
Tim Jones, Head Teacher, Langley First School, said: “We are really excited to be part of the School Streets project. Through this scheme we hope to make our children’s journey to and from school even safer and hopefully may even encourage more of our community to walk, cycle or even scoot to school. Anything that helps keep our children safe and promotes a healthier lifestyle can only be a good thing! I would also like to thank our local community for supporting School Streets and the Go Smarter team for bringing the planning to life!”
The schemes will be monitored throughout the duration of the trial. In order for them to be a success more parents are being encouraged to travel actively on the school run by walking, cycling or scooting. Where this is not possible parents are asked to consider a ‘park and stride’ from a five, or ten-minute distance rather than parking in a neighbouring street and increasing the current levels of danger to children.
Further details about the scheme can be found here or by contacting the Go Smarter team at gosmarter@northtyneside.gov.uk
