'School Streets' Trial - Friday 22nd October
18th October 2021
The following is a letter from Newcastle City Council for all Lemington Riverside Primary School parents and carers:
After discussions with Lemington Riverside Primary School, Newcastle City Council will be putting in place a School Street to help promote walking, cycling and scooting for the school journey. Our aim is also to reduce the levels of vehicles parking in and around the school, helping create a better environment for everyone.
On the day we will close a section of Sugley Street to vehicular traffic between 8am and 4pm. By doing this as a trial first, we want to learn about the impacts so it can further develop our proposals for permanent School Streets both at this location and across the city.
A School Street is a road, or section of road, that would be closed to vehicular traffic during school drop-off and pick-up times. We would do this by creating a pedestrian and cycle only zone in front of the school. This would mean that vehicles would not be permitted to enter that area during the School Street operating times unless they have been granted an exemption.
It is important to note that residents, and any businesses within the zone, as well as blue badge holders, deliveries and emergency vehicles would be granted an exemption and allowed to enter / exit. We would also be open to discussing whether exemptions may be needed for children and their parents / carers if this change to routine could cause specific anxieties or issues. If this is the case please do contact us, and the school. As part of this pilot event, people will be in place to ensure those who do legitimately need access are permitted into and out of the zone on Fri 22nd Oct 2021.
It is also important to note that a School Street does not ban driving to school. It aims to encourage parents or carers to either use sustainable transportation for the school run or, failing that, to park their vehicle further away from the school gate and walk the final section of their journey. This would leave the area immediately around the school free from traffic; making a safer and pleasant environment for everyone.
We want to make this type of initiative commonplace across the city but in order to do so, we need to learn from events like this. We are keen to understand your experiences and hear suggestions from you in order that we can refine and improve for future events or more permanent schemes both in this location and elsewhere.
If you have any questions about this proposal please contact us on 0191 278 2767 or email transport@newcastle.gov.uk. These details can also be used to provide views after the event.
We hope that you will support this initiative, which has been developed to address longstanding issues in this area. Please help us ensure its long term success by providing feedback or ideas on how to make it work as well as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter,
Graham Grant
Assistant Director (Transport)