Parents call for safer streets around Bristol schools

Narrow Bristol streets and school drop-offs and pick-ups do not mix, especially with more space now needed to  maintain social distancing.

That is why many parents across the city are calling on the city council to accelerate its School Streets programme to create safer streets for children and families during the pandemic and beyond.

School Streets aims to transform roads outside schools so that only people on foot and bike can use them at school drop-off and pick-up times.

At set times every day, the streets around schools are only allowed to be used by vehicles owned by residents and blue badge holders, creating a safe space around school entrances.

In Bristol, two pilot School Streets schemes have been taking place at St Peter’s in Bishopsworth and Wansdyke Primary in Whitchurch.

Campaign group Bristol Parents for School Streets are now looking to work with the city council to help them accelerate their plans and implement more School Streets across the city.

School Streets aims to transform roads outside schools so only people on foot and bike can use them – photo: Zoe Trinder-Widdess

One of the people behind the original School Streets Bristol campaign, Samuel Jeddere-Fisher, said that when the city council committed to the pilots of two School Streets, it “was a real achievement for the group and we decided to take a step back from our work”.

He said: “We know the council has a shortlist of future plans and having seen parents around the city requesting interventions at their local school we felt that this was a good time to seek their input and re-establish a line of communication with the council and work with them to support their plans.”

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Easton parent Zoe Trinder-Widdess added: “Many parents at Whitehall were already aware of the traffic issues around the school, but this has been brought into sharp relief by the pandemic.

“With children and parents in socially distanced queues on the pavements, road space is increasingly important for children arriving by foot or bike, and things like pavement parking make the problem worse.

“When the school wrote to parents asking them not to drive down the cul-de-sac leading to the school gates, I felt that a School Street for Whitehall was the obvious solution.

“I was overwhelmed by the response from the school, parents, grandparents and concerned local residents when I floated the idea.”

Zoe Trinder-Widdess and her daughter Greta – photo: Zoe Trinder Widdess

Bristol City Council cabinet member for transport, Kye Dudd, said: “Last year we were excited to introduce our first two school streets to Bristol, welcoming the idea of safer, healthier and more pleasant journeys to school for children and their families.

“Unfortunately, Covid-19 and school closures has meant that our plans to expand the scheme across the city have been delayed.

“We are aware of the growing interest in school streets in Bristol and across the country, and are on track to increase this offer to more schools over the coming years, with two new school streets expected to launch this March and April.

“As part of wider plans to encourage walking and cycling, we have been making changes to roads across the city following a rise in people choosing to walk and cycle during the pandemic, including pavement widening, pedestrianisation and temporary cycle lanes.

“Areas where a school streets scheme may not be the best suited option can still seek out a range of other options via the council to support schools in encouraging safer, healthier, more active travel; including park and stride zones, road safety training and bike security.”

Bristol Parents for School Streets volunteers hope that by creating a central support group and reigniting conversation on this matter, it will give parents the confidence to discuss School Streets with fellow parents and the schools themselves in order to accelerate the roll out of the programme in 2021.

An online Bristol Parents for School Streets meeting will take place on January 20 in order to bring parents together to discuss the issue and share ideas.

Main photo: Zoe Trinder-Widdess

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