School street in operation in Haringey
News

School Streets 2021

Ben

Haringey introduced another four School Streets in September 2021 in addition to 13 already in place and more are planned.

School Streets launched in September 2021

Haringey Cycling Campaign welcomes this move and has written to the council saying so – and suggesting some improvements.

Click here to have your say and tell the council what you think about the School Streets – they are being launched as a 6-month trial. We gather that the responses received so far have been split roughly 50/50 between those in favour and those against, so the more people respond positively, the more likely the schemes are to become permanent.

A School Street is a timed street closure during drop-off and pick-up times outside a school. Usually these last for 1-1.5 hours at the start and end of the school day, tailored to each school’s start and finish times. The School Streets will operate Monday-Friday during term times.

Only people walking and cycling, and those with vehicle exemption permits are eligible to enter the zone. Anyone else driving into the zone during the stated times will receive a fine. You do not need to have an exemption permit to exit from the School Street.

There are two ways that Haringey is operating the School Streets:

Volunteer-led School Streets

Some School Streets will be operated by volunteers who are members of the school community. They will extend a barrier across the street while the School Street is in operation and marshal the barrier to allow permitted vehicles into and out of the street.

To support the volunteers, enforcement officers sometimes help to monitor compliance.

Camera Enforced School Streets

These School Streets will not physically block access to motor vehicles, instead they will be monitored using Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR). These cameras monitor the number plates of the vehicles that drive into the street and administer fines if the vehicle is not registered for a permit. The penalty charge issued for driving into a School Street is £130, reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days.

Existing School Streets

Haringey Cycling Campaign has written the following letter to the council welcoming the new school streets and suggesting some improvements:

HCC warmly welcomes the eleven school streets schemes due to be implemented this summer. Overall they should be effective in making walking and cycling to school more attractive and reducing car use. We know many more schools are calling for these measures and look forward to seeing plans for the ‘phase 2’ schools being brought forward without delay.

We have a few queries and suggestions:

1) Do all the schools have cycle training? We think this is essential to complement the physical measures.

2) Could the scheme at Tiverton Primary be expanded to include Pulford Rd and the full length of Fladbury Rd? Closing the road to cars only in front of the school, will not be very effective.

3) The scheme drawings should note the existing cycle contra-flow at Bishopswood Rd (Highgate Junior) and Barratt Avenue (St Paul’s RC Primary).

4) Could there be cycle contra-flow permitted at Halefield Rd and Glendish Rd, for cycle access to Harris Primary Academy?

5) Will the proposed pavement widening at Everington Rd (Coldfal Primary) have a dropped kerb to maintain cycle access to the school?

6) At Highgate Primary, is the slip road to North Hill included as a school street? It is noted for markings but is not coloured green. As previously suggested, cycle contraflow should be allowed at the slip road.

7) The Nightingale Lane school street (Campsbourne Schools) is too short, leaving “school run” parking only a short distance from the schools. Could Hawthorn and North View roads become school streets, with Nightingale Lane extended to the junction with Beechwood Road? This would be possible with the same number of cameras as the existing scheme.

8) We suggest the scheme for Rokesly Primary could be improved if Rokesly Avenue could be a school street. This might increase traffic diverting to Rosebery Rd and Elder Avenue, however Rokesly Avenue and Elmfield Avenue will continue to be used by buses during school street hours, so this would seem reasonable.

We are pleased to note these schemes are being monitored for the trial period and trust any adverse impacts can be mitigated by measures put in place as needed. Many of the schemes could become part of future LTN’s.

There could be a very effective “mini LTN” at Highgate Primary, to include closing the narrow one-way section of Storey Road to motor traffic and replacing the narrow and convoluted footpath to Sheldon Avenue by a wider and well-lit direct connection, for pedestrians and cycles.

Yours sincerely,
Michael Poteliakhoff
for Haringey Cycling Campaign

cc Cllr Mike Hakata, Cllr Matt White, Neil Goldberg, Maurice Richards, Calum Jacobs, Simi Shah

Published by Ben