School expansion – An active travel opportunity?
Just a quick thing...
I have chosen not to use adverts, pop-ups, mailing lists, or mandatory subscriptions, but it means there is an ongoing cost for me in researching and writing content, and generally advocating for active travel - time spent not working! If you can throw a few pounds my way to help out, your support is gratefully received! Thank you!
Consultations are currently underway following proposals to expand two Nuneaton schools to accommodate growing demand. Those schools, like so many others, are known to suffer with motor traffic congestion at the peak times of drop-off and pick-up – a situation that will only get worse without some form of mitigation.
With this in mind, it is perhaps an opportunity to press the County Council to make some changes that can improve the walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling environment to and around these schools. Neither are well-served by active travel infrastructure – there’s a limited shared-use route through a nearby park in one direction and narrow footpaths which get very crowded at peak times – and the areas are plagued with bad driving, pavement parking and stopping on prohibited areas, idling engines, general heavy traffic. There is then the resulting poor air quality, noise pollution, risk of collisions, general stresses – none of which are good for children (or their adults) and are not conducive to positive learning.
A number of options are available which can improve the situation by making driving less attractive while making active travel an easier, safer option:
- School streets – closing roads to motor vehicles at key times;
- 20mph speed limits;
- Wider footpaths;
- Removal of obstructions on the shared-use route;
- Improve road crossings;
- Separated cycle infrastructure, particularly on main roads.
The catchment for these schools includes housing estates some distance away where people are not likely to walk. Thus without safe cycle routes, the default option will be to drive. The County Council has a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Nuneaton which includes routes which would benefit these schools. It also has a Local Transport Plan that supposedly prioritises active travel. So, whilst noting that funding is always a challenge, it should surely be a requirement of expansion that at least some improvements are forthcoming to mitigate against new motor traffic.
The consultations for the two schools run until 29 November 2024, and my own submission is now available to read for those who want a bit more detail.
Have you found this content interesting or useful? If so, and if you are able to, any contributions are greatly appreciated! Thank you! Oh, and do please share with others!
