New School Streets introduced in Kingston Town and Surbiton
Children and families from St John’s and Christ Church Primary Schools can now enjoy safer drop-offs and pick-ups outside the school gates.
The School Streets scheme limits motor vehicle access during drop-off and pick-up times, supporting active travel by making it safer for children to walk, cycle and scoot to school.
School Streets are now in place on Portland Road for St John’s School in Kingston and on Pine Gardens for Christ Church School in Surbiton. Restricted pedestrian and cycle only zone signage have been placed in prominent positions informing drivers they cannot enter the roads at school pick-up and drop-off time, Monday to Friday (term time only).
Residents and businesses who live and work in the School Streets zone will need to register for an exemption by completing a vehicle registration form by 22 November if they wish to be able to drive their vehicles into the zone during the restricted times.
Cllr Stephanie Archer, Kingston Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainable Transport said:
“We are delighted to have two new School Streets in the borough. St John’s has an exemplary Gold Travel plan and Christ Church has been working hard to promote sustainable travel options and its cycling training to pupils, however, both schools have experienced ongoing issues with through-traffic that is sadly out of their control.
“These new schemes will tackle this problem head on and help children walk and cycle to school more safely, and encourage parents and carers to reduce journeys by car where they can.
“We will also see a dramatic reduction in vehicle idling outside the school entrances, helping improve air quality in these areas.
“The roll-out of School Streets across the borough is just one part of our wider commitment to tackling the climate emergency, improving air quality and enabling people to use sustainable travel options.”
The trial schemes have been introduced using an Experimental Traffic Management Order, which can last upto 18 months. During this time residents are encouraged to share their views via the consultation survey at the bottom of the page. The council will carefully measure the impact of the trials on the local areas, collating local people’s feedback alongside traffic and air quality data. Kingston is one of the first London Boroughs to join ‘Breathe London’ which provides access to a network of cutting-edge air quality sensors around schools. These sensors gather a range of important data including transport modes, movement patterns and pollution levels.
At the end of the trials the Neighbourhood Committees will decide on the future of the schemes.
Alongside School Streets, the council continues to invest in cycle training, as well as its award-winning cycling infrastructure network, and is introducing more electric vehicle charging points to make it easier for those who need to drive to make the switch to electric vehicles.
For more information about Kingston’s School Streets, register for an exemption and to share your views visit Kingston Lets talk.
To find out more about the council’s sustainable transport initiatives visit kingston.gov.uk/Sustainabletransport.