What is a Safer Routes to School Scheme?
A safer routes to school scheme (SRTS) provides engineering improvements to help improve safety, accessibility and encourage more children to walk or cycle to school resulting in less traffic and congestion and improved air quality in and around the school area.
What does a Safer Routes to School include?
Where possible the improvements will include a 20mph zone with traffic calming or other speed reduction measures as required, safer crossing points, new or extended lengths of footway, cycle facilities and enhanced signing, lining and lighting in the area.
However, highway changes alone are not enough to make a safer route to school scheme successful. The involvement of the school community is vital if we are to see a real shift towards walking and cycling.
Other initiatives that might be considered are:-
- School Travel Plan and action group
- On school site cycle storage facilities
- Pedestrian maintenance sessions
- Crossing Patrols
- Walking buses or cycle trains
- Classroom activities
Will all schools have a Safer Routes to School?
The County Council is committed to the introduction of a 20mph zone in the vicinity of all schools within the County. All schools in the County will eventually receive a SRTS scheme. However due to budget constraints it could take a number of years to complete the programme of works. In order to identify the schools in order of priority, a ranking list is produced and reviewed each year. The list is developed using accident statistics (within a 500m radius of the school) and various aspects of the indices of deprivation. Deprivation is used as evidence has identified that children from a more deprived area are 5 times more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident than those from more less deprived areas.
What consultation is carried out?
Consultation is carried out on a local basis for each scheme. The schools are involved early in the planning stage and if the school has produced a School Travel Plan then this is an important tool when initially designing the scheme.
Local Councillors are then consulted on the principles of schemes in their ward before wider local consultation takes place.
Further consultation is then carried out with the Emergency Services, Local District and Borough Councillors, children and parents of the school and the wider local community.
Formal consultation then follows where appropriate.
For further information regarding safer routes to school please contact us by using the contact details provided.