How does a School Street work?
The streets around school entrances are closed to most vehicles and makes it easier for those who are walking and cycling. This takes place for a short time before and after school. There are:
- signs at the entrances of the roads to tell drivers of the restrictions
- Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to check if vehicles are allowed to drive in the area
Residents and certain Blue Badge holders can apply for permits. If you do not have a permit for your vehicle, you cannot drive through the scheme during the times of operation. If you drive through the scheme without a permit, you will receive a Penalty Charge Notice.
Timings
The roads are closed to most traffic at the normal start and end of the school day, usually for 30 to 60 minutes, sometimes longer in the afternoon when schools may have different finish times for each year group.
The times are clearly displayed on the signs at the entrance to the School Street.
School Streets:
- are in place during term time only, in line with our school term dates *
- do not run in the school holidays or at weekends
- still take place on individual school training and occasional days
* Orchard House School is an independent school and their term dates are different to Ealing Council's dates. This School Street will operate during term time only, according to the term dates published on the school’s website
How we made the scheme happen
Before starting the School Streets scheme, we talk to people like teachers, parents, and the school’s neighbours to hear what they think.
An independent consultant analyses all the ideas and comments.
We then follow a rule known as a Traffic Management Order, which means we have to wait 21 days for people to look at the plan of what we want to do, before the council makes the final decision.
Signage
We follow guidance set out in the Traffic Signs Manual (TSM), which supports the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 2016 - the legal framework for traffic signs.
There will be 2 signs at the entrances to the scheme, which will show that the roads are part of School Streets.
We use advance warning signs like “no right turn ahead” or “no left turn ahead” to let drivers know there is a restriction.
We try not to put up too many signs so the street does not look messy.
Other things we tried
We tried other ways to make the roads near schools safer. In 2020, we used barriers to stop cars during school time. This did not need cameras, but it was too hard for schools to manage because they did not have enough staff.
Sometimes traffic wardens can help for short times, but there are over 140 schools in the area, and they cannot be everywhere at once.
The School Streets scheme helps with problems like too many cars and tricky parking near schools. It also helps families choose better ways to get to school, like walking, biking, or scooting.
Enforcement
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will be used to check car number plates on the School Street. We do this to help everyone follow the rules, as we want as few cars as possible driving near schools when students are arriving or leaving. If no one gets fined, it means the School Street is working perfectly.
Affecting streets nearby
Residents living near to the School Street may worry about the parking and traffic caused by families from the school. But in our experience, and also in other London boroughs, school traffic slowly decreases, it doesn't just move elsewhere.
Parking for drivers will be spread out over a much wider area and should not affect residents. Schools will promote active travel choices for families, reducing overall car usage in the area.
Our monitoring data shows that, once a School Street has bedded in, it doesn’t usually cause problems for traffic or parking in the local area during the restricted hours. It may not improve the situation on streets outside the scheme, but it will not make them worse.
We may also check the surrounding streets by carrying out traffic surveys before and after a School Street has started.
Blocked driveways
If you have a dropped kerb that is registered with Ealing Council, and a vehicle is blocking access, you can request enforcement. A Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) will be sent to the location to enforce, once approval has been provided from the owner of the property.