Here are the 13 schools in Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush and Fulham getting a car-free ‘school street’
As back-to-class youngsters are waved off again at the school gates, 13 streets will soon have new rules for drop-off and pick-up time. But which ones?
School Streets began operating this month outside many schools in Hammersmith & Fulham, to improve air quality, reduce congestion and make the area safer for pupils.
The aim, according to Cllr Wesley Harcourt, the town hall councillor in charge of environment policy, is “to make it safer for schoolchildren to navigate the borough by bike or on foot”.
The changes are in answer to pleas from local communities to restrict motor traffic at the start and finish of the school day, and improve the quality of the air we breathe.
Basically, School Streets are temporary pedestrian and cycle streets, backed by the council.
The aim is to improve health as well as safety, making walking to school a viable option.
During term time, access to streets outside 13 borough schools will be restricted by cameras and bollards.
The 13 schools are:
Hammersmith W6:
-Brackenbury Primary
-Earls Court Free School
-Ecole Francaise de Londres Jacques Prevert
-Melcome Primary
-St Paul’s Primary
-St Peter’s Primary
-West London Free School
Shepherds Bush W12:
-Miles Coverdale Primary
-St Stephen’s Primary
-Wendell Park Primary
Fulham SW6:
Holy Cross Primary
Queen’s Manor School and Special Needs Unit
St John Lillie Primary
Back to school safely
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed back-to-school safety up the agenda, and follows H&F Council moves to reassign road space to pedestrians and cyclists with wider pavements for social distancing, and new cycle lanes.
Segregated cycle lanes now operate around the Hammersmith Gyratory System, on Uxbridge Road, alongside Shepherds Bush Green and along King Street, Hammersmith.
But the School Street programme, introduced at the start of September to coincide with the return to classes, feeds into initiatives by individual schools to make journeys safer and more sustainable by encouraging bikes, scooters… and legs!
To support a growth in cycling, the council is also stepping up cycle training sessions for children and adults, including an online four-module cycle skills course run by Transport for London. If you finish it, you’re rewarded with a 24-hour access code to all Santander Cycles, with all half-hour journeys included.
If you live in Hammersmith & Fulham, or Kensington & Chelsea, and you need to get that bike in the shed roadworthy again, book a free bike-fixing space (stands and tools provided).
Group cycle training is also available in schools for Year 5 and 6 pupils, and secondary school students, while adult cycle training can also be booked.
