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24
Jul 2023
Trial scheme will ban school run cars from Harrogate street
A road outside a busy junior school in Harrogate will be closed to traffic at peak times from September.
Beechwood Grove is set to be part of a School Streets pilot project, preventing parents from using it to access Oatlands Junior School at the beginning and end of the school day.
The measures will see school traffic banned from the road between 8.30am and 9am, and from 3pm to 3.45pm, on weekdays during term time.
Residents, school staff, blue badge holders, official school transport and emergency services will be exempt from the closure.
Meanwhile, parents are being encouraged to bring their children to school on foot, or by bicycle or scooter. Those who need to drive are asked to use the 'park and stride' scheme, parking at Hornbeam Park railway station, M&S Simply Food on Leeds Road, or St Mark's Church, and walking the rest of the way.
North Yorkshire Council said it is proceeding with the experimental traffic regulation order for a period of up to 18 months after receiving an "overall positive response" to an informal consultation it ran in May and June.
In a letter to parents, senior traffic management officer Andrew Clare said the proposal would be formally advertised now, before coming into effect on Wednesday, September 6 – the first day of the new term at Oatlands, which has capacity for 360 pupils.
He added:
Earlier this year, a pupil at Oatlands Junior School was injured when a car mounted a pavement outside the school gates.
A more serious collision on Yew Tree Lane in February left two 15-year-old Rossett schoolboys with serious injuries requiring extensive hospital treatment.
As a result, a campaign to introduce 20mph limits and other restrictions on roads around Oatlands, Pannal Ash and Rossett gathered momentum.
A road safety meeting between headteachers, councillors and campaigners
Headteachers of all the local primary and secondary schools met several times, along with councillors, highways officers and parents, to discuss road safety.
A petition of more than 1,000 signatures was presented to North Yorkshire Council and the proposal was debated by both the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, and the council's executive.
Cllr Keane Duncan, who is responsible for highways across the county, has said a review is now being completed to decide what measures are needed to make journeys to school safer.
Hazel Peacock, one of the parents behind the campaign, said news of the School Streets scheme on Beechwood Grove was welcome. She added:
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