Children at two York schools are painting their streets with eye-catching designs during a trial of new street designs at drop off and pick up times this week, as part of our project with the City of York Council.
“The journey to school is one of the most frequent journeys most families will make. Introducing the habit of travelling sustainably and actively to younger children can benefit our local environment for generations to come." ©Frank Dwyer Photography
On 8 June Clifton Green primary school painted their street with leaves and trees, inspired by the park outside their school.
On 10 June paw prints will appear on the road outside neighbouring Badger Hill Primary School.
Colourful streets
Our street designers use the charity’s colourful street kit to widen the pavement and prevent pavement parking.
As part of the events, children planted wildflowers along the street and used temporary chalk to draw on the street and write down their thoughts about the street trial.
At Badger Hill, children took part in a scooter skills session.
If the trials are successful Sustrans will work with the school and City of York Council to implement the designs longer term.
If the trials are successful, Sustrans will work with the school and City of York Council to implement the designs longer term.
Child-led designs
Our local team worked with pupils to survey the streets around their school and to find out what they would like to change to help more of them walk or cycle their school journeys.
They highlighted problems such as the amount of traffic and difficulty crossing the road.
A safer space
Our street designers also held workshops for teachers, parents and the local community to gather their views and ideas, which helped contribute to the trial design.
They found many people were concerned about pavement parking, the volume of traffic and traffic speeds.
The new layout and features aim to tackle problems on the street and make it a safer, more pleasant place for everyone.
“This trial is a chance for the local community to find out how designs work in practice and experience what changes need to be made to help make the street feel better for everyone.”
Creative solutions
Natalie Watson, our schools officer in York said:
“Children surveyed the streets around their school and told us the problems they experienced.
"They came up with many innovative and fun ideas to make their streets feel safer and more pleasant for all ages.
"Our designers used the children’s comments and drawings to come up with creative solutions to the issues they face.
“This trial is a chance for the local community to find out how designs work in practice and experience what changes need to be made to help make the street feel better for everyone.”
Improving air quality
Peter Murray, a teacher at Clifton Green Primary School said:
“The children at Clifton Green have been thinking about how to create more user-friendly streets, particularly for the journey to and from school.
"They now have a better understanding that small changes can lead to big differences, with regards to travel behaviour.
"As a result, the impact of their work will be to encourage more people to choose active travel for their journey to school.
"In the long term, this will help reduce congestion and improve air quality in and around Clifton and York, for all residents.”
Building life-long habits
Cllr Andy D’Agorne, deputy leader of the council and executive member for transport said:
“The journey to school is one of the most frequent journeys most families will make.
"Introducing the habit of travelling sustainably and actively to younger children can benefit our local environment for generations to come.
“I am excited to see the impact of this next School Streets project and want to thank all the pupils that have contributed fun and innovative ideas to tackle local transport challenges.
“We know that to support residents to get around sustainably, feeling safe on the roads is key and I look forward to discussing the findings of these trials once they have taken place.”
Find out more about our work to transform School Streets.
