St Mary’s CE Primary School in Southampton has partnered with My Journey, Southampton City Council’s sustainable travel brand, Sustrans and Balfour Beatty Living Places to implement a trial, part-time road closure outside the school at drop-off and pick-up times.
The school is keen to address traffic safety issues at peak times and improve air quality around the school. The part-time closure of Golden Grove, which came into effect on Monday 24th February, sees a section of the road closed to motorised vehicles to provide a safer environment for families on the journey into school.
St Mary’s is committed to Living Streets’ Travel Tracker Scheme and has recorded over 20,458 active travel journeys to school since September 2019. In December 2019, the school achieved its Modeshift Stars Bronze Award by participating in a wide range of activities and initiatives including the Scooter Challenge and Walktober, annual campaigns led by My Journey to encourage greater levels of scooting and walking on the school run. The school has also carried out air quality monitoring, participated in Sustrans’ Big Pedal and attended a Theatre in Education Road Safety Show.
Councillor Jacqui Rayment, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport and Public Realm, says: “The part-time closure of Golden Grove outside St Mary’s CE Primary School will provide a safer environment for children at the school entrance and a more pleasant local environment for residents, pupils, parents and school staff alike. We hope the closure will give more families the confidence to discover the benefits of walking, scooting or cycling to school. This in turn will help to reduce congestion and air pollution, supporting our Green City vision for a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable city.”
