Safe Routes to New Hillhead Primary School

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Background

The new School in the Park will open in August 2011.

The main entrance to the school- the “Civic” entrance- was designed to be from Gibson Street/ Westbank Quadrant, where the old car park used to be.

But the Council have decided to close that entrance to pupils and parents, because of concerns about traffic volume in that area. All school pupils and children using the nursery must therefore use the entrance on Kelvin Way.

There will be no drop-off point on Kelvin Way, and designated parking bays will no longer be provided.

What’s the problem?

The four-school Parent Council does not think that the proposed routes are safe, because of these concerns:

1. all the walking routes to the school converge on the Gibson Street/University Avenue junction. 600 children, plus parents and siblings and prams and bikes will need to cross that busy junction. If the “civic” entrance access had been retained, about half of that pedestrian traffic could have entered from Gibson Street, rather than having to walk round into Kelvin Way. Not safe.

2. seven lanes of traffic converge at this point, and the pavements are little over a metre wide. This area is already busy every morning with students, high school pupils and university staff. There just isn’t space for everyone. Not safe.

3. so-called “safe” routes proposed for children coming from ….. require them to walk through unlit areas of the park. Not safe.

4.no designated drop-off area or parking means that parents dropping off their children by car will have to compete for parking spaces along Kelvin Way (and much further afield).

5. we still don’t know what support for safe crossings will be provided- eg lollipop men/women, signage, speed bumps etc.

What do we propose?

We don’t think the Council have considered their proposals from a child safety perspective. Four things could be done to improve the plans:

1. reduce the numbers of people having to negotiate the dangerous University Avenue/ GIbson Street corner by allowing pedestrians to use the Gibson Street/Westbank Quadrant entrance, either

a. WITH car drop-off:

maintain the current two-way vehicular access using the “hammerhead” space from Gibson Street, opposite Otago Street. We agree with residents of Westbank Quadrant that cars shouldn’t access from their street.

b. WITHOUT car drop-off:

if option (a) creates too much congestion, create and police a “car-free zone” in front of the school civic entrance

2. use the slip road into the park from Kelvin Way to provide a safe drop-off and collection point for cars and pedestrians. This access could be barrier-controlled by the school at the start and end of the day. The Council insist that park space should not be used in this way, but we think that the access enjoyed by builders and the Parks Department should be continued for our children- as happens in Queens Park just now.

3. provide short-timed, designated street parking bays for school users

4. provide lighting for access routes that use the park