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Hampshire School Streets programme

What is a School Street?

A School Street is a timed road closure where motorised traffic is restricted at school drop-off and pick-up times. The restriction applies to both school traffic and through traffic.

The aim of a School Street is to create a safer, healthier and pleasant environment with cleaner air and less traffic congestion. Creating a car-free environment encourages families to walk, scoot and cycle to school and to leave their cars at home. 

 

Hampshire County Council School Streets Trial 2021/22

Hampshire County Council (HCC) is currently running a Department for Transport funded School Streets pilot scheme in a mix of rural and urban areas. A further three control schools were selected to assess the impact of the measures to be compared.  The pilot launched at the schools in July 2021, and the full school streets trials began in September 2021. 

The trials are being used to investigate:

  • the impact of school streets on schools and their wider communities
  • the practicalities of delivering school streets e.g. legal issues, securing volunteers, and both HCC and school staff resource requirements
  • the legal and practical considerations to deliver school streets in more complex scenarios.

The schools that were selected for the project are

  • Alverstoke Infant School (Gosport)
  • Cadland Primary School (New Forest)
  • Harrison Primary School (Fareham)

Unfortunately in December 2021, Alverstoke Infant School withdrew from the pilot due to challenges with resourcing the scheme.

The following schools were chosen as control schools for the trial scheme:

  • Elson Junior School (Gosport)
  • Foxhills Infant and Junior Schools (New Forest) and 
  • Petersfield Infant School (East Hampshire)

 

How does a School Street work?

The School Street road closures are made legal using Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETRO) applied for by Hampshire County Council. During the closure times at the start and end of the school days, the selected School Street is only open to people walking, cycling, and anyone with specific access needs and emergency services and blue badge holders.

Trained stewards and volunteers from the school and local community manage and marshal the road closures by operating temporary barriers and opening them for any exempt vehicles.  

Parents are strongly encouraged not to park on the school street and to use local Park and Stride sites.   

The road closures apply to the whole school community including teachers and support staff though it is likely teachers and support staff arrive and leave outside School Street closure times.

 

School Streets applications

Following successful School Street trials, with 2 permanent School Streets in operation, Hampshire County Council is opening applications for new School Streets. Interested schools should read the requirements and if they believe they meet the criteria, complete the application form below. Once completed, email the document to strategic.transport@hants.gov.uk.

  1. Stated Interest from the School (head and governors), enough staff to manage the trial and confirmation of the availability of funding.
  2. School already engaged in or that commits to travel planning measures including STARS accreditation to at least Bronze/Good level.
  3. County Councillor local member support.
  4. An access on a suitable road (public highway, speed limit 30mph or below, access on a minor road).
  5. Limited negative “knock-on” impact (e.g. offset parking) on schools very nearby.
  6. Infant, primary, junior or secondary school (i.e. not colleges).
  7. Hampshire maintained school (this is for insurance purposes – an application from a private school may be considered where it can be demonstrated that appropriate and fully funded insurance can be put in place).
  8. Unfortunately, we cannot normally accept applications from a Special School due to greater associated travel distances and complex needs of some pupils in relation to travel.   
  9. The proposed school street would not be the only means of access for large number of residential properties. 
  10. The school is able to fully fund the scheme – this will include the cost of developing and introducing the scheme including scheme design, recruitment and training of volunteers, maintenance and Traffic Orders.  Schools would also be required to commit to meeting decommissioning costs at the end of the trial/scheme.

Download the School Streets application form

This application is only for schools to complete. If you are a parent/guardian/local resident, who believes that a school would benefit from the introduction of a School Street then please speak to the school itself.

Feedback

Thank you to all those who took part in the survey on School Streets. The survey is now closed and the results will inform the future outcomes of the pilot. 

On 15th March 2022 a report, giving conclusions from the initial monitoring and assessment of the trial, was approved at Cabinet to continue the pilot. This meeting can be viewed under the media section of the Agenda for Cabinet. We are also happy to share the monitoring report produced by Sustrans.

The school streets trial has concluded and the two current school streets in operation are permanent measures/restrictions within the highway. On 6th February 2024 a report was presented to Cabinet to update Members on the current School Streets trials and to set out a proposed way forward for the existing trial sites and other interested schools. The report and decision record can be viewed under item 9 of the Agenda for Cabinet.

If you have any further feedback or concerns please still contact us at saferplaces@hants.gov.uk.

Frequently Asked Questions about School Streets

 

 Click on the tiles below to find out more about the Hampshire School Streets and how you can get involved.