Play and School Street programme

The issue  

The way our established neighbourhoods are built around busy roads means some children are not close to an outside play space and are on roads that have high numbers of vehicles driving on them, resulting in poor air quality.  

Streets outside schools can also have high traffic levels and poor air quality. 

We have gathered data from the first School Street in Reading: 

• 32% more children walked to and from school 
• Car travel to and from school decreased more than 50% 
• Cyclists using Downing Road increased 25% 
• Roads around the trial did not have significant issues with displace parking 

The scheme  

Enhancements to walking and cycling in this scheme include:  

• Support local communities to organise Play Streets – which closes a street from traffic for up to 3 hours and allows children to play in their street safely 
• Support schools to organise School Streets – which closes the road to the school is on to traffic for up to 45 minutes twice a day to allow children to walk, cycle or scoot to school safely 

The outcome  

• Increased activity by children as they can walk or cycle to school, or play in the street – this helps the children’s mental and physical wellbeing 
• Helps to re-establish the street as a shared space 
• Temporary measures may lead parents/carers to consider walking or cycling permanently 
• Better traffic and parking levels for residents and businesses