A road in east Reading will be closed twice-daily to motor vehicles outside three schools.
Reading’s fourth School Street will see Crescent Road closed to through traffic during school drop-off and pick-up times outside Maiden Erlegh, Alfred Sutton, and UTC Reading.
The School Street was approved last night by Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) Strategic Environment, Planning, and Transport (SEPT) committee.
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Three School Streets have already gone live: at Park Lane Primary (Junior School), Wilson Primary School and Thameside Primary School.
Councillor Tony Page, lead member for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, said this is “probably the most radical one and involves a busy road”.
And fellow Labour Cllr Chris Maskell said the scheme “protects the whole school community” and “makes things nicer” in the area.
The School Street will close the road to most motor vehicles from 8.15am to 9am in the morning and 2.45pm to 3.30pm in the afternoon, from Monday-Friday during term time only.
It will initially be a six-month trial, which could be extended to up to 18 months.
If there are no objections after the trial period, the School Street will become permanent.
Councillor Paul Gittings, chair of the SEPT committee, said the new school street in Wilson Road has already made a big difference in terms of road safety and “the feel of it”.
He believes the Crescent Road School Street will be a success too and similar schemes would help most schools.
One councillor did raise concerns about another School Street.
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Lib Dem Cllr Ricky Duveen said the School Street at Park Lane Primary in Tilehurst is running “very smoothly” but one resident had told him there are even more residents now parking outside his nearby house on a private road.
He said there is no authority to stop cars going down the private road and parents “laugh” at the school street traffic marshal and carry on parking on the private road.
But Cllr said says owners of a private road can close it off when they like and the onus is on them.
And fellow Labour Cllr Rachel Eden said a very small minority of people “are going to be inconsiderate and not consider the wellbeing of others are probably going to do that regardless of whether there is a School Street”.
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