Changes

A timed closure was agreed and tried from 7 September. Grace, Ruth and Tomasz have reported what they saw.

• Reworded

  Narrowed to set times, with deliveries, residents and blue badge holders exempt. With that change, everyone accepted it.

  BeforeClose Willow Lane to cars at school times.

  Current wordingWillow Lane closes to through traffic from 8:20 to 9:00 and from 2:50 to 3:30 on school days, with deliveries, residents and blue badge holders exempt.

  Willow Lane closes to through traffic at school times, with deliveries exempt.
• Added

  What the closure, with somewhere else to park, should lead to.

  Families who drive can park at the leisure centre and walk the last five minutes.Far fewer cars stop outside the gate at school times.Children cross where drivers can see them.More children walk, scoot or cycle to school.and 3 connections
• Added

  Ruth's concern that traffic moves onto Mill Lane.

  Some traffic moves onto Mill Lane while Willow Lane is closed.and 1 connection
• Added

  What has to happen first, and who does it.

  Willow Lane closes at school times from the first day of the autumn term.An experimental traffic order allows a six-month trial.A rota of trained volunteer marshals covers every school day.Residents have permits and know how the exemption works.The leisure centre sets aside forty morning spaces for parents.The street cannot close without a council traffic order.Someone has to put the barriers out and take them in twice a day.People who live on Willow Lane worry they will be shut in at school times.The leisure centre has not agreed to let parents park in the mornings.Dev drafts the experimental traffic order, with permits for residents, and opens the consultation.Grace writes to every family explaining the closure and the park-and-stride spot.Amara recruits marshals at the PTA meeting and sets up the rota.Dev counts traffic on Mill Lane for a week before the trial and a week into it.The traffic order and residents' permits are in place before the first day.Every family knows how the closure works before it starts.Two trained marshals are on duty every school day.We can see whether traffic moved onto Mill Lane.and 13 connections
• Added

  New proposals from Tomasz and Ruth, not yet accepted.

  Tomasz opens a walk-up hatch selling coffee to parents on foot.Parents on foot stop at the bakery on their way home.The bakery keeps its morning trade.The pavement outside the bakery is too narrow for two buggies to pass.Children can cross Mill Road with a crossing patrol at both school times.and 4 connections
• Disputed

  Amara challenged the assumption that most morning customers arrive by car.

  and 1 connection
• Reports

  First reports from the trial.

  GraceRuthTomasz

Tomasz, who runs the bakery, joined. The shops became one of the goal's conditions, and closing the street was set against keeping it open.

• Added

  Tomasz added the shops to what the goal depends on.

  The shops on Willow Lane keep the customers they rely on.and 1 connection
• Added

  What the jam does to the bakery, and Tomasz's view that most cars are passing through.

  Morning customers give up on Tomasz's bakery when the street is jammed.Most cars at 8:30 are driving through, not dropping children off.and 2 connections
• Disputed

  Dev challenged it with the council's June traffic count.

  Most cars at 8:30 are driving through, not dropping children off.
• Added

  Closing Willow Lane at school times, set against keeping it open.

  Willow Lane works for the children walking to school and for the shops.Children are safe at the gate at drop-off and pick-up.Close Willow Lane to cars at school times.The bakery and the other shops keep their morning trade.Keep Willow Lane open to cars all day.and 5 connections
• Added

  Proposed as a straight closure at school times.

  Willow Lane closes to through traffic at school times, with deliveries exempt.

The goal, three conditions it depends on, and what happens at the school gate in the mornings.

• Added

  The goal and three conditions for it.

  Every child at Willow Lane Primary can walk, scoot or cycle to school safely.Traffic outside the school gate is slow and light at drop-off and pick-up.The routes children use feel safe enough that parents let them walk.Families who live too far to walk can still finish the journey on foot.and 3 connections
• Added

  What happens at the gate, and why.

  Cars queue and double-park outside the gate at drop-off.Children step out between parked cars where drivers cannot see them.Fewer children walk to school than five years ago.Many parents drop their children off by car on the way to work.There is nowhere near the gate for drivers to stop briefly.Parents feel the walk is unsafe, so more of them drive.and 4 connections