Ealing Council’s School Streets programme is celebrating a big milestone this month. Its 50th school has joined the scheme so even more children can have a safer and healthier journey to school.

Twyford High School in Acton is one of the latest School Streets in the borough. This means traffic is now restricted at drop off and pick up times outside the school gates to help cut congestion at the gates, support healthier travel habits and reduce carbon emissions.

‘calmer and safer’

Phil Bennett, associate headteacher at Twyford High School, said: “Seeing the street today with no cars driving down it as the students were arriving was a lovely experience. They had big smiles on their faces knowing we’d done something like that for them.

“It is so important for students to have a calmer, safer, and more pleasant arrival to school. It also helps us to encourage more children to cycle, make healthy choices, and increases road safety awareness.”

A positive impact

More than 27,000 children and families across the borough are now benefitting from safer and calmer routes to school, reduced air pollution, and less congestion.

Since the borough’s first school street was introduced in 2020:

• school-related driving has reduced by up to 18%
• walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling to school has increased by up to 29%

Sobha Sandhu is part of the student leadership group at Twyford High School that was involved in the school street engagement process. He added: “Today was the first day of school streets, and it made a massive difference. The parked cars used to make the road feel narrow, so it was always a battle to cycle with all the parked and moving cars.

“It feels much safer, more pleasant and even quicker to get to school. I also want to raise awareness of the importance of wearing hi-visibility clothing while cycling to and from school, for further road safety.”

Transport for London Travel for Life ambassadors from years 7, 8 and 9, also expressed how pleased they were with their new school street, saying they felt safer and more encouraged to walk or cycle to school.

Councillor Paul Driscoll, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “Reaching 50 schools with a school street is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the hard work of schools and local communities.

“It is an important milestone in the council’s ambition to support active travel for children and young people, and create calmer, safer streets for all. This initiative will make a real difference to children and young people’s health and wellbeing.”

The council will continue to work with even more schools on road safety and active travel initiatives, whilst continuing to support those already in place.