Active Travel Initiative - School Streets

As part of the Government’s Active Travel Fund (ATF) initiative, the County Council has developed a School Street trial to promote Active Travel.

The School Street will provide a safer and more attractive environment to the roads outside Arundel Primary School (Arundel), Swiss Gardens Primary School (Shoreham), and Thomas A Becket Junior School (Worthing). We anticipate this will encourage an active form of travel to and from the school gates, ultimately mitigating congestion and improving air quality.

Feedback from the school and surrounding community is a vital part of our ongoing monitoring and evaluation at every stage of the trial. Please use our survey (opens in new window) to provide your feedback.

We have a survey open for all to give us feedback. This ongoing engagement is open until 11:59pm on 31 May 2024.

Background

The School Street Trial Schemes prohibit motor vehicles entering the road directly at the school gates at drop-off and pick-up times, with exceptions for residents’ vehicles, businesses, Blue Badge holders, emergency services and certain others.

The County Council has worked with the school and community to ensure the trials meets the needs of the local community.

This trial is investigating:

• the impact of a School Street on the schools, residents, businesses and wider communities
• to determine if a School Street has a positive impact on sustainable travel modes such as walking, wheeling or cycling
• the suitability of individual sites (i.e. location of school, surrounding environment and impact on local infrastructure)
• the feasibility of delivering a School Street (i.e. displacement of traffic, resources required and adequate monitoring periods)
• the perception of safety outside the school gates and if the implemented School Street has improved this

The County Council, in partnership with Sustrans (opens in new window), delivered various in-school activities which provided children with necessary skills and knowledge. Alongside this, schools have been undertaking some reporting and monitoring as well as surveys to help provide important data for the trial.

The decision (opens in new window) to use an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order which runs for a minimum of 6 months from September 2023 to March 2024, was awarded 27/07/2023. See FAQs for more detail on the ETRO.

If the scheme is extended beyond the trial then future School Streets will be based on level of interest and engagement from the School, alongside data, evidence and a suitability report. Each site will be judged on its own merit. Schools can use the register at the bottom of this page to record their interest in participating in this project.

School Streets Launching in September

The first three new schemes to encourage pupils and their families to make active and sustainable travel choices for the school run have been given the go ahead.

Initially, West Sussex County Council, supported by transport charity Sustrans, is working in partnership with three schools to introduce the experimental schemes at:

Arundel CE Primary School, Jarvis Road, Arundel

With motor vehicles prohibited between 8am to 9am and 3pm to 4pm – Link to Arundel CE Primary School Resident Letter

Thomas A Becket Junior School, Glebeside Avenue, Worthing

With motor vehicles prohibited between 8am to 9am and 2.30pm to 3.30pm – Link to Thomas A Becket Junior School Resident Letter

Swiss Gardens Primary School, Swiss Gardens, Shoreham

With motor vehicles prohibited between 8am to 9am and 2.30pm to 3.30pm. NB: buses are among permitted vehicles in this instance – Link to Swiss Gardens Primary School Resident Letter

Ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation

The trial will have constant monitoring using VivaCity (opens in new window) sensors. Signs publicising the new restrictions and timings will be installed at the entrances to each School Street and monitoring equipment used to gather data from before and during the trial.

Decision makers will need to make a decision about the ETRO based on the consultation results and other evidence. A decision outcome will be either:

1. End the trial and remove the scheme
2. Continue the trial, possibly with further modifications, and continue to consult and monitor the scheme impact, or
3. End the trial and make the scheme permanent

The first review will be carried out at the 6-month period (March/April 2024).

For more detailed information, please visit our FAQs at the bottom of this page.

Accessibility

How to have your say

Please ensure you have read all the materials provided before responding.

Alternative Formats and Accessibility

If you require any of the information for this project in an alternative format, please contact us on 01243 642105 or via email at schoolstreets@westsussex.gov.uk and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 01243 642105.

For more information about the accessibility of this website, please see our Accessibility tab (opens in new window) at the foot of the page.

Survey Web Browser Compatibility

Please use one of the browsers below when completing the survey to ensure it looks and works as it should. These are:

· Microsoft Edge version 86 and above

· Chrome version 86 and above

· Firefox version 78 and above

· Safari version 14 and above