Healthy School Streets consultation - Kentish Town Church of England Primary School

Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how people in Camden live, travel and work. Since the start of the pandemic many of us have been spending more time closer to home, making our neighbourhoods more important than ever. We want our streets to be safe spaces for you to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely and healthily, for businesses to be able to flourish and for you to be breathing cleaner air.

As 69% of households in Camden do not own a car and public transport capacity remains much lower than before the pandemic, we know that safe and easy walking, cycling and scooting routes are more important than ever. Supporting and encouraging those who are able to walk and cycle, by creating safer streets will ensure that there is more space available on public transport and on our roads for those who need it the most.

Healthy School Streets create a safer and healthier environment by temporarily closing roads to traffic outside schools during drop-off and pick-up times. This enables more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school, with less air pollution, road danger, congestion and more space for people to physically distance. Healthy School Streets help to discourage car trips, particularly amongst parents/carers, by providing a safe and inviting space for more walking, cycling and scooting.

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the need to create safer spaces for parents, staff and pupils to gather at school drop off and pick up times, particularly with staggered start and finish times. By temporarily widening the pavement this allows parents, staff and pupils to safely socially distance from one another without resorting to using the road. By widening the pavement this provides more space to maintain 2m distances.

Why we are consulting

Motor vehicles on Islip Street, from Frideswide Place to the junction with Hammond Street will be prohibited at school pick-up and drop-off times. The restrictions will be enforced using an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera, which allows for some vehicles to be exempt from the restrictions and with planters on Hammond Street.

We are also proposing to temporarily widen the pavement directly outside Kentish Town Church of England Primary School on Islip Street. This would help social distancing for pupils and parents/carers outside of the 2 entrances for the nursery and primary school. The scheme would be introduced as a trial for a maximum of 18 months. A further consultation to decide whether to make the scheme permanent would be carried out after 12 months.

WE PROPOSE TO

• Create a timed Healthy School Street road closure on Mondays to Fridays from 8.15am-9.15am and 3pm-4pm. This will improve safety for local residents, parents and pupils accessing Kentish Town Church of England Primary School, by preventing vehicles from accessing Islip Street, from Frideswide Place to the junction with Hammond Street at school pick-up and drop-off times
• Install relevant signage to alert drivers of the restriction, and ANPR enforcement cameras will be placed on Islip Street, on the Frideswide Place and Hammond Street junctions. The signage will state the road closure to all motor vehicle traffic (except exemptions – see below)   
•  Close the signs during school holidays   
• Create a permanent restriction on Hammond Street by placing planters half way along and 'No through Road' signage at the junction with Caversham Road

The following vehicles will be exempt from the restrictions on Islip Street:

• Vehicles registered to properties and businesses on Islip Street, from the Frideswide Place junction to the junction with Hammond Street
• Any vehicle being used for fire brigade, ambulance or policing purposes
• Refuse collection teams
• Blue Disabled Badge holders resident on the above section of Islip Street
• Pupils of Kentish Town School that have a disability that prevents them from walking, cycling or scooting to school.

Taxis and deliveries will not be exempt, and these should be scheduled outside of the restricted times. However exemptions can be applied for in exceptional circumstances, such as when people with mobility issues may need essential taxis during the restricted hours.                     

If the scheme goes ahead, details of how to apply for an exemption will be posted to residents/businesses in the consultation area.     

Proposed changes- pavement widening

• The proposed scheme involves temporarily widening 93 metres of existing pavement directly outside of the School. This would be placed on top of the existing zig-zag markings on the northern side of Islip Street and increase the pavement width outside of the two Primary School entrances.
• The widening would be achieved through the buildout of the existing pavement, introducing new 150mm wide concrete kerbs offset between 1.3 to 2 metres from the existing kerb line, with the gap between the previous and new kerbs infilled with asphalt.
• To accommodate the pavement buildouts, two car club parking bays opposite property numbers 2-7 Islip Street will require temporary relocation into Frideswide Place. Two pay-by-phone parking bays on Frideswide Place would then be used for the relocated car club bays. A further seven pay-by-phone parking bays opposite property numbers 31-35 and 39 Islip Street will require temporary suspension. One motorcycle parking bay opposite property number 37 Islip Street will also require temporary suspension. These would be implemented under Temporary Traffic Orders for a maximum of 6 months.
• Outside of the nursery entrance, to the east of the proposed footway widening, three of the five existing panels of pedestrian guard railing will be removed to increase the effective width of the pavement and increase the space available for social distancing. The two panels closest to the crossing point will be retained for road safety reasons.

In line with new Department for Transport guidance, we are now consulting on all new and amended Safe and Healthy Street schemes so that we can engage our local residents, businesses and stakeholders in changes happening on their streets. We want to know what you think about these proposals.