School Streets Anglesey
Introduction
The Welsh Government Safe Routes in Communities Grant provides funding to make local roads safer and encourage people to walk, cycle, or scoot instead of using cars. It focuses on areas like schools, and local communities, helping to create healthier, safer, and more enjoyable places for everyone.
The main goal is to promote walking and cycling for short journeys, which are safer, healthier, and better for the environment. The grant also aims to reduce traffic dangers around busy areas, especially for children and pedestrians, by making roads safer.
Another focus is making streets easier to use for everyone, including people with limited mobility. This helps create communities where everyone can get around safely and comfortably.
By reducing traffic in key areas, the grant also helps improve air quality and reduce pollution, making the environment better for residents and visitors.
Projects funded by the grant might include adding safe walking and cycling routes, slowing down traffic, or introducing "School Streets," where cars are restricted near schools during busy times. Overall, the grant helps communities become safer, healthier, and more sustainable places to live and travel.
School Streets
A School Streets project is an initiative aimed at improving safety, air quality, and overall wellbeing around schools. It involves temporarily restricting motor vehicle access to the streets near a school during drop-off and pick-up times. This ensures a safer and calmer environment for children to walk, cycle, or scoot to school.
The primary goal of School Streets is to reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety, and promote active travel like walking and cycling. By creating a more pleasant and less polluted area around schools, these projects also contribute to better air quality and healthier lifestyles for students and the community.
Motor vehicles are only allowed access during restricted times if they have been granted specific exemptions. This project seeks your feedback on schools that may be suitable for a School Streets scheme, and the measures can have the greatest impact, ensuring that our streets are safer for everyone, especially our youngest and most vulnerable road users.
The following video will help your understanding on School Streets. Although this video is from Active Travel England, the concept is appliable across Wales. To view Frequently Asked Questions on School Street schemes please click the button below.
We value your input and encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences to help shape this initiative for the benefit of our community.
Background
The Isle of Anglesey County Council has commissioned Ethos to assess the potential of introducing School Street schemes across the 44 schools within Anglesey. Due to the relatively rural environment of Anglesey, many schools are not suitable to consider a School Streets scheme due to the impact this would have on the local area.
Ethos have assessed each school, and have identified several schools where introducing a School Street scheme will benefit pupils attending the school, along with staff working at the school, and local residents that may suffer with regular issues with inconsiderate parking during school drop-off and pick-up times.
Having spoken with representatives from the schools that may be suitable for a School Street scheme, two schools have shown an interest in participating in a public consultation to understand the thoughts of the parents / carers of pupils attending the school, residents, and any impacted businesses to ensure the School Street would meet the needs of the local community.
The engagement will help to:
- understand the impact of a School Street on the schools, residents, businesses and wider communities
- determine if a School Street has a positive impact on sustainable travel modes such as walking, wheeling or cycling
- assess the suitability of individual sites (i.e. location of school, surrounding environment and impact on local infrastructure)
- assess the feasibility of delivering a School Street (i.e. displacement of traffic, resources required and adequate monitoring periods)
- understand the perception of safety outside the school gates and if the implemented School Street has improved this.
Ethos, supported by the Isle of Anglesey County Council will be delivering various in-school activities during Winter 2024/2025, which will support children with necessary skills and knowledge.
Alongside this, schools will be undertaking some reporting and monitoring as well as completing surveys to help provide important data for the School Street.
Following completion of the public consultation exercise, one of the two school locations will be selected for a School Streets trial, which is likely to be implemented in March 2025. This will allow the effectiveness and the benefits to be monitored to identify improvements that can be made, along with determining the likely success at additional schools across Anglesey.
At this stage, no funding is available to enable additional School Street schemes to be delivered from April 2025, but funding will be sought based on the success of the trial.
Identified Schools for Public Consultation
The two schools that have been identified as being potentially suitable for a School Streets scheme, and therefore part of the upcoming consultation include the following schools. To find out more about each of the individual proposals click on the buttons below.
Ysgol Gynradd Amlwch, Pen Y Bryn, Amlwch, LL68 9DY (MAP)
Road closure Monday to Friday between 8am-9am and 2:30pm-4pm during the school term.
Ysgol Gymuned y Fali, Lon Spencer, Valley, Holyhead LL65 3EN (MAP)
Road closure Monday to Friday between 8am-9am and 2:30pm-4pm during the school term.
