Planning the School Run

Driving our van around Bristol we've noticed that the biggest problem for school run mums is pesky cyclists jumping red lights and riding on pavements.

We're really pleased therefore, that the extension to St John's Primary School, using Redland Police Station as an Annex will stamp out these tax dodgers - well at least in one direction.

Bristol's PFI schools provider, Skanska, has submitted a fantastic planning application for the Annex which will eliminate the connection between Whiteladies Road and Elgin Park for cyclists travelling from East to West. We've been wondering for some time whether responsible, sustainably oriented international corporates such as Skanska read Bristol Traffic and take our comments to heart. Now we know. At last there is a scheme which will allow responsible urban four wheel drivers to take their children to school by car without even having to run a cyclist off the road - because there won't be any. Better still, there will be lots of space for lorries to get down past the school after making deliveries to Tesco and others on the corner of Whiteladies Road.

What is really interesting about this scheme is that by denying cyclists a sensible route from Redland to the main shopping area of Whiteladies Road, we could be taking them off the road for good. Then maybe they will see the light and buy proper cars and pay for the roads like the rest of us.

Any foolish cyclists that remain after these proposals are given planning permission will be forced to go up a very steep hill instead (that'll teach them), or negotiate some difficult right turns where we expect they will be knocked off their bikes. The exact proposals are below, but the planning application can also be can be viewed online

Skanska is proposing a brilliant solution for the motorist. We'll be recommending them to the Association of British Drivers if they ask us if we know a good builder.

Hotwells Primary: the parking problem

While down at Hotwell's Primary, we thought we'd have a look round to see where else parking restrictions could be relaxed.

Well, there's a bit by the school marked "school keep clear" that looks like a good opportunity.

Round the corner there a build out with bollards and four bike parks, stopping even important parents from using it.

There's even a sign "stopping on zig zags is dangerous and selfish". But as that's not live evening and weekends, that's a problem for commuters rather than residents.

Round the corner -on a weekend- no parking problems at all, with a pavement where you can park close enough to the fence to ensure that neither side of your vehicle gets scratched.

This is why we think the proposal to take away one short-stay dropoff point on Hope Chapel Hill to add at most two parking spaces is misguided. There's lots of pavements to park on outside of the weekday, and if you add two more spaces, well, that just adds room for two more commuters -people who aren't in the Clifton wards, so aren't going to vote for Barbara or Terry in a fit of gratitude. It's the school-run parents who will be most inconvenienced, and they who are the biggest threat.

Exploring Clifton's secret 20 mph zone

Round the back of the school, there's a walking only dropoff area, where the kids can learn to walk round paveparked vans by going on the road.

Then at the end of Wellington Park it meets Whiteladies Road and comes to a timely end
 

Where things return to normal: 30mph, pinch points, pretend bike lanes with tax-earning vans temporarily parked on the associated yellow lines

On the other side, in Redland, they have painted some bicycles on the road of the sustrans "route 4"

These may encourage cycling, but at least they encourage the cyclist to stay far enough out to avoid damaging vehicles, such as the mini WR57XBX corner parked on the double yellow lines. Incidentally, this road may be one that voted against becoming an RPZ. And well they should, as the enforcement of parking rules would remove such parking opportunities.

Traffic problems at Redland Green School

This is the Kersteman Road entrance to Redland Green School, the new -and very popular- secondary school. When the school was opened the usual problem -transport- was raised, and while the proposed bike path through Redland Green Park has not yet been imposed on us, the footpath through the allotments has gone in.,

But what's this? A sign?

Clearly some students, rather than being driven to school, are cycling to the bottom entrance and then walking in. It is important to stop these students from parking their bicycles on the road, as it will upset residents who will find it harder to walk to their cars.

Playgrounds vs car parks

The whole Evening Post school-parking series was pretty depressing. A week of press that blamed us, the motorist, for the problems, without once focusing on bicycles on pavements, or pedestrians crossing roads, or buses. Even the comments didn't recognise the real issue: it is bus lanes and bicycles that cause congestion.

One commenter in the recent debate made a good case for turning the playgrounds into car parking. But they miss two points

• Council schools turned their playgrounds into extra school areas or had the land sold off over the past 30 years
• Independent schools have retained their space, but use the area for staff parking, such as here, Bristol Grammar School.

Logistically, then, parking in playgrounds is not something that can be rolled out any further. Which is a pity. Either way, though, the removal of playing fields has got the schoolkids less used to running around outside, so less likely to carry on such a dangerous activity outside school hours. This improves UK road safety statistics, and reduces congestion.

Colston Primary School

We drove round to Colston School to see how it is adapting to the new build-out regime. Looks like they make it easier to turn into the school parking zone. Note, sadly, that someone on a bicycle has nearly missed a pedestrian forced into the road by the large number of schoolkids choosing to walk!

This school has special parent parking zones on both sides of the road, enabling dropoff for parents heading in either direction, such as those in WX02KMY and VN09WOX.

Apparently some legal process will eventually mean these zones will be enforced, but until then, if you pay your road tax: use the spaces

Troublemakers and Zebra Crossings on Cotham Road

Spotted while parking the car up in the coaches-no-parking bit of Cotham Road during the school run, a group of people loitering around. By the entrance to two schools? Should we call the police?

No need, the headmaster of Cotham School has popped over, presumably to tell them the police are on their way.

But what's this? Smiling and happiness?

Turns out, these people are plotting together to get a zebra crossing put up here on Cotham Road, so that kids and parents can walk to school safely. One at the top, by the school entrances. This is so wrong. After you struggle on the commute up Cotham Brow, with its congestion and crossings, this road is somewhere to put your foot down and make up lost time. And now they want a crossing here?

What's worse, the councillors support it, and the councillor for the Cotham School side of the road, Neil Harrison, says he may have some money for the crossing. That our road-tax money, I bet.

The troublemakers -the Bristol Living Streets people, we believe - have a petition up for a zebra crossing and a build-out for bicycles! One that people are signing!

We are taking note of everyone who puts their name up there, we can assure you. A zebra crossing here, on top of St Michael's Hill, will not only make it possible for pedestrians to walk to any of the three schools nearby safely, they will encourage the students to walk, the residents to walk out to the shops and cafes, instead of driving. This will set back motoring in the area, just when the RPZ plans implied that the residents would get somewhere to park when they came back from the shops and cafes, while the school-run parents would have commuter-free parking areas.

Bristol Living Streets stealing our photos

We are shocked that one of those pro-pedestrian, pro-bicycle, anti-driving-kids-to-school web site has stolen our photographs to push their agenda.

Look, their coverage of Cotham Road RTCs, includes three of our documented "incidents".
We don't really resent their use of our photos, as they do link back to us -except they are pushing their agenda of road safety by demanding a zebra crossing between Rowan House Nursery and Cotham School.

They say this is needed because the Bristol Traffic dataset shows how dangerous the road is. Yes, we agree it's dangerous! But that's why schoolkids should not walk across it! The only safe way to cross the road is by car, and our data backs that up!

A zebra crossing between these schools would not only endanger schoolkids, it would be another anti-car activity that would show everyone how little the council cares about the needs of us, the commuters. First, they block up our rat-runs. Now they want to slow us down on the main roads.

Schoolkid build-outs for Colston Primary School

This area round Colston Primary school has a double role. It's commuter parking par-excellence, and its somewhere for parents to drive their kids to school, either here or Cotham School slightly up the hill. Anyone doing the school-run there knows that Cotham Park North is the turnoff to take.

Yet now, we see buildouts going in, buildouts with bollards planned. This is the price of having the city's Councillor for Walking the locally elected representative.

There was a perfectly good "switch off your engines while waiting" sign up by the school-keep-clear dropoff zone, and now what? More lines, more signs, more bollards

For the parents, the one redeeming feature is that the final draft resident parking zones are up, and this road is in it. If there is only one resident parked here on a Saturday, we can assume that if commuters cannot park here on a weekday, there will be plenty of space for short-stay dropoffs.

Indeed, we suspect the anti-schoolrun developments at Colston's are primarily to push all those parents in favour of resident parking, to split the drivers up into residents, commuters and school-runners, so stop us unifying against an anti car council.

Resisting Oppression

There are some new signs up on Aberdeen Road, outside St Peter and Paul RC Primary School. They say no parking on the school-keep-clear area on weekdays 08:00 to 17:00.

This is more of the city's simply insane anti-car activities, something everyone should resist. We have discovered a loophole.

By banning parking on weekdays, there is nothing to stop any local parking entirely on the pavement on a weekend.

This will protect wing mirrors, and with the bollard, ensure the body-coloured bumper of OY05LNW won't suffer any damage from other vehicles reversing into it while parking.

It will even benefit the schoolchildren, as more snow is scheduled for the evening -this car will ensure the area will be snow- and later ice- free. With such selfless drivers, it doesn't matter than the council appears scared to grit paths.

What is the bicycle speed for College Road?

After Dru Marland got penalised for cycling too fast, we sent one of our unwitting cyclists down College Road to see what speed cyclists should do down it.

Notice how, although the bicycle was going at the same speed as the car in front, it was still holding up a Volvo XC90, school-run, presumably. This car was forced to overtake the bicycle, which, with the oncoming traffic and narrow gap in front was not an easy move, especially in such a large car.

This is a busy road with a school, Clifton High, just passed on the right, with the parental parking/dropoff zones on either side of the road. Forcing cars to overtake aggressively right in front of a school is a dangerous action and it is selfish for the bicycle to do just that. To make matters worse, the bicycle then immediately swings past the Volvo only to come to a complete halt in front of them. This is a selfish operation that will slow down the important driver whose time is, according to DoT equations, worth more than pedestrians or cyclists.

Clearly then: a bicycle travelling at the same speed as motor traffic speed is going too slow and holding up important people. But going down this road at above traffic speed, as Dru showed, is too too fast. The obvious solution is to ban bicycles from such important roads, namely any road near a school. It is for the safety of them and pedestrians, you understand. Think of the schoolkids!

Friday Brain Teaser (1)

The new entrance to the new Hartcliffe Education Campus. Or is it?

In the first of an (occasional) series of brain stimulating posts we ask our many readers to spot any problem(s). No prizes, just kudos.

Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

(N.B. Traffic Engineers, Contractors, Bristol City Council Employees, Pupils, and Bristol Traffic Employees [or their relatives] may not enter.)

The students are back!

We know the students are back as they are taking away our parking places. You can recognise the student cars as they are smaller and full of junk. No child seats, no 4X4s. This space used to be one for residents and school dropoff

Here in Aberdeen road, one has taken the build-out by the school-keep-clear zone.

As it was 08:20, we were worried that some militant parent had left a stroppy note on the windshield of L301GYU

But all it says is "access is needed via these gates for refuse collection etc". If they backed up a bit closer to the bollards, then even the rubbish collection trucks could swing into the school without problems and the note author would be happy

Bank holiday bumper (to bumper) quiz.

Stuck in a 4x4 deadlock down a country lane in Cornwall and lacking the reversing skills to escape? Waiting at a train station for a train that has vanished from the timetable without a trace? Sitting in a lay-by with a derailleur that has decided to collapse into your rear spokes miles from shelter in the glorious English summer?

Why not pass the time with the Bristol Traffic bank holiday quiz. Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

1. When is a school not a school?
2. When is a car not a car? ( Clue: BMW SN9BMX is giving you a hint in the photos below. )

2. How many traffic lights and pedestrian crossings can you have the luxury of waiting at if you are arriving at Bristol's new shopping centre Cabot Circus on foot? (Extra points if you know how many pedestrian footbridges there used to be before the new layout.)

3. How many glass covered bridges to guide you swiftly from the new car park if you arrive at Cabot Circus by car?

4. True or False. All you need for safe cyling is separate cycle paths. Cycle paths that are separated from motor traffic by a barrier are guaranteed to keep cyclists 100% safe from cars.
5. While you're at it see if you can identify what this symbol is for in the picture puzzle below
Bonus question - Spot the irony in the logo pictured below, seen on the recent e-flyer promoting the "Cycling City Freewheel", Sunday 30th August 2009, Ladies Mile, The Downs, Bristol. Clue


Quiz brought to you by Newlyn Junior and Infants School, Penzance and St Phillip's Causeway, Bristol.

Resisting change at Colston School

This is Cotham Park Grove from the South, some cars making it a bit tight to enter and exit the junction.

Here is the road during term time, some cars are quite clearly parked right over the corner. While this makes it tricky for parents with push chairs to pull out, it does at least ensure that on the road itself there are never two lanes of traffic at a time, a vehicle is either exiting or entering the system. The school-keep-clear zone provides a pull-over point, while the zebra zig zags are good for coaches.

So what? People ask. Ahh, this is where the power struggle between those in the council traffic planning department, where those few engineers who are still fighting against the anti-car elected councillors, are managing to represent the interests of us car drivers against those parents who dare to walk to school.

Those parents have been complaining that the council should act on this, and they are doing so, but managing to do this in a way that still retains benefits for parents coming in by car

• The school will have their school-keep-clear zone made enforcable
• There will be some disabled parking across from this
• The corners will be double yellow lined to mean "no parking"
• A bit of redland grove will have double yellow lines to mean "drop your kids off here"

Those last two points are the most interesting. A stretch of redland grove will be double yellow lined to say "no commuters, just parents". Which is handy, though of course if the railway line was less expensive to take an adult and a child up from Monty to Redland, perhaps less needed. But the corners will also be double-yellowed, to discourage commuters and parents from using it.

Here, from an attempt to provide a safe route to school, the plan fails. We have evidence from Clifton and Cotham that says "all double yellow lines do by schools is provide a guaranteed place for parents to park", while it doesn't encourage driving to school, it certainly doesn't discourage it. Any parent that turns up hoping to use the two car lengths of allocated space on Redland Grove is going to have a problem when they turn up and discover two other parents there. What are they going to do? That's right, they will use the other allocated spaces -the corners. These will have the same markings "yellow lines" on them, and so will be equally legitimate. Until those once-a-term days when Bristol Parking Services turn up, and you have to argue your case.

If, by some miracle of consideration these corners aren't occupied by parents, and are in fact kept free, the parents who walk are left with a problem. whereas historically the road was narrowed by parked cars, making it one lane wide, is entrance will be two vehicles wide, making it harder to cross safely. This will discourage them from walking, so stop them getting in the way of tax-paying parents.

We dropped a note to Cllr Neil Harrison, who is one of those safe-walk-to-school subversives we are keeping an eye on, to make sure he wasn't planning to surprise us.

Did the engineers look at having some build-outs on the corner instead, with enough bollards to keep cars off them? This would keep the road one vehicle wide at the junction, yet offer good visibillity to parents trying to get across.

With yellow lines, except on the two days a term when they are
enforced, they are going to be a parents-only parking area.

His reply was informative

We did talk about this, but his view was that it would create dangerous traffic tailbacks around the corner. 

You see that? The traffic engineer is doing his best for us, the car drivers. If they had added any form of build out, the effect would have been exactly the same as if there were parked cars on the corner, which is what you see every single weekday. Buildouts would not create any more tailbacks than normal, yet they would take away two or more parking spaces away from us commuters and parents.

We thank this anonymous engineer, and close the posting with a photo to show that we know he was making things up when he said that build-outs would create tailbacks, but that the councillors don't. 

Can we close by saying that given the parents are off school, we do have an opportunity to keep the plans as they are. Email alan.berridge at bristol.gov.uk on the subject of the consultation 09TM013/ACB/WH, to make your views known (cc: Neil.Harrison at bristol.gov.uk ). Remember, you have until September 8th, and some walking parents may discover the plans before then, so its important to push for parking spaces over build outs.

Update 15:30 august 28, Neil H now says

Consultation done now at request of parents Travel Action Group, all of whom are walkers and cyclists. They want to try to get works done by start of year. They devised the planned works thenselves. Build outs now planned too. Some reason why single yellows not suitable - can't remember.

Muller Road: now less of an aspirational destination

We like to call the St Werburgh's to Muller Road path "The Farm Pub Path", because there is so little at the other end, Muller Road, to aspire to travel to. But that is unfair. There are some people who do want to go there:

1. Residents.
2. People who work at the car body repair shop whose sign takes up half the pavement outside it.
   
3. People who work at B&Q.
4. People who shop at B&Q.
5. Bus drivers who work from the Muller Road bus depot

There are also all the people who park their cars along this road -up on the pavement during a weekday, which implies they may be residents or some form of commuter.

There is one other group who may want to go to Muller Road -teenagers who want to take advantage of the sporting facilities on offer in the school playing fields.

This is no longer an option. A new fence has gone up over the old gate

Building works are adding more fencing inside, along with the cameras and the "mosquito" sound system, designed to annoy youths yet not (most) adults

Henceforth anyone who wanted to come out here to play football or basketball after school, on weekends or in the school holidays, is no longer going to be able to. They will have to stay at home at watch television instead. This will improve child safety, as there will be less children on the street. This is a valuable improvement to child safety rolled out just in time for this summer holiday. We congratulate the school of their foresight and their priorities.

Steiner School Mum Rage video

Cotham Road. With the school building going on, the trees are missing, its more hazardous to cycle along, but at least the builders are trying to retain safe access for schoolkids from Cotham Grammar to their coaches, by providing somewhere for the coaches to park.

They have sign telling you not to park there.

Today, Bristol Parking Services are out to make sure that the sign is obeyed. That's their car behind the Renault, WP51XXU. Two parking officers, talking to a mum.

Not a Cotham Grammar School mum: one from Steiner School across the road. According to the web site, their slogan is "Where education is a journey, not a race". True, but there is always the parking at the far end. Today, the topic of Steiner School discussion is this: is it acceptable for a parent dropping off their child to stop coaches parking, hence endanger other schoolkids?

Alternatively: is it acceptable for the BPS staff to endanger children being dropped off, by stopping them parking? As you can see from the video, the officers are being given a fairly hard time, and yet taking it quite well.

In the background, one of the officers is saying that this is nothing, if you want to see a road where they get a hard time, go to Guthrie Road. Oh yes -been there.

(update: saw one of the mums in this video on a different day, trying to find somewhere to park her Mercedes R320 family-friendly-not-for-real-offroad SUV. Parking Services should recognise that only important people drive such important cars, and leave them alone)

(update2: patched in the video. Thanks Chris!)

Probably didn't see the signs

That or didn't understand the language

WU58KNA outside Sefton Park school, midday, on a school day.