T'rrific Traffic
A vocation I was drawn to from an early age was traffic management. My father had a skip hire firm in Blackpool, and in the school holidays often I rode with him in the cab of the wagon. He had me running round doing various things when we got to jobs: putting the nets on the full skips, attaching the chains and, sometimes, holding the traffic while he did an awkward reverse. Sometimes skips were on the road and I had to stand with my arm out in front of a queue of cars while the skip was being lifted. Drivers would not be very happy that their journeys were delayed. It probably didn’t help that a scrawny 14 year old was the one stopping them going anywhere. On occasion, we would have to use the hydraulics on the wagon to lift a car out of the way if it was illegally parked and blocking a skip he needed to get to. People were happier to stop and watch that.
So this week I have been in my element as we trialled the new one-way system for drop-offs and pick-ups. Since I arrived, the high-stress, ultra-competitive arena of the turning circle at 4.05pm has been a grave concern to me, and one that I wanted to address. I really have been concerned about the safety of the circle, and the effect on Coundon Road and our neighbours as traffic backed up waiting to turn in. I am actually quite pleased that our hand has been forced with the arrival of the new cycleway. But I do understand why previous heads have resisted bringing large volumes of traffic onto the site, given that moving cars and happy, careless children are two things you want to keep far apart.
A few thoughts from me, based on the first few days of the trial:
It went as smoothly as we could have hoped – while the playground filled up at around 3.30pm for prep pick-up, cars were able to queue on the terrace and Coundon Road kept flowing. From 3.50pm the playground was never more than half full so we can accommodate more senior school pickups from there, rather than on Coundon Road (the legal parking bays outside will soon disappear).
Safety remains a concern – we need all parents to have their wits about them when they are driving in: observing the 5mph limit along the terrace, parking sensibly, not chatting behind cars waiting to reverse, not waving to their children while almost running over a marshal in a high-vis jacket (this did almost happen but I mention no names).
Some pupils need to learn how to use a zebra crossing.
Some parents have very big cars that don’t fit very well in our spaces.
Some parents regress to a much younger age when politely asked not to park on the double yellow lines outside school by the Headmaster (again, no names are mentioned). Naughty. There is space in the playground.
One of the major motivations for the cycleway and the proposed changes to the ring road exit is air quality: Holyhead Road has some of the highest NOx levels anywhere in the UK and I don’t want that to become more of an issue on our site. We have our windows open at the moment to let Covid out, not to let exhaust fumes in. Please can we ensure we aren’t leaving engines idling when on site.
Our plan was to run this trial for a week, get some feedback, refine what we do and relaunch it when the roadworks began. But you may have seen the sign which appeared outside school on Monday, saying ”Roadworks begin here 17 Jan 2022. Delays possible.” We have therefore declared the trial a success and the new system will remain in place throughout the period of the roadworks.
All the parents I have spoken to have been very understanding of the new system and very courteous to our marshals, so thanks to all of you for your patience. Here is a very brief survey I invite you to complete so we can consider how we refine things to make them safer and smoother in the weeks ahead.
Drive safely. And don’t park near any skips.
(Bulletin No 14 - 14th January 2022)
