Council puts up giant pencils to stop parents driving children to school

Giant pencils have been introduced in one London borough’s streets to stop busy parents from driving their kids to school, and some people are inevitably unhappy.

The coloured pencils are part of a plan to prevent cars entering certain roads at drop-off time.

And while many have welcomed the idea, others have said it simply pushes traffic problems further out.

The borough of Richmond-upon-Thames in south west London has now approved a roll-out of the eye-catching designs, which warn people a school street is near.

The overall plan is to reduce the staggering congestion caused by lazy parents using cars instead of walking, cycling or using public transport to get youngsters to their desks.

Following a successful trial using pencil bollards and dragon’s teeth designs to signal the start of a school street, the council will now roll out these road designs across the 17 roads across the borough.

It is hoped they will improve visibility, compliance and safety.

There are some exemptions, for example taxis and Royal Mail vehicles as well as local business who need access.

Councillor Alexander Ehmann, Chair of the Transport and Air Quality Services Committee, said: ‘School Streets are there to make the area around our schools safer for vulnerable young road-users.

‘It also makes the space one where all pedestrians are “top-dog” and we know that this encourages walking and wheeling to school too.’

The council believes the School Streets plan has been a resounding success, with all affected roads signposted and CCTV cameras installed to monitor non-compliance.

The pencils should also reduce the number of fines drivers are receiving.

Cllr Ehmann added: ‘This first-of-its-kind treatment has attracted a lot of interest from other councils around the country and Richmond hopes that what began in our borough may yet become the template that other councils will follow.’

Gateways to affected streets include a five-metre deep red resin bound surface across the carriageway and there are also four white triangular ‘dragon’s teeth’ along the kerb edge on the red surface with three pencil bollards on either side.

The idea was trialled at St. John the Baptist Primary School in Hampton Wick where there were higher than average levels of non-compliance, leading to a significant reduction in Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in the area.

School Streets are being adopted across the country, including in Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, York, Brighton, Medway and Reading.

Scotland was the first in the UK to introduce the schemes in 2015 while Camden was the first in London in 2017 They were initially created in Italy in 1989.

Many who saw the coloured pencil bollards online supported the idea, with one describing it as ‘impressive’ and another saying: ‘Great stuff.’

But others weren’t convinced.

One said: ‘Doesn’t it just mean that parents park on the edge of the zone causing traffic problems where the photographer is standing rather than along that road?’

Another said: ‘Virtue signalling that makes money for the council… with the ability to monitor all children and parents with surveillance cameras.

‘The pencils work well to distract from the signage small print. Nicely done.’

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