School run parents block Worcester road to make first School Street

Dozens gathered outside Thorneloe Walk, by St George's R C Primary School, to set up the blockade to stop “unnecessary” vehicles from driving by the school.

Residents say the traffic situation has been a problem for years but has worsened in recent days due to ongoing works on Barbourne Road, which is shut for the foreseeable future after a water main burst.

Then over the weekend, thousands flocked to the city to enjoy the splash pad at Gheluvelt Park and the Balloon Festival at Worcester Racecourse.

A city councillor - who was at the blockade - said the traffic was so bad at the weekend people were screaming and shouting at one another.

Isabelle Michel, whose children used to attend the school, organised the demonstration.

She said: “This has been going on for years.

“I’ve witnessed countless vans and cars trying to go through but they can’t turn so they have to reverse into the school car park, it's mayhem.

“I help organise the bike bus every Friday and last week I realised how bad it was, in fact, it was so bad we had to change routes.”

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Parents and residents are planning to set up the blockade during school drop-off and pick-up times (Image: NQ)

City councillor Karen Lewing was among those at the blockade this morning (June 26).

“It was absolute chaos,” she said.

“We had people fighting over the weekend, people screaming and shouting at each other.

“These are people who don’t live in Worcester, don’t know their way round, getting stuck.

“It was awful.”

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Councillor Lewing and residents have been campaigning to make Thorneloe Walk a safe street for over a year, with little success so far.

They want the road to be made a “School Street”, a government initiative aimed at reducing traffic near schools and encouraging people to walk and cycle instead.

She added: “School Streets are popping up around the country, but the county council does not yet have a policy.

“They say they are working on one but they’re not working as fast as we would like.

“So, we decided that we would just do this today and the reception has been really good, people walking in have thanked us

“For me, this is about preventing accidents in the first place and not saying there hasn’t been one yet.”

Parents and residents are planning to restrict access to Thorneloe Walk from both ends every day, between 8.30am and 9am, and 3pm to 3.30pm.

Councillor Mike Rouse, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways and Transport, at Worcestershire County Council said: “We received a petition for a School Streets Scheme to be put in place at Thorneloe Walk. Following an increased interest in this scheme, in both Worcestershire and nationally, we are currently working on guidance, and an application process for School Streets which we hope to share in the near future.  This guidance will help schools and communities to look into this scheme and its costs and decide whether it is something that would work for them.

“School Streets and similar initiatives need the support of the school and the local community together in order to become formalised and be successful in the long term.  School Streets are just one way of encouraging active travel by walking and cycling to and from our schools, we have also achieved this in areas around the county by installing crossing points, and dropping nearby kerbs to allow easier access to do this.”

“We cannot condone the unilateral actions taken by campaigners to effectively blockade a road without a permit and without permission. Where actions like this have happened elsewhere we see a rise in community tensions, so we call on all those involved to work with us constructively and not to take the law and road safety into their own hands.”