Thousands of youngsters in Haringey set to benefit from massive expansion of School Streets

The number of School Streets in Haringey is set to almost treble to 61, revolutionising journeys and improving air quality at the school gates for up to 36,000 children.

Haringey already has one of the fastest growing School Streets programmes with 23 implemented, and 11,000 families benefiting from 6km of safe and healthy walking, cycling and wheeling zones at school start and finish times.

Last night (13 June) councillors signed off ambitious plans to roll out 38 new School Streets covering 58 educational establishments over the next three years, making journeys safer and healthier for an additional 25,000 children.    

The 61 schemes, which form part of the council’s Streets for People initiative, will create a safer and healthier environment on 21km of the borough’s highways at drop-off and pick-up during term time.

Cllr Mike Hakata, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport, said:

The evidence is clear that children benefit from being able to walk, wheel or cycle to school in cleaner air and safer streets.

The school run makes up around 25 per cent of all traffic and is why those times are most congested.  For those without access to a car, which in our borough is the majority, that means getting to and from school is the most dangerous time of the day. 

School Streets both reduce road danger and incentivise healthier ways to get to school.  With 35 per cent of Year 6 children in Haringey classed as overweight or obese, this can go a long way in addressing health inequalities.  

We are very proud of our plans for a massive expansion of our School Streets programme and the crucial role it will play in our ambition to create a greener and fairer borough. 

Only people walking and cycling, and those with vehicle exemption permits, are eligible to enter the zone while the School Street is in operation.

Evidence shows a 42 per cent reduction in traffic across existing School Streets schemes in the borough, as well as vehicle emissions (NOx) down by 26 per cent. 

To complement the School Streets programme, the council will rollout pollution-blocking measures such as green screens and tree planting as part of a Healthy School Zones initiative.      

You can view the Cabinet report here.