School Streets

During a School Street the road is opened up to people walking, cycling and scooting by restricting access to non-essential motor vehicles.  The School Street takes place at the beginning and the end of the school day and helps children, parents, carers and school staff to enjoy safer, healthier routes to school. Residents who live in the area will also benefit from safer, quieter roads and cleaner air.

• To create a safer and more pleasant environment for families arriving at school, while also tackling congestion and reducing risk from motorised vehicles
• To create safer, quieter roads for residents
• To encourage children, parents, carers and school staff to walk, cycle and scoot to and from school.
• To promote healthier and more active lifestyles, teaching children positive travel habits from a young age
• To improve air quality in the immediate area outside of the school
• To encourage a long-lasting mode shift away from the car

Access will be restricted to all but essential or pre-arranged vehicles between set times around drop-off and pick-up on weekdays during school term time. A School Street does not operate during school holidays, inset days or at weekends.

Vehicles already parked in the street before the School Street restrictions start will be able to leave when they need to. We ask drivers to travel at a walking pace to ensure the safety of families walking in the road.

To help make this a success, it would be really helpful if you could consider booking deliveries or moving your vehicle outside of the School Street hours to reduce vehicle movement as much as possible.

During a School Street, access is always available for residents and business premises on the street, emergency services, blue badge holders, Home to School Transport vehicles, carers of residents who live in the street, people with specific requirements and taxis picking up and dropping off residents.

Parents who drive taxis are not allowed into the zone during the restricted times and will face a penalty if reported.

Participating schools will operate a trial School Street to begin with and exemptions will be reviewed during the trial.

Yes. Blue badge holders are able to enter the School Street zone. We ask drivers to travel at a walking pace to ensure the safety of families walking in the road.

We also ask drivers to make sure their blue badge is visible so it’s clear they are allowed to drive into the School Street.

No. Parents or carers dropping children at school are not able to drive into a School Street zone unless they can show that they are exempt. Parents who drive taxis are not allowed into the zone during the restricted times and will face a penalty if reported.

You will still be able to walk, cycle or scoot to school in a more friendly and safer environment.

The school will provide a map which shows where you can park while the School Street is operating.

We encourage all residents, businesses and even the participating schools to ensure they don’t arrange deliveries during the closure times.

If possible, we would encourage you to alter any pre-existing weekly shopping deliveries to fall either side of the closure times.

School Streets are implemented on a trial basis, for up to 18 months, using Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders. If the trial is successful, based on the results of monitoring and feedback from the school community and local residents, the School Street could be made permanent.

Utility companies will have access to the School Streets zone for any emergency work that’s needed.

The following schools have previously taken part part in School Streets:

• St Jude’s Church of England Primary School
• Bramble Infant and Nursery School
• St John’s Cathedral Catholic Primary School
• Meon Infant School and Meon Junior School
• Kings Academy College Park

Bramble 

St Jude’s

Residents who live in restricted roads will receive a free School Streets access permit for their own vehicle plus a visitor permit for their guests, which must be displayed in vehicles when entering the area. To obtain a second, or replacement, School Streets permit, residents can email schoolstreets@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

If you are interested in finding out more about School Streets or would like to enquire about a School Street for your school please email schoolstreets@portsmouthcc.gov.uk. Please allow five working days for a response.