Tufnell Park Cycles to School

Summary

This campaign aims to get children cycling and walking in Tufnell Park.

By creating a signed and safe route to school for children in Tufnell Park, we aim to integrate active travel into children’s daily routine. We aim to increase levels of children cycling and to reduce levels of childhood obesity.

The route will link six local schools in Tufnell Park and provide safe routes to each school, providing a focus for the allocation of resources and building confidence among children and parents that they can get to school safely.  The six schools are Tufnell Park Primary School, The Bridge Secondary School, Holloway School, Eleanor Palmer Primary School, Acland Burghley School, Yerbury Primary School.

The route will also connect six local playgrounds and parks and will link to route 14 of the London Cycle Network.

The campaign is both a call for immediate action and an aspiration for future improvements.

Goals

• Signed and subjectively safe routes connecting the six schools in Tufnell Park.
• Protection for children on streets outside schools in Tufnell Park.
• No children Killed or Seriously Injured on Tufnell Park roads.
• Increase cycling rates to school by 50% by September 2014.
• Adequate cycle parking for 40% of school population in each school by 2014.
• Bikeability Training offered to all pupils of year 6 and above by 2014.

Solution

We will identify a key direct, continuous and safe route between the schools; and work with Islington and Camden Councils, the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London, to continually improve and upgrade the route, until it meets world class standards for Safe Routes to School.

We will campaign for a safe and attractive environment outside the school gates of all schools in Tufnell Park.

We will lobby for low cost but effective solutions that can be implemented immediately to improve conditions for cycling and walking in Tufnell Park.

The campaign will work with local statutory and voluntary organisations, individuals and businesses to build support and achieve it’s goals.

We will identify grants and funding streams that can be put to work to improve the environment for cycling and walking in Tufnell Park.

We will identify more complex problems that for planning or financial reasons cannot be immediately remedied and organise the resources to resolve them.

Route

The dotted red line indicate the streets and paths followed by the route. The route is bidrectional.

Background

Tufnell Park is a compact, mainly residential area that has great potential for cycling but few children cycle to school. Only 1% of British kids cycle to primary school and only 2% cycle to secondary school. The major factor preventing children from cycling is parental fear about road safety.

80% of kids say they would rather cycle than be driven to school but road conditions often make it seem easier, safer and more convenient to transport the children to school by car.

There is growing concern about increasing incidence of obesity and chronic disease among children and young people. Obesity rates have trebled since 1980 and now affects 10% of children and 1/4 of adults.

Cycling to school allows children to integrate physical activity into their daily routine. Like a free gym, it helps prevent obesity, strengthens bones and muscles and builds endurance and lung capacity. It can increase independence, develop problem solving skills and a deliver a daily
sense of personal achievement.

If it replaces a car journey, cycling can save families money from spiraling fuel costs and from the hidden costs of motoring such as maintenance charges.

Why children don’t cycle

The main barrier to more children cycling to school is parental concern about safety – fear of death or injury by cars.

Perceived safety is a key influence on walking and cycling, but environmental improvements and facilities can encourage a shift away from car culture.

Schools can also discourage cycling by giving luke-warm support e.g. inadequate cycle parking. No Islington schools participated in this year’s Big Pedal,  the annual national inter-schools cycling competition.

Tufnell Park Cycles to School – Action Points

We propose a key, direct, continuous and safe circular route connecting six local schools in Tufnell Park. This route will be clearly signed and will become the focus of continual improvement and review until it achieves world class standards of Safe Routes to School. The route will allow us to focus resources and achieve a level of safety that reassures parents and children that cycling is safe and fun. We will:-

• alert drivers that the area is a Safe Route to School and remind them to drive safely.
• demand smooth, direct and level pavements that are adequate for families walking or scooting to school, including those with impaired mobility.
• monitor work by utilities along the route to ensure that the route is restored to good orde after roadworks etc.
• examine every junction along the route and lobby for road treatments which maximise safety and give priority to the Safe Routes to School.
• work with Safer Neighbourhood Teams and Parking Enforcement Officers to ensure that the route is patrolled during the school run and kept safe from obstructions.
• liaise with Council Road Safety Officers to learn from their expertise and incorporate their activities into the routes.
• lobby Islington Streets to get the route included in the winter road treatment programme to keep the route clear of snow and ice.
• work with the schools to incorporate the design, building and use of the routes into curriculum activities.
• lobby for adequate cycle parking along the route at parks, stops, community centres and shops etc.
• plan links to other existing routes such as the Whittington Park cycle path which extends the facility of the route for other Tufnell Park cyclists.
• enable a mechanism for reporting improvements that are required to enable the students to access the route from their home safely in the first place.
• learn from other groups running similar campaigns and share our success to promote Safe Routes to Schools.
• shamelessly take every opportunity to use the route to promote community cohesion and local involvement.

Prepared for: Transition Tufnell Park
Prepared by: David Lincoln
Facebook: TufnellParkCyclesToSchool
Twitter: @getdavidlincoln

 Tufnell Park Cycles – A North London Bike Blog

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