Children at a Leicester primary school are hoping that new pencil-shaped bollards will help draw a line under dangerous driver behaviour outside their school.
The city council has installed the 10 new bollards outside Knighton Fields Primary Academy to improve pedestrian safety and to tackle the problem of drivers mounting the pavement to pass other vehicles.
join staff, parents and children to look at the new pencil bollards at
Knighton Fields Primary Academy in Leicester. Photo Credit: Ian Davis
Made of polymer resin around a steel core and measuring 1 metre high, the pencil bollards will help ensure that the pavement on Knighton Fields Road West remains safe for pedestrians.
Headteacher at the school, Gary Aldred, has welcomed the new bollards: “We’re delighted with our new pencil bollards – and we’re very grateful to our local councillors for supporting the work with a grant from the ward community fund,” he said.
“We have long had a problem with drivers dangerously mounting the kerb to pass oncoming traffic, which puts our children at risk.
“These colourful new bollards will certainly help prevent the dangerous actions of drivers on Knighton Fields Road West – helping to keep our children safe outside the school.”
The city council has already introduced traffic calming measures around the school and a 20mph zone is in place, but problems with dangerous driving have persisted.
Assistant city mayor for neighbourhood services, Cllr Kirk Master, said: “Dangerous driving habits have been an issue at Knighton Fields Primary Academy for some time, with the headteacher and local ward councillors making us aware of the dangers faced by parents and pupils making their way to and from school.
“These new pencil-shaped bollards will help prevent pavement parking and discourage people from driving onto the kerb, while providing a visual reminder to all drivers that they’re approaching a school and should therefore drop their speed and drive with caution.”
The new pencil bollards on Knighton Fields Road West have been installed thanks to a grant of £3,000 from the ward community fund. Saffron ward councillor Elly Cutkelvin said: “We spend our ward community funding supporting many different projects and events in Saffron.
“It’s been fantastic to work with the school on this scheme, which will make a permanent contribution to road safety in the area.”
A full assessment of the physical measures and behavioural changes required to tackle problems associated with the school run will be carried out at Knighton Fields Primary Academy as part of the city council’s school run action plan. By March 2019, the action plan will have produced a programme of works for every city school to address issues around road safety, speeding, congestion and parking.
All the work with local schools is part of the city council’s £2.2million Parking Improvement Action Plan.
