With the end of the Easter break fast approaching, chaos on Shawhurst Lane is about to return. At times students will have to wait up to 5 minutes just to get an opening to cross the busy road and some students have resorted to stepping into the road, behind cars as they will have to stop. This is endangering the children and is not acceptable.
So, what should happen about it? Recently, signs have been placed up in an attempt to deter people from parking in the area but they clearly haven't worked. Instead, the whole road should be closed for cars during school times. Also, this will encourage kids to get some more exercise, even if it is walking down from Spar. The buses should still be allowed to run down the road though. This tactic was used by Hollywood Primary School in 2012 as cars were not allowed to drive down Pickenham Road at school times. Instead this encouraged children to walk from Maypole lane. Also they had groups, accompanied by a teacher who would walk from the Maypole to school. This could be useful for Coppice children.
The current deterrent of the signs has not worked due to the fact that there is no enforcing of the rules. Teachers, or even police, should be fining offenders in a parking ticket style enforcement. If people park on Shawhurst during school times, they should be punished with a fine. Some people may say this is too harsh but without any enforcement, children who walk to school will not be put in as much danger as they are being put in right now.
Of recent times, some parents have been trespassing and parking on residents driveways. Despite how wrong this is, this shows how frustrated people are getting at the problems and I feel that the fairest way to sort this issue would be by making Shawhurst Lane a one-way road and all cars will be forced to turn off at Falstaff Avenue. This will be good for students as they can cross without problems and traffic will not be as heavy due to the one-way system over 2 lanes however this could just send problems up to the top of the road.
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