Greater Manchester sets target of 60 School Streets by next year

The number of School Streets in Greater Manchester is on course to rise to 60 by July 2026, the city region’s Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey has announced.

She told delegates at the School Streets North conference that all 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester are involved in delivering schemes, with 37 either permanently in place or being trialled so far.

Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham has included the target of 100 School Streets by 2028 in his Manifesto, with £1.3m of active travel funding allocated for the delivery of schemes.

By 2030, the Mayor wants to see 70% of primary school children walking, wheeling or cycling to school.

Dame Sarah Storey said she will work with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and councils across Greater Manchester to develop and implement new schemes, as well as improve existing schemes where needed.

“As part of that work, I am also keen to learn how we can really strengthen the collaboration between schools and their communities by using their School Street as a catalyst for change, as well as exploring enforcement solutions that enables each scheme to run without the need for volunteers, across a range of different locations.

“It is essential a permanent solution that doesn't try to rely on volunteers is found to ensure every School Streets is viable, long-term and will therefore benefit school pupils and communities across our city-region for years to come.”

Some School streets are easier and cheaper to implement, perhaps due to simpler road layouts, but Dame Sarah said she is keen to explore solutions for “trickier places”, for example, on busy A roads, bus routes or with multiple entrances on more than one street.

She is also wants to see School Streets at high schools. “Safety is one of the main reasons cited by parents for not allowing their children to travel independently to high school so more must be done for this age group, with School Streets being the final piece of a longer journey jigsaw.”

Dame Sarah chaired the opening session at School Streets North, hosted by TfGM and organised by Landor LINKS on 1 May.

In her presentation, she referred to Seymour Park Community Primary in Old Trafford, where a School Street, run by volunteers, is in operation three days a week. Since the School Street started six months ago, the number of children cycling to Seymour Park has almost doubled while the number driven to school has dropped by a quarter, according to the school.

Students from Seymour Park told Dame Sarah that the School Street has made them feel safer on journeys to and from school, improved their mental health, made it easier for them to focus in the classroom and boosted their energy levels.

Seymour’s Headteacher Thomas Johnson said: “The journey of School Streets at Seymour Park started because the problem of parking and traffic outside my school was terrible. I am not the only headteacher in the UK saying that. It is common to many, many schools all across the country.”

He said the School Street has had a positive impact: “The children arrive on our school road now and just saunter down the street. They chat to their friends. It’s just a much nicer start to the day, and has changed the journey home. Parents can walk home and chat with their kids without panicking about cars appearing.”

Children have a pivotal role to play in building the case for a School Street, said Aleisha Campion, Project Co-ordinator at the charity Sustrans.

“Having kids involved is super important, and that’s what we do at Sustrans when we are working on schemes that are difficult, be that politically or financially, or where the actual scheme itself is kind of tricky,” said Campion.

“Working with the children and young people right from the get-go, you have your little School Street stars, who are our kind of a core campaigning group within the school. If you are just starting out on School Streets start with the kids. Get out, have a chat, see what they want. They will probably design a much better School Street than you ever will because they know the school far better than you do.”

Children often make the most convincing arguments for School Streets, said Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment and Transport at Manchester City Council. “And if we listen to our colleagues in other departments around health, for example, and issues around deprivation, it’s very clear to see the difference that School Streets can make to wellbeing and health, as well as Vision Zero and being safer. As politicians, we can see that. So, we may have conversations about getting people to think differently, but, generally speaking, people are very much on the same page.”

Cllr Rawlins spoke about the need to “fine tune” engagement and the conversation around School Streets. “The school has to be supportive and committed, because we don't want to work against a school ever,” she said. “It’s about learning from each school and developing what we do and sharing those experiences. So, we are really keen that schools talk to each other.”