School road closure trial aims to improve safety

A temporary road closure is being trialled outside a school to make it safer for children at drop-off and pick-up times.

Traffic restrictions will be in place for 10 minutes outside The Swanage School in Dorset at peak times on weekdays.

Staff will place a barrier across the top of Washpond Lane that will temporarily shut the road.

Head teacher Jenny Maraspin said it should make it safer for children to cross the "tricky junction".

The 18-month trial will see the junction become a pedestrian-only zone created by a temporary restriction of motorised traffic and parking.

This is the fourth time Dorset Council has introduced the traffic restrictions outside of a school.

Upton Junior School, St Osmund's in Dorchester, and Chickerell Primary Academy have all made the temporary fixture permanent.

Washpond Lane's junction with High Street will be closed between 08:20 to 08:30 and then again from 15:25 until 15:35 on school days.

Councillor Jon Andrews, Dorset Council's portfolio holder for highways, said hundreds of pupils come in and out of the school at peak times.

"The experimental traffic regulation order starts today," he said.

"Parents and teachers at the other schools are very happy with it because it takes away that danger of traffic being near pedestrians.

"It is experimental so it can be subject to a change in timings depending on what we see because officers will be there monitoring."

Emergency vehicles and people with permits, including teaching staff and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, will continue to be allowed access to the road.