Road closures near schools
The following letter has been written in response to an article in the Observer
...... in relation to your article in today’s paper “Roads near schools to close at peak times” Of course everyone wants cleaner air, but rather like the pandemic response the needs of the most vulnerable and those with least voice are not being taken into account. One of the problems is the conflation of cycling and walking. We should definitely not have largely male, white, fit, middle-class cyclists assuming the role of WalkingANDCycling commissioners. Walking and cycling have very different and often conflicting requirements, and in recent years the cycling demands have over-ridden the requirements of pedestrians; narrowing of pavements to accommodate cycle lanes, dangerous shared spaces, “floating” bus stops.
Our local organisation, Waltham Forest Streets for All has consistently highlighted these issues; https://wfstreets4all.wixsite.com/home/taking-space-from-pedestrians In relation to closing roads near schools to cars this is highly detrimental to grandparents, parents and/or children with certain disabilities. These needs have obviously not been considered by Mayor Khan and others.
They have also not recognised that many parents, most significantly women, lead extremely complex lives and need to “trip-chain” delivering children to different places, then going on to work, then collecting children again and perhaps doing shopping or taking children to other activities. Such tasks are extremely problematic without a car. Blocking off school roads will also force other vehicles to make long detours causing more congestion and pollution. While encouraging more walking and more cycling may work for the majority, politicians must not neglect the needs of the minority.
The way forward is surely to encourage non-polluting vehicles such as electric and hydrogen fuel models. We should not be trying to dis-invent something which has provided huge possibilities to so many but to modify those elements which cause pollution.
