A councillor has accepted that the closure of a Penarth road during school hours to clamp down on dangerous driving may transfer the issue to other streets. The Vale of Glamorgan Council's cabinet member for education, arts, and the Welsh language, Cllr Rhiannon Birch, said she had been receiving complaints about traffic-related issues in Dryden Road for years before the council last month decided to close it during school pick-up and drop-off times.
It is hoped that the closure of the road, along which Fairfield Primary School is located, will help improve safety and encourage active travel. However some residents in Penarth fear the closure of the road may lead to other streets nearby becoming congested during the school run.
Cllr Birch said: "I accept that that may well happen and that it may spread the problem further afield but the traffic management problem on Dryden Road in the immediate surrounding area has been absolutely appalling – the number of near-misses recorded for children, the number of dangerous parking on corners." The road closure is intended to act as a pilot scheme and will be in place for about 18 months.
Read more: 'Residential street blighted by school traffic to be closed to cars during pick up and drop off times'
During this time the council will be monitoring the effectiveness of the traffic ban, which will be in place between 8am and 9.15am and then later between 3pm and 4pm. Cllr Birch, who lives nearby and is the council's ward member for Cornerswell, added: "The driving there is absolutely terrible and the entitlement of parents who think it is okay to block peoples' drives, churn up the grass verges, drive towards parents and children trying to cross the road is absolutely terrible.
"What I am hoping it will do is encourage parents to think about parking a long way away and crocodiling their children down towards the school in larger groups because it is so important that people feel safe for allowing their children to go to school. We are all trying to promote a healthy lifestyle but if your child can't walk to school safely without worrying about somebody in a Chelsea tractor knocking her over because they can't see her then I think that is a real concern and I would like to see it spread out to other schools in the Vale if that is at all possible.
"Obviously it is not possible with all of them but where it is possible I would like to see us trying to do it there as well."
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