A road leading to a school which suffers from huge congestion issues will be almost car free at the beginning and end of each day from 1 November.
Moveable barriers will be placed in Langley High Street (slip road) for 45 minutes each morning and afternoon as a new School Street launches at Holy Family Catholic School in Langley.
The barriers will be manned by volunteer marshals from the school and motorists who use the road to take and pick up their children from school are being encouraged to either walk, bike, scoot, use public transport or park and walk.
Sara Benn, headteacher at Holy Family School, and her senior staff have worked with the council’s active travel (Better by) team to take part in the scheme. The aim is to encourage some children and their parents and carers to make their trip to and from school differently.
Langley High Street (slip road) will be closed to school and through traffic, from adjacent to number 17 Langley High Street to the existing closure point of Langley High Street and Trelawney Avenue, between 8.15am and 9am and again as school finishes between 3pm and 3.45pm.
However, the road will not be entirely vehicle free, so children, parents and carers are urged to be mindful of the few permitted cars, bicycles and scooters using the road.
Residents of Langley High Street whose properties fall within the closure area, will still be able to come and go as they please, through the manned barriers by displaying the permits the council has provided.
Councillor Mohammed Nazir, cabinet member for transport and the local environment, said: “This is a really exciting pilot with the school to address the problem of too many cars in this road at peak hours.
“We have seen similar schemes work in other places and if more parents and children walk, cycle or scoot to school, the result will be a safer, healthier and more pleasant environment for everyone around the school.
“If parents have no choice but to drive their children to school, they are being encouraged to use the car park at The Toby, who have kindly offered one hour’s parking in the morning and afternoon, for parents dropping off and collecting children. Parents are asked not to use private parking areas provided for residents or block residents’ access.”
School Streets have been successfully set up in Europe and London and are beginning to be trialled in different areas of the UK.
The Holy Family School Street trial is the third in Slough and the Transport Planning team is working with other schools to increase the number of School Streets.