Council pushes ahead with parking restrictions outside Sheffield schools

The authority approved the restrictions outside Oughtibridge School in Naylor Road and Pye Bank CE Primary School in Pitsmoor this week, as part of its ongoing School Keep Clear programme.

The aim is to improve safety for pedestrians at school entrances by changing road markings so they are enforceable.

This usually means replacing zig zag areas with double yellow lines.

Of the 112 city schools outside which markings can be painted, 47 have so far been done.

The council is trying to tie in the work with resurfacing as part of the Streets Ahead programme, and hopes to finish all schools by 2019.

The decision comes in the same week that parents staged a protest against dangerous parking outside Carfield Primary School in Meersbrook.

Brandishing placards, they stood in the middle of the road making their feelings known to approaching drivers before stepping aside to let them pass.

A report by council officers said now was the best time to get the work done.

Regarding Oughtibridge School, officers said: “The opportunity to make these types of improvements through a traffic regulation order process is unlikely to present itself any time in the near future.

“It is unlikely that, in terms of provision of parking restrictions, Naylor Road would be a priority for the authority’s scrutiny in the short or medium terms.”

On Pye Bank Primary they added: “The current proposal may offer the best opportunity for significant improvement.”

One resident in nearby Nottingham Street objected to the Pye Bank proposals, arguing that double yellow lines would restrict on street parking in that area.

Council officers agreed, and decided not to put the restrictions outside numbers 95, 97 and 99.

The work will be carried out in the 2017/18 financial year.