Sustrans, a walking and cycling charity, together with Road Safety Trust explored the impact of light-touch interventions in reducing speeds and improving safety outside a school in Exeter with the aim to create a safer space for walking, wheeling and cycling.
The project focused on designing small interventions to change the feel of the street outside the school to make it more people friendly and less car-dominated and create a safe and inviting environment for active transport.
A traffic calming dragon was designed with the wider school community in Exeter, aiming to create a safer space for walking, wheeling and cycling to school. The road mural raised awareness of the 'school zone' and made drivers drive slower and more carefully.
Key issues and barriers that were identified:
- cars not slowing or stopping when approaching a crossing point;
- vehicle speeds;
- anti-social parking; and
- air quality concerns.
In June 2018, Sustrans hosted a series of collaborative workshops and codesign sessions for students and families, discussions with residents and nearby organisations. It was a collaborative approach that allowed the wider school community to take ownership of the process, making sure that all needs were taken into consideration and ensuring the best outcome for the project.
After identifying the existing road safety concerns they explored light-touch interventions that could have a traffic calming effect and improve safety.
The children and the wider school community participated in solution seeking processes. Participants experimented with colour, greenery, patterns and signage to brighten the space outside the school, create a visible 'school zone' and make the space safer for school children, their families, and other street users.
One of the designs featured a dragon on the road that referred to the school's name, the biblical tale of St. Michael and the dragon. The dragon design would act as a speed calming measure and make drivers aware that they are entering a school zone.
The dragon prototype was tested during the trial event. A smaller-scale version of the dragon was temporarily painted on the road with support from the school children and staff. Parents, staff, pupils and residents where then able to give their feedback during a community event at pickup time.
Following the trial and further feedback gained from the local community and safety and highways assessments by the local council, the permanent thermoplastic design was installed in August 2020. Installation was delayed due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Placemaking & Projects
How To Do a Mural Project
Statistics and Outcomes
- Decrease in traffic volume on weekdays from 3,366 to 2,642 vehicles
- The decrease in traffic volume led to no change in the proportion of vehicles speeding (34.6% to 33.95%)
- Increase in vehicle yielding rate from 46 yields out of 794 yielding situations to 48 out of 420, reducing the dominance of cars on the road
- 82% of survey respondents supported installing light-touch infrastructure
- Research showed that light-touch interventions had a positive impact on road safety and the attractiveness of the area
- The project encouraged more people to walk, wheel and cycle by creating a safer and more people-friendly school zone
What Worked
The research and evidence suggests that light touch measures have a mostly positive impact on road safety, as well as a strong impact on the attractiveness of the area. It not only decreases vehicle speeding but also empower people to use active transport, walk, wheel and cycle!
