In June 2005 this column addressed, at some length, the number of cars arriving at a local school dropping off or fetching children at 9am or 3pm. Owler Brook school staff and some parents have been thinking about how to tackle this and at the end of April launched their first ‘Walk on Wednesday’ day – well over 200 children walked and so were rewarded with a prize.
Firshill and St Cath’s parents have recently planned a ‘walk and stride’ campaign to persuade parents not to drive to school at all – or certainly to park well away from Orphanage Road or Firshill Crescent. This, combined with new double-yellow lines, should start to help more walking.
Keep walking
It might be a new experience for young children, but some older citizens of Burngreave have been walking for years and years.
Many older Yemeni men walked everywhere in Yemen before coming to Sheffield, always walked to and from work until retirement and nowadays walk from home to the shops, to mosque and to the community centre. It would be interesting to confirm that despite the tough working conditions they endured, their health is good partly because of their continual walking.
But it’s not just older Yemeni men who walk down Spital Hill into town. It must be one of the most well-worn pavements coming down to the Wicker, up to the markets and town from any residential neighbourhood.
Obviously at present, the bus diversions have made it quicker to walk – and certainly cheaper than the £1 fare from Gower Street. But will the new inner Relief Road make it harder to walk into town? Colleagues in transport planning say that the new road will be one of the most ‘pedestrian friendly’ roads – despite the number of carriageways to cross!