July 2014

Eaton School RunLiving Streets’ - Walking Cities Norwich

School Route Audit for Eaton Primary School Eaton, Norwich, Norfolk

Funded by Department of Health, Walking Cities Programme

Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk.

Contents

Introduction 3

Map of Audit Route 5

Summary of Audit Findings 6Street Design 6Surfaces 6Litter 7Shared Use 7Traffic 7Pedestrian Space 8Hazards 8Unadopted Driveway 9

Recommendations from Audit 10

Timetable for action 13

Key recommendations map 14

Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk.

Introduction

Living Streets

Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we

work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets and public spaces, where people want

to walk.

We have been the national voice for pedestrians throughout our 85 year history. In the early years, our campaigning led to the introduction of the driving test, pedestrian crossings and 30mph speed limits. Since then our ambition has grown. Today we influence decision-makers nationally and locally, run successful projects to encourage people to walk, and provide specialist services to helpreduce congestion and carbon emissions, improve public health, and make sure every community can enjoy vibrant streets and public spaces.

Living Streets works with local authorities and partners to assess streets and public spaces with a view to improving the walking environment, and encourage a healthy and active approach to travel.

Community Street Audits

A Community Street Audit is a tool developed by Living Streets to help create better streets and spaces for pedestrians, as part of a safe, attractive and enjoyable environment for all users.

Living Streets has audited walking routes in major cities, busy town centres and residential areas. The resulting report has successfully helped to secure funding for short-term improvements and also contribute to master-plans for longer term projects.

Community Street Audits are a way to evaluate the quality of streets and spaces from the viewpointof the people who use them, rather than those who manage them. We involve small groups of localresidents, traders, councillors and officers to assess a route on foot, following which a detailed report is produced with recommendations. It is a facilitated approach where people are asked to discuss their experiences (based on the walkabout, but more importantly on everyday knowledge of the area), and notes are taken by the facilitators. People are also asked to find solutions for issues raised, and focus on positive elements, as well as the negative.

Notes are pulled together under the ‘Findings’ section of the report across several criteria, and a pragmatic approach to solutions is made in the ‘Recommendations’ section, based on what is achievable to create better streets and spaces given the particular context of the area and partners.Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk.

Walking Cities Programme

In May 2014 in three cities Living Streets’ launched the Walking Cities Programme to run until March 2015. The work is funded by the Department of Health, and Living Streets are working in partnership with local organisations in Norwich, Birmingham and Leeds/Bradford to delivery the programmes locally.

The programmes focus is on reducing health inequalities by tackling the barriers to walking and encouraging people to consider making local journeys by foot.

Walking is the form of transport that can support people to achieve government recommended physical activity targets, and enabling more people to make journeys to work and school on foot will play a big part in people reaching these targets. The walking cities programme in Norwich will be delivery a range of bespoke projects with the city's schools to incentivise walking, but this has togo hand in hand with improvements to the built environment.

To facilitate this the Walking Cities programme in Norwich will be working with local campaigns andorganisations. The programme will also be offering a Walkable Communities Small Grants Schemeto support communities to make positive changes and set up inspiring projects to improve use of their local public space.

Eaton and Tuckswood, Norwich

Eaton and Tuckswood are neighbouring communities to the east of Norwich city centre. For many years the catchment areas of both Eaton Primary School and City of Norwich School have includedboth communities. However the closure of a footpath in February 2014 has changed the journey distance between these communities and their schools.

The route audited is the walking route that the parents of children at Eaton Primary School have worked out to be the best route available to them for their school run.

Living Streets is the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk.

Map of Audit Route

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Summary of Audit findings

Street Design Photographs

Junction Design

Along the route there are various junctions that have to be navigated that are very wide at the point where the two roads meet. There is one such junction as the route climbs up Brentwood (pictured right) and the a similar junction as Wentworth Green meets Sunningdale. Crossing a road at a junction like this requires more confidence than crossing an average residential road. Older pedestrians and parents with young children are two of the groups that may find this challenging.

Corner Design

There are two corners on this route that due to their design are creating a challenge for pedestrians. The corners in questions both lead onto Newmarket Rd (A11), one from Sunningdale and the otherfrom Branksome Road. Due to a hedge and a fence both corners are blind as pedestrians venture onto the shared use path on Newmarket Road (A11), which is used by many cyclists as a commuter route into the city during the morning school run slot . For older pedestrians or parents with young children this poses both a risk and adds to the anxiety felt when walking this route. The corner from Sunngingdale (pictured middle right) comes with the additional challenge that the pavement isn't very deep due to the very wide road junction eating into pavement space.

Surface

Over half the route offers good pavement surfaces. Wentworth Green, Brentwood and Sunningdale have good even surfaces. Newmarket Road (A11) is patchyand uneven at points but had no serious pot holes on the audit. Branksome Road however was not in a good condition. Very uneven and pot holed in places.

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Litter

Litter levels for the entire route were low, which is good when you take into account the number of pedestrians and cyclists thatuse this route daily for the school run and their commute into the city.

Shared Use (A11)

The path alongside the A11 is shared between pedestrians and cyclists and is a busy commuter route for many people cycling into the city during the morning school run. The pedestrians on the audit shared multiple stories of issues between cyclists and pedestrians using the route. This path isn't wide enough to comfortably accommodate a high number of cyclists and pedestrians, and the volume of users at certain times of day is likely to create a barrier to some pedestrians using the routeat those times.

Traffic

Newmarket Road (A11)Busy at peak times of day, the weight of traffic alone makes being a pedestrian on this road at peak times quite an intense experience. This could add to the feeling ofanxiety connected to the route.

SunningdaleSunningdale is a quiet and wide road. During the audit we observed several cars traveling at high speed down it, and the experience of those on the audit were that this was very common. The speed of trafficcan add significantly to the challenge of crossing a road for older pedestrians and parents with young children.

Branksome RoadA residential road that during peak times is used as a cut through betweenEaton Road and Newmarket Road (A11). As a result during morning school run time those on the audit communicated that this usually quiet residential road becomes a noisy road with heavy traffic between Waverley Road and Newmarket Road.

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GreenwaysThis is another quieter residential road thatduring school run times becomes challenging for pedestrians. The road is a bus route, and with a high number of parents parking on it at school run times it is difficult to cross as a pedestrian.

Pedestrian Space

Branksome RoadThis residential road is a pleasant place to walk outside peak times. The road is lined with old trees and though the pavement isn't wide it is sufficient for light pedestrian traffic. However the level of use it is receiving as the key school run route for City of Norwich School and Eaton Primary School far exceeds the level of use there isspace to accommodate comfortably. The pavement serves two school routes and sopedestrians at school run times are travelling in both directions along it. At these times older pedestrians and parents with young children are likely to find this route challenging. Pavement space is also regularly encroached upon by pavement parked cars or commercial vehicles.

Hazards

BinsTwo of the roads where space is an issue for pedestrians also present the weekly hazard of bins being out for collection. Branksome Road and Newmarket Road (A11) are roads where pavement space is at a premium and so the space taken up by bins on bin collection day has a impact on the ease of navigating these roads.

Pavement ParkingMuch of this isn't affected by pavement parking to a serious extent, though it does pose issues for pedestrians on Greenwaysat school run times and on Branksome Rd.

Blind DrivewaysResidential driveways on Branksome Rd and Newmarket Rd (A11) where there isn't sufficient visibility for drivers to see pavement users creates regular issues on this route. This presents a risk to pedestrians and adds to anxiety.

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Unadopted Driveway

Pedestrian Access to DrivewayPart of this route is an unadopted drivewayto access a gate onto the playing field of City of Norwich School. Accessing this partof the route requires pedestrians to leave the footpath and walk across a wide piece of road. At school run times this area of road is where a high number of parents in cars drop students and then make a three point turn to exit this cul-de-sac. When pedestrians are exiting the unadopted driveway, the driveway to the left is obscured by high hedges. Making this part of the journey as a pedestrian poses risks that are likely to discourage some pedestrians.

Driveway The unadopted driveway that makes uppart of this route has a loose uneven surface and no separate footpath. It's width is only sufficient for one vehicle. The drive way only has one street light so during winter months the uneven surface isn't sufficiently illuminated.

Conclusion

There are elements of this route that present risks to pedestrians whenever the route is used. Foremost in these is the shared pathway on Newmarket Road (A11) during peak times and the access to and from the unadopted driveway at the end of Branksome Road. For certain types of pedestrians there are elements of this route that willjustifiably create anxiety, which is likely to be a barrier to some using the route on a regular basis.

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Recommendations from audit

Street Design Junctions

Improving the wide junctions on Sunningdale and Brentwood really requires remodelling. Building out the pavement will increase the pavement capacity at junctionsand make the distance to make a crossing shorter.

Corners

Branksome Rd onto Newmarket Rd – This corner is made blind by a fence connected to a residential property. The problem is made worse by the narrow width of the paved area at this point on the route. Repositioning of the signpost with the bus route sign on and extending the paved area to the kerb would improve the navigation ofthis corner. The signpost with the bus route sign on isn't secure in the ground so requires attention.

Sunningdale onto Newmarket Rd – This corner is made blind by the hedge connected to a residential property. The problem is made worse by the wide design on the junction prioritising space for vehicles. Improving this corner would require a redesigning of the junction to increase the width of the pavement using space currently used to make the junction for vehicles wide.

Surface

On the audit day the pavement surface was worst on Branksome Road. Since the audit some repairs have been made to the worst parts of the pavement on Branksome Road. This is an improvement though there are still areas of pavement on Branksome Road and Newmarket Road (A11) that are uneven and could be greatly improved.

Shared Use

The challenges presented to pedestrians by the shared use section of this routealong Newmarket Road (A11) isn't an easy thing to tackle. The width isn't sufficient to take for a high volume of both cyclists and pedestrians at the same time. Something that's made worse on this section of Newmarket Road by the location of the pedestrian crossing leading to conflict between four distinct groups: pedestrians waiting to cross, cyclists, pedestrians heading east and pedestrians heading west. The presence of old trees on the boundary between the road and the pavement would make claiming more width from the road difficult. The strongest proposal would be to reroute the cycle lane onto the roadand designating the pavement for pedestrian use only. Ensuring signage nofitying path users that the route is used by cyclists and pedestrians is present, clean and sufficient would be an additional step to take. The signs on the route were obscured by dirt on the day of the audit.

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Traffic

Newmarket Road (A11)

High levels of traffic on this road certainly affects the quality of the route for pedestrians, though it Isn't obvious what could be done to improve this.

Branksome Road

The weight of traffic on Branksome Road during peak periods is a result of people cutting through from Eaton Road to Newmarket Road on Waverney Road. Closing the Eaton Road end of Waverney Road to traffic would solve the problem of it becoming a cut through, though making such a change would involve modelling changes of traffic flow to understand what the knock on impact would be.

Sunningdale

For a residential road this is wide and empty, which can encourage speeding. There would be a range of different approaches to resolving this issue. One would be to improve enforcement on the road with regular police speed camera attendance. Similarly installing a sign that measures speed and displays it for the driver to see can be a good method for reducing people's speed. The third option would be to work with residents to introduce things that break up the feeling that the road is clear and wide. Installation of features like bike parking or planters on the road can be a positive approach to changing drivers perception of a space from the car having freedom to onewhere the space feels shared.

Greenways

This is a piece of road that is made challenging for pedestrians at peak times connected to the school run. The combination of parked cars, heavy traffic and buses at these times means that there are lots of issues that need tackling. The installation of a pedestrian crossing would be a solution. The nature of the area as a normally quiet residential road means that parking restrictions would probably not be appropriate. The introduction of a scheme like Living Street's Park and Stride scheme, where parents that have little option but to drive their children to school are offered somewhere near by to park, leaving a short walk to the school gates would reduce the high vehicle numbers at peak times from directly outside the school. In the short term installing signage warning motoristsof pedestrians crossing would be a measure that would increase visibility of the issue.

Pedestrian Space (Branksome Road)

Improving the width of pedestrian space on Branksome Road is challenging due to the presence of old trees that characterise the area. Improving the pavement surface would allow pedestrians to use the full width of the pavement for the full length of Branksome Road. There are afew street lamps which are installed in the middle of the path, which cause issues for pedestrians, especially if they are with pushchairs. Repositioning these to the edge of the pavement would greatly improve pedestrian space.

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Hazards

Bins

With limited options for improving pavement width, and bin collections a reality for the weekly life of a street, there are limited interventions to improve the hazard that bins create. Residents of a street are on the whole usually keen not to cause an obstructions and so a campaign locally to ensure that local residents are conscious of the issues their bins can cause would be the first approach to tackle this issue.

Pavement Parking

The experience of those on the audit was that when pavement parking was challenged,it would encourage pavement parkers to move vehicles to a less obstructive position. A campaign locally to ensure residents are conscious of the impact of pavement parking on residents would be a good first step.

Blind Driveways

Again it's fair to assume that most residents on Newmarket Road and Branksome Road would respond positively to a campaign raising awareness of the dangers to pedestrians of blind driveway exits. Such a campaign could suggest approaches to improve visibility for drivers exiting driveways from these driveways.

Unadopted Driveway

Pedestrian Access

This area of Branksome Road is in no way designed for the level of use by pedestrians that are using this route at peak school run times. A short term intervention would be to increase visibility of the issue with signage in the area and a campaign to raise awareness among residents of the number of pedestrians crossing the roadway to access the unadopted drive. However if this route is going to be used safely long term there needs to be a redesigning of this area for pedestrians and motorists. There needsto be a footpath to the entrance of the unadopted drive from both sides of Branksome Road.

Surface and Safety

The unadopted drive that is a part of this route at the time of the audit had a very uneven surface. If the route continues to get heavy use it will require regular repair as itis a loose construction. One street light for this length of this driveway will not be sufficient for darker winter evenings. An additional two street lights should ideally be installed, one at the entrance to the driveway from Branksome Road and one at the exitfrom the driveway into the City of Norwich School field.

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Timetable for action

Short term quick wins A local campaign to raise awareness of the impact of bins obstructing

the pavement on Branksome Road and Newmarket Road to pedestriansusing the route.

A local campaign to raise awareness of the impact of pavement parking on Branksome Road to pedestrians using the route.

A local campaign to raise awareness of the risks to pedestrians of blind driveway exits and suggested approaches to improve visibility for drivers on Branksome Road and Newmarket Road.

Install sign that measures and displays motorist speed on Sunningdale. Installation of a sign warning motorists of pedestrians crossing on

Greenways. Establishing a Park and Stride scheme for Eaton Primary School drop

off and pick up. Install signage at the unadopted drive end of Branksome Road

highlighting the high number of pedestrians that use the route to motorists.

Run a local campaign to notify residents of the pedestrians crossing Branksome Road to access the unadopted drive.

Clean and maintain signs on Newmarket Road informing users of the pathway that it is shared use.

Medium term Installation of two additional street lights on the unadopted driveway at

the end of Branksome Road. Repair and repositioning of the bus route sign on the corner between

Branksome Road and Newmarket Road (A11) Research the impact on traffic flow and response from residence of

closing the Eaton Road end of Waverney Road. Increase width of the pavement area at the junction between

Branksome Road and Newmarket Road (A11) by laying a hard surface in place of grass.

Move street lights positioned in the middle of the pavement on Branksome Road to the edge of the footpath.

Resurface the entire length of the footpath on Branksome RoadLonger term

Redesign on the road and pavement lay out at the entrance to the unadopted driveway on Branksome Road.

Install a pedestrian crossing on Greenways close to the Duverlin Road. Redesign junctions on Brentwood and Sunningdale to reduce junction

width, increase pavement size and reduce crossing distance for pedestrians.

Redesign the junction between Sunningdale and Newmarket Road (A11) to increase pavement width and reduce width of junction for cars.

Redesign cycling facilities on Newmarket Road off the pathway with a dedicated cycle path built into the road design.

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Key recommendations map

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