'Child-friendly' design to be implemented on Waterford school roads
Councillors were impressed with the approach taken in The Netherlands. Stock Image
Waterford City and County Council is working toward a national initiative to implement uniform design on school roads.
That is according to Senior Engineer, Michael Murphy at the February sitting of the Metropolitan District Council.
Mr Murphy said that pencil bollards recently installed at some schools were just the start.
“Every school across the 26 counties will have the exact same approach on either side and the starting point is those pencil bollards.
“The principle you mentioned about keeping all schools the same is what we are working towards because as you can imagine, there are an awful lot of schools to be done,” said Mr Murphy
He was responding to Councillors Lola O’Sullivan and Frank Quinlan, who called for an approach to be taken in the Déise.
Cllr O’Sullivan said that when they visited Utrecht, it was very clear when you were in a school zone: “You knew when you were coming up to a school and you were in a different country, but you knew instantly when you came to a school because of the colours around the school."
Cllr Quinlan supported his colleague and suggested one-way streets for some school zones.
This, he said, would encourage cycling to school.
"When we were in Utrecht, I thought it was great the way the roads were in colour. They were child-friendly to make your way around the school, and there were different signs," said Cllr Quinlan.
Cllr Joanne Bailey said she has received some lovely feedback from parents at Ursuline College about the recent installation of pencil bollards.
