Traffic-Free Schools
The Traffic-Free Schools project is being delivered at schools across East Dunbartonshire as the Council delivers on its commitment to improve road safety and encourage active travel at primary schools, as set out within the Parking Management Plan, approved in 2022.
Traffic-Free Schools is an initiative where sections of road immediately outside the entrance to schools are subject to prohibition of driving restrictions for a short time at the start and end of the school day. This can improve safety by reducing the volume of vehicles parked and moving around at the busiest areas for children and adults accessing the school. It can also make places more attractive for walking, wheeling and cycling, encouraging more journeys to be made in this way.
You can find more information on the Parking Development Plan web page.
Benefits of the Traffic-Free Schools
The core objectives of this project are to improve road safety and the surrounding environment outside schools for pupils, carers, staff and neighbouring residents. By restricting the street during set times, it will help to create a safer and more pleasant environment for children and parents alike.
By reducing the access to the street during the core times, the project aims to deliver the following benefits for the core school drop off / pick up times:
- An increase in road safety and a reduction in the volume of traffic
- An increase in walking, cycling and wheeling to schools
- Improvements in air quality and noise pollution.
Restriction Arrangements
An Experimental Traffic Regulation Order is used to prohibit driving on the specified section of roads at each school between 08.30 - 09.15 and 14.30 - 15.15, Monday to Friday, during school term time.
Access will be maintained at all times for permit holders, blue-badge holders and permitted vehicles.
Those permitted access include:
- Permit holders – permits will only be issued to households and businesses within the road restriction zone. All households and businesses who will be affected by this project are being contacted directly.
- Emergency permits will be available to school staff to allow for any necessary movement within the times of operation.
- Emergency services, doctors on call, district nurses, carers and support workers.
- School buses and school transport serving the school (including school contract taxis).
- Blue badge holders.
- All postal and delivery vehicles.
- Council vehicles, e.g., refuse vehicles and statutory undertakers (utility companies) serving properties within the affected zone.
- All vehicles being used in connection with weddings or funerals”
If a person driving a vehicle not covered by the above exemption enters the restricted zone during the restricted period, then they will be committing an offence. An offence such as this would be enforced by Police Scotland who may issue a £50 Fixed Penalty Notice.
Existing parking restrictions within the zone remain unaffected and may still be subject to enforcement action from the Council.
A pilot phase of the project was undertaken between November 2023 and January 2025 at four primary schools using an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order as set out above. The participating schools and associated restricted zones in the pilot phase were as follows:
Clober Primary School
- Kirk Street
- Craigielea Crescent (from its junction with Kirk Street to its junction with Ashburn Road)
Craighead Primary School
- Craighead Road
- Craighead Avenue
- School Lane
St. Matthew’s Primary School and Wester Cleddens Primary School
- Park Road (from its junction with Hillside Drive to its junction with Birnam Avenue)
Detailed monitoring was carried out throughout the project through traffic counts, parking surveys and question and answer surveys with parents, carers, school staff and local residents.
The monitoring revealed that the volume of vehicle traffic significantly reduced at all three locations in the morning and afternoon, with reductions of up to 76% counted at Clober Primary School in the morning.
The number of parents and carers stopping and parking directly outside the school entrances also saw a large decrease, with reductions of up to 78% and 79% recorded in the morning at Craighead Primary School and at the shared restricted zone at St. Matthew’s Primary School and Wester Cleddens Primary School respectively.
A fifth of all parents and carers also said they had changed their main mode of travel, with 66% of this group saying they walk more to and from school, with 45% using the car less since the project has been in place.
The results of the monitoring were reported in full to the Council’s Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets Committee in January 2025, with the Committee approving the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order to be made permanent.
Following a successful pilot phase, the Council has selected three schools to be part of Phase 2 of the project. Phase 2 will operate under the same operational arrangements as the pilot phase including restriction times, exemptions, permit scheme, enforcement and monitoring.
The selected schools and their respective restricted zones are listed below, with an accompanying plan.
Lennoxtown Primary School
- Carlins Place
- School Lane
- North Birbiston Road (from School Lane to its junction with Slatefield).
View the Lennoxtown Primary School Plan
Meadowburn Primary School
- Horndean Court
- Lendale Lane
- Lyne Croft
- Teviot Avenue (between its junctions with Mennock Drive and Yarrow Road).
View the Meadowburn Primary School Plan
Thomas Muir Primary School
- Carradale Gardens
- Clair Road
- Kirriemuir Gardens
- Kirriemuir Road
- Ochil Road
- Thrums Avenue
- Thrums Gardens.
Phase 2 - Before Survey
Please use this form to give your views on current traffic and parking behaviours around your school community and your views on the Traffic-Free Schools project prior to its implementation.
Further information and contact details
To discuss any part of this project further, you can contact the Traffic and Transport team by email at TrafficFreeSchools@eastdunbarton.gov.uk or by phoning 0300 123 4510 and asking to speak to the Traffic and Transport team.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Background
The project prohibits driving in short sections of road outside selected local primary schools at the beginning and end of the school day during term time.
Pilot phase
- Clober Primary School, Milngavie
- Craighead Primary School, Milton of Campsie
- Matthew’s Primary School, Bishopbriggs
- Wester Cleddens Primary School, Bishopbriggs
Phase 2
- Lennoxtown Primary School
- Meadowburn Primary School, Bishopbriggs
- Thomas Muir Primary School, Bishopbriggs
Clober Primary School
- Kirk Street
- Craigielea Crescent (from its junction with Kirk Street to its junction with Ashburn Road).
Craighead Primary School
- Craighead Road
- Craighead Avenue
- School Lane.
St. Matthew’s Primary School and Wester Cleddens Primary School
- Park Road (from its junction with Hillside Drive to its junction with Birnam Avenue).
Lennoxtown Primary School
- Carlins Place
- School Lane
- North Birbiston Road (from School Lane to its junction with Slatefield).
Meadowburn Primary School
- Horndean Court
- Lendale Lane
- Lyne Croft
- Teviot Avenue (between its junctions with Mennock Drive and Yarrow Road).
Thomas Muir Primary School
- Carradale Gardens
- Clair Road
- Kirriemuir Gardens
- Kirriemuir Road
- Ochil Road
- Thrums Avenue.
The pilot project is an action within the Council’s Parking Management Plan (PMP), which was approved in 2022. The action supports the schools’ policies within the PMP, including the Schools Access Hierarchy which promotes journeys to be made to / from school by walking, wheeling and cycling then public transport / school bus, then park and stride (where pupils are driven part of the way then make the final part of the journey on foot), and then finally by driving and parking safely around schools.
The action was subject to consultation during the Draft PMP consultation, with two-thirds of respondents supportive of the principle of the project.
It is intended that the pilot project will improve road safety and air quality in the immediate vicinity of schools at the beginning and end of the school day as well as making the areas more attractive for journeys to be made by active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling).
The pilot project was in place between November 2023 and January 2025.
Operation
The restrictions are in place at the following times on Monday-Friday during term time:
- 08:30am – 09:15am
- 2:30pm – 3:15pm
Yes. The restrictions are only in place from Monday-Friday, so weekends are not affected. The restrictions will not be enforced on days when the school is closed, e.g., holiday periods, in-service days and any potential election days.
Signs showing details of the restrictions are located at all relevant boundaries of each zone.
Yes. The existing restrictions remain unchanged and may still be subject to enforcement action from the Council if a contravention is observed.
No. The roads are not physically restricted as access will still be maintained for those who are exempt
- Permit holders (including local residents and business owners)
- Emergency services, doctors on call, district nurses, carers and support workers
- School buses and school transport serving the school (including school contract taxis)
- Blue badge holders
- All postal and delivery vehicles
- Council vehicles, e.g., refuse vehicles and statutory undertakers (utility companies) serving properties within the affected area
- Vehicles to be used in connection with wedding and funeral operations
- All vehicles being used in connection with weddings or funerals.
An Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) is used to introduce these restrictions. As the name suggests, this allows a local authority to make an ETRO on a temporary basis to experiment an intervention. This can provide an opportunity to use a more streamlined process to understand the effectiveness of an intervention prior to any decision to make it permanent.
The restrictions at the pilot phase schools will be made permanent through a Traffic Regulation Order.
Yes, providing your permit is on full display. Further information on the permit scheme and how to get one is provided below.
If a person driving a vehicle not covered by the above exemption enters the prohibited area during the restricted period, then they will be committing an offence. An offence such as this would be enforced by Police Scotland who may issue a £50 Fixed Penalty Notice if such a contravention is observed.
If you are not exempt, you should plan ahead and consider either using another mode of travel, travelling at a different time, or using a different route to ensure you are not driving in the affected area during the times of operation.
No. Enforcement is a matter for Police Scotland. It would not be the responsibility of the Council’s Community Safety team to enforce this restriction.
Permit scheme
Permit holders who display their permit within their vehicle are exempt from the restrictions and therefore able to drive their vehicle within the zone during times of operation.
All residents of households and owners of businesses located within the zone are eligible to use a permit.
All households and businesses within the zone will automatically receive one permit. This will be sent directly to your house / business.
No, the permit is linked to your address but can be used for multiple vehicles if it is on display at the time of the vehicle being driven within the zone.
Yes, you can apply for additional permits by emailing TrafficFreeSchools@eastdunbarton.gov.uk and providing your details.
The permit allows you to drive within the zone in which you reside.
No. The permit does not allow you to drive within the zone of any other schools included in the pilot. It does also not provide any exemptions to parking restrictions either within or outwith the zone.
The permit will be valid for as long as the restrictions are in force.
No. The permit is only applicable to residents of the household to which it was allocated.
There will be no charge for receiving the initial permit or for applying for additional permits.
No. Emergency permits will be available to school staff to allow for any necessary movement within the times of operation.
Please email: TrafficFreeSchools@eastdunbarton.gov.uk
General
The Council aims to deliver Phase 2 for at least the 2025/26 academic year, starting when the schools return in August 2025.
All school locations and communities are subject to monitoring prior to the project start. This included surveys of traffic levels and parking, as well as surveys asking school communities, including local residents, about their attitudes to travel and parking issues in the school vicinity. This will be revisited during the project to inform monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the project at each location.
Any future decision for each phase of the project will be informed by the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the project.
It is anticipated that traffic and parking levels may increase in streets surrounding the zone. However, in the interests of road safety, the aim of the project is to remove the most significant volume of vehicle traffic and inconsiderate parking behaviours from the area most heavily used by adult and children pedestrians, i.e., directly outside school gates. The intention is that this will make these roads safer for all non-motorised users, encouraging more journeys to be made by alternative means, reducing the effect of vehicle traffic on the wider area. The results of the monitoring during the pilot phase have not shown any significant issues in neighbouring streets.
Please visit the Council’s webpage for information on walking, wheeling and cycling. The website includes maps, route planners, cycle training and maintenance, bike rental facilities and much more.
Any future decision beyond the agreed phases of the project will be informed by the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the project. Should you have any comments on the project or suggestions about possible future locations please get in touch at: TrafficFreeSchools@eastdunbarton.gov.uk