An emergency meeting following the death of an Edinburgh school boy in a road traffic accident was held by concerned parents last night (Thursday).
The meeting was called after an Edinburgh child died on 1 March as he cycled to school. On the same day, there was a serious road incident involving a Davidson’s Main Primary School pupil.
The parents from Davidson’s Mains Primary School organised the meeting to call on the city council to speed up road safety improvements for children coming to and from the school.
The meeting was attended by Scott Arthur, Chair of City of Edinburgh Council Transport and Environment Committee, local Councillor Norman Work and Dave Sinclair, Local Traffic and Road Safety Manager at the council.
At the meeting, the Council Transport team committed to make small scale improvements as soon as possible.
Parents were told that the current city-wide backlog of road safety plans would take 10 years for the Council to act on and that, in general, cases would only be considered in chronological order.
Kim Pratt, vice chair of the Davidson’s Mains Primary School Parent Council, said: “Parents are deeply concerned that our children are forced to navigate dangerous roads to and from school every day because Edinburgh Council are dragging their feet to improve road safety.
“At the rate that Edinburgh Council is acting, our children are growing up and leaving school before the surrounding roads are made safe.
“The Council have told us we must have a travel plan before they will act but the process is unclear and bureaucratic. Very few schools in Edinburgh have managed to complete the process. It feels like another excuse for the Council to delay.
“The Council have the power to make our roads safer and they must act faster and more decisively to protect our children travelling to and from school, not just in Davidson’s Mains, but across all of Edinburgh.”
Felicity Neyme, from the Davidson’s Mains School Road Safety Team said: “As a parent, seeing Edinburgh strive for net zero by 2030 fills me with hope. But that future can’t be achieved without clean air and safe streets for our children. That’s why it is important that Parent Councils collaborate with local leaders.
“Together, we can work to deliver tangible goals like improved pedestrian crossings and a reduction in car dependency around schools. This is about protecting our kids on their journey to school but it’s also about creating a healthier, more sustainable future for all of Edinburgh, aligned with the city’s inspiring net zero vision.”
Rod Alexander, from the Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes Association said: “The Association is fully supportive of the actions by the Primary School Parent Council to improve safety on the routes to school following the tragic death of a school child at Barnton and the serious accident involving a Davidson’s Mains school pupil on Main Street.
“We are concerned that the planned upgrade to the roundabout and crossings at the west end of Main Street have still not been completed a full seven years after a fatal accident on one of the crossings, and believe that priority should also be given to upgrading the crossing on Main Street at Silverknowes Road.
“We want to work with both schools in our local area to ensure priority is given to these and other projects to improve pupil safety, particularly recognising that children are being encouraged to walk and cycle to school to reduce car use.”
A recent survey conducted by the Parent Council found that 98% of parents responding to the survey thought that road safety for pupils could be improved.
In June 2019, the Council’s traffic survey showed that the average speed limit on Silverknowes Road East was 28.7 mph, despite being a 20 mph zone.
This is a main route to school for some pupils and there are no crossings. A crossing patrol assistant helps children cross safely at pick up and drop off times but is not present on every school day.
Despite the Council promising to investigate in 2023/24, no improvements have been made.