NIMBY Letter of the Month

Dear Ed:

NIMBY Alert: We live in Grey Street and would be affected by the proposed changes to access to Martinborough School.

However, I don’t think the proposed changes (as described in last month’s Star) would solve the real problems that threaten children’s safety.

The first problem is the lack of on-street parking. All-day parkers (presumably teachers and other staff) take up the available spaces well before school starts, leaving little room for parents who want to drop off or pick up their kids. They must also compete for space with school buses.

A simple solution here would be for the school to provide staff and visitors with more off-street parking: the school has plenty of room.

Roberts Street could then become a short-term parking zone (30 minutes maximum perhaps). Dublin Street near the school could be made a No Stopping Zone (except perhaps for school buses), reducing the problems caused by mixed traffic.

A prohibition on stopping on the west side of Roberts Street would also make it safer for children (no kids darting across the street to school after being dropped off). It would also stop the unkerbed and unchanneled roadside being churned into a mud heap. 

The second problem is the behaviour of some drivers, who just stop wherever it suits them near the school with little regard to other vehicles or pedestrians. It gets worse: for example, the other day around 8:45 a.m. I watched a mother drive her large SUV slowly along Grey Street and into Roberts Street – she was tracking her child who was riding a cycle along the footpath, yelling instructions all the way, but oblivious to other vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Shifting the school’s entrance to Grey Street would not solve the traffic problem. All that would change is that kids would get dropped off in Grey Street from buses or cars and then have to walk to the school buildings — across the grass fields (wet in winter) or back along Roberts Street. Shifting the main entry for kids to Roberts Street makes more sense, but only if the parking and driving problems are addressed.

We don’t currently see many kids walking or biking to school along Grey Street, leading us to think that most who travel on foot or bike reach the school along Dublin St or Broadway St. The busy supervised pedestrian crossing supports that observation. They would probably continue to use that route and enter through the school’s “old” gates. The safety issues would continue. And having to enter from Grey Street would make it a much longer trip. 

Children’s safety is a worthy objective. These proposals need more work, perhaps in consultation with local residents.

Richard Rudman