City of London set to close Charterhouse Square to motor traffic during school hours

Image credit: City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation is launching its first ‘School Street’ outside Charterhouse Square School from 26 April in a bid to support children walking and cycling to and from the school, and help reduce road danger during busy drop off and pick up times.

The initiative will see a small section of Charterhouse Square closed to all motor vehicle traffic, including licensed taxis, between 8.15-9.15am and 3-4pm Monday to Friday. The scheme will only be in place during term time.

Emergency service and refuse vehicles will be the only vehicles exempt from the restrictions.

According to the Corporation, the opportunity to improve safety outside Charterhouse Square School was identified long before the pandemic. The scheme will be implemented through an Experimental Traffic Order and will be in place for up to 18 months, with consultation and monitoring undertaken during this period. If the trial scheme is deemed to be successful, the changes may be made permanent.

Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee at the City of London Corporation, Oliver Sells QC, said: “I am delighted that we are opening the Square Mile’s first School Street outside Charterhouse Square School to support students, and reduce road danger in the area.

“It goes without saying that making City streets safer will always be a top priority for us and this scheme is expected to bring significant benefits for the school and local communities.

“The experimental scheme will be closely monitored, and should it prove to be successful then we shall proceed to make this change permanent.”