Kids bling their rides in traffic campaign

Schoolchildren from a Brighton school ‘spring blinged’ their bikes recently to highlight the need for a safer traffic-free route to their school.

Cycling children fromMiddleStreet Primary School attached model nests, chicks and spring lambs to their bikes and helmets in a Sustrans-organised event to highlight its year-old campaign for adjacent Boyces Street to be made traffic-free.

 The sustainable transport charity believes Middle Street Primary could boost its cycling levels even more if a traffic-free route running from its National Cycle Network could lead into the school gates and hope to persuade Brighton & Hove City Council to make Boyce’s Street traffic-free.

Ben Sherratt, Sustrans’ new Bike It officer for Brighton, said: “This school is very keen to continue improving its environmental credentials and if we could persuade the council to divert the traffic then it could become a flagship site in the heart of Brighton.”

 Bike It is a nationwide scheme, managed by Sustrans. Nationally the project is funded by Cycling England and the cycle industry with local support from councils. Boyces Street falls within a road safety project funded by the Department for Transport through the local council known as the North Street Project. Owen McIlroy, Project Manager for the North Street Project told Bikeradar: ‘Whether Boyces Street becomes traffic-free as part of the North Street Project depends on the results of a consultation, which will be taking place over coming months, with all groups affected by potential changes.”