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More on KentOnline
School bosses have unveiled plans for a parking shake-up to put an end to traffic chaos on surrounding roads.
Parents ferrying children to and from Reculver Primary in Herne Bay are parking on double-yellow lines and across driveways as they search for spaces.
And the issue has been worsened by the presence of construction vehicles travelling to and from a 40-home development in Puffin Road.
In a bid to end the problem, head teacher Jenny Ashley-Jones has revealed hopes of creating a drop-off zone outside the entrance to the building.
“At the moment, the roads are clogging up where people are trying to find a place,” Ms Ashley-Jones explained.
“This is a problem every school has, but because of the way the roads are configured, the traffic’s quite bad here. It’s a bit of a bottleneck around here.”
Ms Ashley-Jones instructed an architect to draw up the plans for the site prior to the outbreak of coronavirus.
Under the proposals, the school’s staff car park would be moved to a nearby playing field and replaced with the system.
With land at a nearby plot in Hillborough earmarked for more than 1,400 homes, Ms Ashley-Jones believes it will help prevent congestion from worsening once the properties are built.
“More traffic will come with the work, when we’re already struggling with traffic around the school,” she added.
“It would alleviate the parking issues on the roads around the school and hopefully take some of the pressure off the roads.”
In addition, the stretch of Reculver Lane directly outside the newly created entrance would be made one-way.
Ms Ashley-Jones still needs to secure funding for the work and submit applications to Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council.
“It’s a long - to medium-term plan that we’ve got – but unfortunately coronavirus has taken over,” she said.
“We haven’t got the money as part of the budget.
"We’ve got to speak to the developers at Hillborough – it could be something they’d consider contributing to later."
