The idea of a school street is to create a road that is close to a school and implement specific restrictions upon motor traffic, to encourage people to walk or cycle instead.
The announcement has come from Transport for Greater Manchester, to help make a difference for ‘Clean Air Day’ on the 17th of June.
Air pollution contributes to around 1,200 deaths in Greater Manchester each year, so it has become a major priority to tackle.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “We all have a role to play in cleaning up our air. Children are most affected by air pollution and much of their exposure to it is during the school run.”
The School Streets project was created to assist in Greater Manchester’s ambition to deliver the largest cycling and walking network within the United Kingdom and achieve carbon neutrality by 2038.
With 84% of Greater Manchester’s primary school children travelling less than one mile to school, the addition of these new school streets could make it easier for a great deal of children to walk or cycle to school.
If all car journeys of less than one kilometre within Greater Manchester were instead cycled or walked, it would prevent at least 42,750 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, leading to less of a contribution to global warming.
That saving alone is equivalent to the planting of 21 million trees just in the space of a year, showing why Greater Manchester is taking air pollution so seriously.
Several schools within Greater Manchester implemented school streets for clean air day last year, so these will be the first permanent fixtures of the school streets within the area.
The people of Greater Manchester are being encouraged to spread the word and share their active travel journeys on social media by using #GMCleanAirDay and tagging @CleanAirGM. More information about how to get involved and make a difference can be found online at cleanairgm.co