A Kirkcaldy community group could call on Fife Council to close a local road to prevent parents from dropping their children off at on of Fife’s biggest primary schools.
Members of the Dallas Drive Tenants and Residents Association could call for a stretch of road outside of Torbain Primary School to be closed completely at the start and end of the school day following complaints that residents are unable to leave their homes.
Dozens of vehicles park on Blairmore Road as parents drop off or collect their children at what is the largest primary school in Kirkcaldy.
However, angered by years of being blocked in their driveways and congestion, residents say closing the road to all outside traffic might be the only way to tackle the problem.
Sharon Reynolds, chair of the Dallas Drive Tenants and Residents Association, said inconsiderate parking was also creating safety issues in the area.
She said: “It’s getting to the point where a child is going to get seriously injured or killed. Parents can’t be bothered parking their car a couple of hundred metres down the road.
“They’re double parking, parking on double yellow lines, and just not bothered. It’s like they want to get as close to the school as they possibly can. We’re putting a survey together to find out what people want to do.”
The possibility of closing the road at pick up and drop off times has been mentioned, with initial proposals likely to call for Blairmore Road being sealed off between Dollar Crescent and Birnam Road at peak times.
While acknowledging several issues that such a move would create, Neil Crooks, chair of the Kirkcaldy area committee, said that a resolution to the situation is desperately needed.
“It is a controversial idea. It pits people that walk to school against those people that get dropped off.
“The issue has been going on for seven or eight years and I’ve had various meetings with people from the area.
“The drivers can be inconsiderate by blocking driveways, and the school has put letters out and tried various things, but it has not made any difference.”
