A scheme to improve road safety at a Fife school has been branded ”crazy” after it encouraged young children to play on the road.
Dozens of coloured circles have been painted on the street near Sinclairtown Primary in Kirkcaldy, where pupils cross on their way to school.
Fife Council said the aim is to make drivers more attentive, but horrified locals claim youngsters have been using the new road markings to play games in the street.
Cars have been forced to stop to avoid hitting the children and people have now called on the local authority to paint over the patterns to prevent an accident.
Heather Leslie, whose eight-year-old daughter Chloe is in P4 at Sinclairtown, said the circles defeated the purpose.
”They’re supposed to be making things safer but it’s encouraging the kids to go on the road it’s crazy,” she said.
Yvonne Keillor, who lives in Viewforth Avenue just yards from the school, said she had to stop her car three times to avoid colliding with pupils playing on the road.
”Kids are jumping in and out of the circles and playing hopscotch on them,” she said. ”Look at them. What do they remind you of?
“They’re like the painted patterns in the school playground. Of course kids are going to play on them.”
The circles are part of a wider project in Sinclairtown to urge more children to walk to school and cut congestion in the surrounding streets.
The road layout in Roomlin Gardens has been changed to include raised areas, bollards and nibs in a bid to stop parents parking on the narrow street.
Two new ”park and walk” sites will also be installed to allow parents who normally drive their children to school to walk the last part of the journey.
It follows complaints from neighbours unable to get out their driveways at the beginning and end of the school day.
These changes have found favour with locals, but people have been left scratching their heads in bemusement at the yellow and white painted patterns.
Hairdresser Yvonne added: ”I’ve been on to the council about it and I’ve phoned the school to tell hem about the kids playing on the road. Does a child have to be hit before they are painted over?”
Fife Council transportation manager Murray Hannah said the circles, created by Glasgow-based artist Nicola Atkinson, had been inspired by Sinclairtown pupils’ experience of the journey to and from school.
”The designs for the junction will be placed where many pupils already walking to and from school cross the road and are intended to create unique ‘feel’ to the area and encourage drivers to be more attentive when travelling through the area,” he said.
Work on the street design project is expected to be complete by next month.
Photo David Wardle