---
title: "School Street"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/school-street/"
id: "LOC-SCH-11"
description: "A Local Typology that closes or restricts vehicle traffic during active school hours, protecting pedestrian and bicycle arrival and dismissal."
updated: "2026-09-26"
---

# School Street

`LOC-SCH-11`

Recommended Local

School Street

A Local street adjacent to a school that restricts or excludes vehicle traffic during arrival and dismissal, then reverts to normal Local operation the rest of the day.

## Related Media

The items below come from outside the Commonway System, external videos, podcasts, and articles related to this page's topic, not part of the guidebook itself.

Aligned

### [Let's FIX the HIGH SCHOOL (with 152 ROUNDABOUTS!)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZUZA76L09M)

Road Guy Rob

The origin story of Carmel's roundabout program, starting with a contentious school-zone traffic-calming project, and the engineering fix (tightened entries, fatter center island) that made the design work.

Typical at: Compact Urban Core

Suburban is an edge case. Undeveloped and Rural are unlikely pairings, where schools are typically set back with dedicated drop-off lots rather than fronting a closable street.

## Speed and modal hierarchy

Design speed & speed limit

\[SPEED LIMIT 20\]

Vehicle access is restricted or excluded during arrival and dismissal. Outside of active hours, the Local default applies: 20 mph hard maximum, no exceptions.

See [Design Speed & Speed Limits](https://commonwaysystem.org/guide/design-speed.md).

Modal hierarchy

During active hours:

Pedestrian > Bicycle

Off-hours:

Pedestrian > Bicycle > Transit > Vehicle > Freight

This pattern carries two separate modal hierarchies depending on time of day, not one: full pedestrian/bicycle exclusivity during arrival and dismissal, the Local base order the rest of the time.

## Design notes

This Typology and Festival Street share the same schedule-based structure, full closure or restriction during a defined window, base operation otherwise. Both were added to the system after a NACTO gap-check identified time-restricted street patterns not otherwise covered by the core Local set.[1]

## Related patterns

[Festival Street](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/festival-street.md) (LOC-FES-08) (shares this pattern's schedule-based structure, per both pages' Design notes)

## References

1.  Evidence-based [Gellatly, R. and Marner, B., "Air Quality Monitoring Study: London School Streets," 2021.](https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-and-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/environment-publications/school-streets-air-quality-study)