Bright yellow "keep clear" markings painted in English and Welsh have been mistakenly reinstated on a road outside a school that shut a decade ago, prompting Flintshire council to acknowledge the error and commit to removing them. The 30-foot-long (9.1 metres) markings were applied outside Ysgol y Fron in Holywell after Welsh Water carried out sewer network improvements and was instructed by the council to restore the carriageway "on a like-for-like basis", resulting in the school-specific road signs being repainted despite the building's long closure.
This story was first reported by BBC News.
According to BBC News, the markings were reinstated following Welsh Water's work on Halkyn Street. A report published on 29 October confirmed that Flintshire Council will remove the school keep-clear markings from the former school site.
Ysgol y Fron closed on 1 September 2016 as part of a Holywell schools reorganisation, when it merged with Ysgol Perth y Terfyn to form Ysgol Maes-y-Felin at a new campus. The building now stands overgrown, though a nursery operates next door to the former school premises.
How did the mistake happen?
Russell Price, a Holywell resident, described the situation as "the talk of the town" and characterised it as "a bit daft, the school has been closed since 2016." He theorised that Welsh Water had been instructed to reinstate the road "like for like" by the council and took the instruction literally, replacing the faded old markings without checking whether the school remained operational. Price noted that the work took eight weeks, "so it would have been apparent the school was not in use."
He attributed the error to "a classic case of departments not talking to each other." Welsh Water stated: "Following some works to improve the sewer network in Halkyn Street, Holywell, we reinstated the carriageway. The markings were repainted on the instruction of the council."
According to the Leader Live, the council said the markings had been reinstated on a like-for-like basis using the original signage and Traffic Regulation Order, and that any changes would follow applicable traffic regulations and relevant orders.
What are local people saying?
Tamsin Prichard, who works nearby, branded the situation "a bit silly." She walks past the location regularly and initially thought the markings were intended for the daycare next door before realising they stopped short of the nursery premises.
What is the council doing about it?
Katie Wilby, the council's chief officer for streetscene and transportation, acknowledged the problem in a statement:
Following the installation and a review of this, the council recognises that the school-specific markings including the school keep clear zigzags and associated school no-parking markings are no longer appropriate given that the school has been closed for a number of years.
She confirmed that the council is taking corrective action, explaining:
The council is therefore rectifying this and following a review of the road markings outside the former school the council intends to remove the school-specific zigzag and no-parking markings while retaining the existing yellow lines.
What happens next?
The council intends to remove the school-specific zigzags and no-parking markings while retaining the existing yellow lines, though no completion date has been announced for the removal work.
