The close proximity of three schools at Wellington's Basin Reserve has a history of causing daily traffic chaos.

Parents are clogging up the capital – stopping their cars in the middle of roads, causing delays and creating safety concerns during school pick-up and drop-off periods.

The frustration this creates has gotten so bad in Wellington that one parent has even threatened to run over the principal of a city school.

To alleviate the mayhem, and congestion, Wellington City Council wants to develop a school travel plan focused on "active transport" options and alternative pick-up zones.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Traffic builds on Sussex St, outside the Basin Reserve, near a cluster of schools.

If adopted, it would be a formal city-wide agreement between the council, each school and its board, police and other stakeholders such as teachers, parents and students.

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The move comes after years of reported traffic jams outside Wellington schools, particularly around St Mark's School, Wellington College and Wellington East Girls' College, which are all near the Basin Reserve traffic chokepoint.

But the issue is widespread.

On Thursday, councillors will debate whether some car parks in the suburb of Newtown should be converted into a pick-up and drop-off zone during peak times to alleviate morning and afternoon pressure points.

In a submission, Newtown School said a lack of suitable parking meant some parents were stopping in the middle of the road to drop off their children, causing delays, congestion and pedestrian safety concerns.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Traffic jams are common, particularly around St Mark's School, Wellington College and Wellington East Girls' College, which are all near the Basin Reserve.

South Wellington Intermediate School principal Traci Liddall said daily bottlenecks were particularly bad when it rained.

"I've had parents do the fingers, throw a complete hissy-fit and one dad threaten to run me over when I'm trying to get them to move away from the pedestrian crossing and not park on the yellow, dotted-lines," she said.

Rintoul St was the main chokepoint because parents seemed to think their kids would "melt" if dropped further than 10 metres from the gate.

"Common sense, it seems, gets lost around the school gate," Liddall said.

"Every year it's a little bit worse – the whole cotton-wool, helicopter parents where they think something might happen on the way to school."

Hilleke Townsend, the city council's sustainable transport coordinator, said the school travel plan would help the public better understand student travel options, improve safety and educate parents on ways to alleviate pressure on roads.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF The roads around the Basin Reserve in Wellington are notoriously bad for congestion, which isn't helped by having a cluster of schools in the area.

"When you have hundreds of children, teenagers and their parents or whānau all trying to leave a school within a 10 minute window at the end of the school day, that does cause a bit of congestion, which no school is immune from."

The plan could introduce "Park and Stride" drop-off areas – spots near schools that provide "ample" parking, far enough from the school gate to reduce the "chaos".

But councillor Iona Pannett said finding the space in a compact city like Wellington would be difficult.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF Cars queue up outside St Mark's School in Wellington, near the Basin Reserve.

Not allowing children to make their own way to school was "wrapping our kids up in cotton wool", she added. "It's about a culture change."

Pannett admitted that existing infrastructure was putting schools and parents off embracing the motorless commute. She wanted speed limits lowered to 30kmh.

A Karori Normal School parent, who did not want to be named, said there was a "mum's mafia" that frowned upon other mothers who allowed children younger than 10 to make their own way to school.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF Wellington City Council will discuss changing parking in Newtown to ease traffic during school terms.

"It's not the done thing."

This was despite the school encouraging "walking school buses", providing space to keep scooters and bikes, and adopting a "Kiss and Drop" programme to help with traffic flow as parents dropped children off at the gate, she said.

"It stops parents from taking up parks, double-parking everywhere or parking illegally. It works really well there."

WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL/SUPPLIED Wellington City Council has proposed parking changes to Mein St in Newtown to solve the risky school pick-ups and drop-offs happening there.

Townsend said most children, when asked, were really keen to walk, scoot or bike to school independently.

"They can help give their parents confidence in their abilities by obeying road rules. We encourage children to find a friend to walk with, or a group of other children."

The council's latest resident survey showed 53 per cent of under 13-year-olds walked to and from school every day, up from 26 per cent in 2013.