Temporary Traffic Lights

Do companies need planning permission to set them up? Seems any slight work even on a grass verge has to have them these days. I’ve seen utility companies set some up when the only things taking a lane out are their parked vans.

I was sat at some today. No workers, no vehicles, no hole ■■■■ knows why they were there.

I went through some today that were working fine (or appeared to be) but had to follow a quadbike through em :open_mouth: …I thought it was some ■■■■■ leading me to my doom :laughing:

Having worked for a utility company i can confirm that you don’t need any planning permission to set them up, however if any slight obstruction occurs to road users (especially at road junctions) and they are not in place, the council highways officer will email photo’s to the company concerned and issue an unlimited fine.

Any roadworks need to have an opening notice and closing notice lodged with the appropriate council, if any barriers, road signs or cones are left behind when the closing notice expires, again the council officer emails the company the photo’s and issues a fine for every item left behind, it could be £50 per traffic cone or £1000 per traffic cone there is no set limit and a real money spinner for the councils. Essentially they go through the list of closing notices and visit the sites after 5pm in order to issue fines. My job was to deliver and /or remove these items before the company was fined amongst other things. Un-surprisingly London borough council fines are astronomical.

redbob:
I went through some today that were working fine (or appeared to be) but had to follow a quadbike through em :open_mouth: …I thought it was some [zb] leading me to my doom :laughing:

Hate convoy systems with a passion. Speed limit through works is 30 but the convoy guy drves at walking pace. They’ve got lights why faff with some reject on a power trip?
The lights I detest the most are the temporary ones that appear outside Blenheim Palace during main events like the Horse Trials. Some ■■■■ will stop a load of traffc to let out a Range Rover and a coach. Change the lights back but as soon as some other muppet with more money than sense leaves Blenheim, all traffic is stopped to let them out. No need for it whatsoever.

Road works on anything but a Motorway or major A road fall into 3 categories according to Chapter 8 of the road traffic act. Put simply

A minor obstruction
This can be managed in a number of ways, “road narrows” signage, a “give and take system” or Stop and Go boards or temporary traffic lights

Next would be a larger obstruction, controlled usually with either Stop and Go boards or temporary traffic lights and/or a convoy system. This also incudes mobile works.

Full closure
As it says on the tin, a road or a portion of it will be totally closed and a diversion put in place, as I understand it a diversion must take traffic on a similar class of road i.e you cant close an A road and divert onto B roads etc which is why diversions are generally longer.

The key to all this is cost, as an example an overnight 12 hour closure of a normal A road costs between £5000 and £10’000 per day.

Permits are required for ANY road works and these are enforced by local councils and the Highways Agency (depending on the class of road).

Traffic Management firms (those who put the signage, cones, convoy, traffic lights etc on the road MUST use Chapter 8 recognised signage and equipment and operators of said equipment must hold a Chapter 8 authorisation. However most Traffic Management firms have very few Chapter 8 registered operators and as a result most road works are to arse.

For those that think road works are a pain for those working around them, working in them is generally worse in my experience.

Top marks in my experience to Drayton Construction; When using temporary lights they are controlled by a signalman in a box which makes the traffic flow brilliantly.
Agree with TT about working in them, turn on a set of beacons and many drivers go into ■■■■■■ mode. I’ve had people follow me into coned sections, through road closures and actually onto the under construction part of the A34/M40 slip road widening.
Their look when they’ve got me infront with reversing lights on and a D6 attacking from behind must’ve been priceless (yes they were National Trust members).
:laughing:

Ususally have to give notice for planned works in the carriageway and associated verges e.g. renewal of a water pipe, but emergencies can be done retrospectively e.g. burst water main. Part of the notice covers the reinstatement for a period, I believe it used to be 2 years but stand to be corrected (long time since I did my NRSWA supervisers course).