Traffic Regulation Orders

A Traffic Regulation Order (TROs) is a legal document that allows local authorities and the police to introduce restrictions on parking, speed, and vehicle movements.

To comment on proposed TROs, see Traffic Regulation Order Notices

Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders

Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTRO) cover restrictions needed for roadworks or special events. We apply for these when people ask for a licence to close the road or do work on the road that makes a restriction necessary.

Permanent Traffic Regulation Orders

Permanent TROs are put in place to cut traffic congestion, improve health and safety or quality of life, or help provide parking where it is needed.

These TROs cover restrictions such as:

• speed limits
• one-way streets
• width and height restrictions
• access and turning
• bus lanes and bays
• residents' parking
• school entrance markings

We only consider making new permanent TROs or changing existing ones when we have evidence from the police or from our own research that the new restriction will help solve a problem. We must balance the scale of the problem with our duty to keep traffic flowing.

The Traffic Regulation Order process

We must go through a formal legal process to introduce or change a TRO. This means that putting a TRO in place can be expensive, because of advertising and legal fees on top of the costs of any engineering work. These fees and costs have to come out of council funds.

Before a permanent TRO is put in place, we consult with people who might be affected.

These include:

• parish/town councillors
• the emergency services
• the Freight Transportation Association and Road Haulage Association
• residents, local businesses and community groups
• public transport operators

We advertise the plans for the TRO in the local newspaper. We also put notices up in the affected street. There is then a 3-week period for the public to give comments for or against the proposal.

After the consultation, we consider all the comments and decide whether to go ahead with the scheme, change it, or abandon it. If we decide to change it, we might need to advertise again.

Because of the length of time needed for consultations and legal work, it can be a year or more from the time we apply to the time the order is agreed.

Any existing restrictions stay in place until the new TRO is made.

To find out what to do if you think a new restriction could be useful, see road safety improvement projects.

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Page last reviewed: 12 November 2024