Traffic Regulation Orders

A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) is the legal document that creates a local traffic rule which requires road users to obey certain conditions eg one-way systems, speed limits, weight limits, movement and waiting restrictions.

The are required to:

• Control or direct traffic.
• Reduce and manage congestion
• Avoid or reduce danger to all road users
• Prevent damage to roads, bridges etc.
• Preserve the character, or amenity, of an area

Procedure for introduction

On our roads we are responsible for making TROs and can impose them on private roads with the permission of the landowner. For full details please contact your local area office.

TROs have associated administrative and legal costs, as well as the cost of implementing the scheme on the road. Formal consultation with local councils and the emergency services is required and notices must be published in the local press and posted 'on-street' to invite comments from the public. A single unresolved objection requires that the TRO be considered by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation. A Public Inquiry will be held, if objections to certain TROs ie access and loading restrictions, are not resolved.

Prioritisation

• Most TROs are considered in the review of the Local Delivery Plan programme, confirmed each year by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation.
• The shortest time scale for such an order is 6-9 months.

Enforcement

• Until appropriate lining and signing have been completed, the TRO cannot come into force.
• In some cases enforcement is still the responsibility of the police, the exception to this being Special Parking Areas.