I appear to have landed some responsibility with regard to a road closure in our village on the Tuesday of the Jubilee Celebrations.

We've organised the necessary traffic order etc. (well, the County Council have).

We need to put up signs when we close the road. The Jubilee Committee are of the opinion that some home-made signs will do, but I am concerned that we need to conform to the TSRGD.

So the question is - do we need to conform to the TSRGD?

TIA!,

Chris.

P.S. It is a through route, so I believe we need to sign both ends and the diversion route. It is an unclassified road.

This had recently been discussed in another thread, TSRGD needs to be complied with I believe was the answer

I'm sure this has probably been looked at by the CC and without specific knowledge of your location, my advice would be to ensure you've viewed the local area in a bit more wider ranging fashion to cover all the eventualities
Things that come to mind to me -
- are there any businesses/infrastructure that will be operating that day that will be affected by the road closure?
I'm thinking of farms with milk collections, sewage/water treatment works, the small business parks that you often get on the edges of villages etc that may well need unrestricted access.
- are there any restrictions (weight/width limits, sharp bends, narrow/low bridges etc) that will prevent access to the above without going through the village?
- How would any emergency service vehicles access the addresses above?
Do you need to leave provision for an emergency through route or have a plan for a fire engine or ambulance to access the area?
- Has the closure been communicated ?
I know closed is closed but speaking to local farms and businesses may well avoid having an irate lorry driver and having to supervise the turning of an articulated lorry during the day.
As for signs, is there anyone who works for a utilities company or a traffic management firm in the village (look for vans and pick ups) who could have the means to borrow a few signs for the day?
Good Luck - We will just be having a party at the end of our cul-de-sac which we can manage without outside intervention.

Our street party is in a cul-de-sac, which appears much more practical than trying to do it on a through street. Short streets between two other main roads seem similarly practical, but if people are wanting to have them on the carriageway of bus routes and other through routes, they really need to be guided to have them nearby.

See: Subject: Street party signs

Having said that the committee is subject to a duty of care to participants and road users. If going down the DIY route I would suggest getting them made to a good standard and giving some thougt to how they will be mounted securely where they will be clearly visible. A few bits of paper sellotaped together that blow away after 5 mins will just have cars running down the street all day!

If the road is normally used by non-local through traffic I would urge you to get a loan of some cones from somewhere - as compliance with lone "ROAD CLOSED" signs is not good in my experience.

Does the traffic order require a signed diversion route?

Have you asked the council if they can loan you some, or failing that asked the police if they are willing to help - police tape is close to 100% effective!

The 'Road Closed' varient of diagram 7010.1 is an information sign so compliance is rather irrelavant. You can use 7010.1 to sign a statutory closure with dia 7101+7105 or a physical obstruction. Either way the duty of a driver is to proceed slowly due to a signed hazard; which means don't end up with the Sandwich's on your bonnet.

Thanks for all your comments.

I have checked out the downloadable ones, and they look OK. However, in my opinion we need to sign a diversion too, so I will get in touch with the council and see if they can loan us some signs and cones.

For info, the location is Lutton, Northants, between the Church and the Village Hall.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=lutton, ... k&t=m&z=16

Chris.

Can someone like the AA help with these? I've seen them put up signs directing traffic for events, can they put up signs listing restrictions prior to events?

That Google Maps like helps a lot, as it looks like quite a major road (major compared to a standard suburban housing estate street). In which case I would suggest contacting the council is a must, who can assist with formal diversions and potentially 'Road Ahead Closed' signs placed at major junctions before the closure itself. You would also have to consider if there's bus routes through the village, and contacting the associated bus companies, and potentially manning the closure points should emergency services require access.

Crikey. I doubt that this is what Eric Pickles had in mind, when he said you did not need signs.......

Looking at that I would say that compliant signage and cones will be a must, as it is very unlikely that you could expect passing traffic to realize what was going on, I am particularly concerned that it appears to be an unrestricted road and subject to the NSL.

Hopefully the council will help with traffic management. I would also recommend that you get in touch with the police for advice on emergency vehicle access/passage. Given the nature of the location they may be willing to assist with the closure - no harm in asking! I would advise getting in touch with the nearest station and ask if you can have a word with the community policing officer and/or duty inspector.

I don't know how these things happen in England but in Scotland it is normal practice for the council and police to help with traffic management for authorized community events such as the traditional Gala Days.

EDIT: If all else fails I am sure some of the pro's on here can help with advice on getting something safe sorted out.

It is now a 30MPH limit through the village (although that's very recent so it probably isn't shown on GSV). The problem is that one end of the diversion will run from the crossroads about 1 mile outside the village to the east. And approaching that crossroads is over a blind brow at 60MPH. Hence my angst to get it right. Perhaps OTT even!

I'm happy with the legals (I have an e-mail from the council - I presume they did a job lot at the same time). Fortunately they gave me a contact address so I'll get in touch.

I like the suggestions about the police too.

We don't have public transport any more, so at least that's one less worry.

Chris.

AA Signs, or any other temporary sign supplier or traffic management contractor, will be able to supply and place signs, but that is the most expensive way to do it.

Incidentally why has our closure been done under S21 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847- I'm fairly certain this isn't what is normally used when a road is closed.

S.21 is specifically tailored for street celebrations so arguably it is the more appropriate statute to use. It also has the advantage that it does not have the same signage, diversion and emergency access requirements as a RTRA closure.

As a very recent Ex Pro who was heavily involved in Big Lunch and Royal Wedding Street Parties in Exeter (until I moved) I can quote the following guidance.

His advice is pretty much in direct contradiction to any reasonable Health and Safety/Road Traffic Legislation (not necessarily saying the legislation is right, but it is there and should be followed). I think his plan is to try and kill everyone holding a street party.

If the Council or the Police will help then that's great. However there will be Dozens of these events happening in the area so I suspect many will have taken the same stance as Devon - basically doing the bare minimum on the paperwork to make it 'legal' (I'll come to that) and letting the organisers take full responsibility, and the rap if it goes wrong. The 'closure' has quite possibly been processed by the most junior admin clerk they have, quite likely they've never been there and not looked at it on a map other than to confirm the road name. If they aren't helpful, don't waste your time asking them for help and don't expect them to have checked anything you submitted.


If the closure is done under TPCA then make sure it was done by a UA or District. County Councils cannot make these orders. These are still widely used even though they mean absolutely nothing if there isn't a police presence, and even then they don't mean much (legal advice I've seen is basically that they are illegal for pre-planned events) S16 of the RTRA was created to replace this practice.

I haven't looked at the route on google, and hope to make this general advice to anyone who's been lumbered with this. Things to seriously consider are:

• Bus Routes
• Businesses
• How will the fire engine get to Mrs Jones House (etc, you know what I mean)
• What is actually stopping people driving down the road? Signs (whatever they are) don't do it unless they are wide enough to make the driver get out and move it.
• Is the diversion suitable (the Council may have checked this, but the number of closure applications I see which divert A-roads under a low bridge, through a weight limit and on single track roads still beggars belief). Check it again.
• Do you need to sign the diversion? Legally you probably don't *have* to, but if it is obscure or you get lots of non-local traffic then you probably do. If you do, make sure there is a visible sign at every junction and if necessary in advance of the junctions.
• Do any of your neighbours have street parties? If so do your diversions clash (not necessarily a problem, but diversion signage could be confusing if you don't co-ordinate)

With signing, I will assume that the Council/Police are not helpful. Many, many companies exist like the AA/RAC who will do signing for a price, but here are some low cost alternatives:

• 1. Does anyone else in the community work for the Council/Electric/Gas/Phone/Major Contractor/etc. If so, can they borrow the necessary signs from work? (80% of the time this will work)
• 2. Is there a local Rotary Club/Village Fete Committee/Carnival Committee? Do they have signs or do they know where you can get signs locally cheaply? (In Devon there was a voluntary group who had all the signs etc for Carnivals, Fetes etc)
• 3. Your local tool hire shop may well be able to hire you the signs (where do you think local builders get them from - they certainly don't all own them).

I do not advise anyone to try and make their own signs.

One last thing on signs, technically (legally) anyone placing an official road sign (including a traffic cone) on the Highway needs Chapter 8 Accreditation of some description. If you get signs from 1 or 2 above they probably have the accreditation. You could do the course yourself, but probably don't have time. If you get signs and put them out without Accreditation then rather than being a road sign it is an obstruction on the highway and you have committed an offence, nobody will bother until some jerk drives into the sign and tries to sue.

This brings me to the last point, do you have public liability insurance? Probably nobody has asked for it as Mr Pickles thinks it's unnecessary bureaucracy. Personally I wouldn't get involved without it. If you are working with a community group they may well have it anyway, if it's just you and your neighbours speak to your buildings insurer, they may cover it, or simply charge a nominal fee. However, Insurers only pay if you follow ALL the rules, so if you place a sign and you're not accredited, or if you are accredited and place a homemade sign then you're on your own.

Sorry to be a kill joy, I just hate the way your Government (not really mine anymore thank god) encorage so many people to break the law when they could just change it.