# Traffic Signs Manual/Chapter 3/2008/10

10.1 Where urban roads are heavily trafficked and there is a need to control parking to maintain the free flow of vehicles, it is normally sufficient to prohibit waiting and loading at specific times of day as described in section 6. However, this does not prevent vehicles stopping for the purpose of picking up and setting down passengers, which in itself can contribute to traffic congestion on very busy roads.
10.2 A relatively new type of control is the red route, first introduced in London. This prohibits stopping, much like the rural 24-hour clearway (see section 9), but is more flexible as it does not need to operate for the whole day and provision can be made for parking and loading at certain times. Red routes are intended to be used strategically to deal with traffic problems assessed on a whole—route basis, not to deal with issues on relatively short lengths of road. Unlike the 24-hour clearway, the prohibition of stopping applies also to the verge and footway. A licensed taxi may stop to pick up or set down passengers, and the driver of a vehicle displaying a blue badge may stop to pick up or set down a disabled person; drivers of other vehicles are not permitted to stop for any purpose other than in an emergency. As the name "red route" implies, the road markings are red (but see para 10.9), so a red route has to be introduced in isolation and cannot be combined with the more conventional yellow line restriction. It is not possible to introduce a peak—hour prohibition of stopping with waiting restrictions at other times; red and yellow lines cannot both be laid along the same length of road. Therefore red route controls either operate for 24 hours or, if overnight parking can be permitted, throughout the day, typically 7 am to 7 pm.
10.3 Provision will need to be made for loading where this is essential for businesses along the route and cannot be accommodated either off-highway or on adjacent roads. A red route can therefore include loading bays which operate either for the full duration of red route control or for some shorter period. Loading bays might not be required where the red route operates during day-time hours only and loading can take place overnight. Provision may be made for on-street parking, particularly for disabled badge holders, where there is no alternative. Time-limited waiting by any vehicle might be required where small retail businesses, for example, could be adversely affected by red route controls. Parking and loading bays should normally be the exception rather than the rule and should be provided only over short lengths of road. To do otherwise could undermine the concept of the red route, which is intended to provide a road free of stationary vehicles. However,where controls that operate throughout the day (e.g. 7am to 7 pm) are primarily intended to prevent stopping during peak hours, it will not be necessary to restrict the provision of loading and parking bays if these are required only during off—peak periods. A bay may have dual use, e.g. used both by disabled badge holders and for loading.
10.4 Figures 10-1 to 10-13 illustrate signs and markings for red routes. These are not prescribed by the Regulations and need to be authorised. An authority seeking to introduce a red route should enter into early discussions with the Department before developing a detailed scheme.
Figure 10-1 Road marking: No stopping on red route at any time
Figure 10-2 No stopping on red route
Used in conjunction with figure 10-1
Figure 10-3 Road marking: No stopping on red route during the period indicated on the associated sign
Figure 10-4 No stopping on red route during the specified period
Used in conjunction with figure 10-3
Figure 10-5 Parking or loading bay always available for a specified class of user during the period of operation of a red route
Figure 10-6 Parking or loading bay available for a specified class of user during part of the period of operation of a red route with no stopping at other times
Figure 10-7 No stopping on red route during the hours shown in the middle panel except for loading
Used in conjunction with figure 10-5
figure 10-4. All upright signs should face oncoming traffic as drivers need to be able to read them without stopping, otherwise they might be committing an offence. Signs need to be sufficiently frequent for drivers to be clear what restriction applies.
10.6 Where a parking or loading bay is provided, this will be similar to diagram 1028.4 in the Regulations, but is coloured either white or red according to the times of operation. If the bay is available at all times during red route control it is coloured white. If the bay operates for only part of the day and there are times, such as peak hours, when stopping in the bay is prohibited, it is coloured red. It is not necessary, in this instance, to provide a continuous single red line alongside the kerb within the bay as the colour of the bay denotes that there are certain times when stopping is prohibited. This is different from a bay with a peak—hour prohibition of waiting where the yellow line continues through the bay (see section 6). The two types of bay marking are shown in figures 10-5 and 10-6.
10.7 Examples of upright signs for parking and loading bays are shown in figures 10-7 to 10.9|10-9 and generally comprise three panels. The uppermost is a header panel for the red route. The middle panel gives the times of operation of the red route. The lower panel gives details of the permitted parking or loading. The design of the sign is similar to diagram 639.1B in the Regulations, but differs in one
Figure 10-8 No stopping on red route during the hours shown in the middle panel except disabled badge holders
Used in conjunction with figure 10-5
Figure 10-9 No stopping on red route during the hours shown in the middle panel except for loading and disabled badge holders during the period shown in the bottom panel
Used in conjunction with figure 10-6
Figure 10-10 Bus stop clearway on red route
Used in conjunction with figure 10-11
10.8 To enable buses to stop on a red route, bus stop clearways will be needed. The road marking is similar to diagram 1025.1 or 1025.4, except that the broad continuous line alongside the kerb is coloured red as shown in figure 10-10. The remainder of the marking, including the legend BUS STOP, is yellow. The upright sign is shown in figure 10-11. This should normally face oncoming traffic, as for other red route signs. However, provided the operational period is not longer than that for the red route as a whole, the sign may be mounted parallel to the kerb, as the broad continuous red line is intended to emphasise that stopping is prohibited. Unlike the prescribed bus stop clearway marking, with the broad continuous yellow line, taxis are not permitted to stop to pick up and set down passengers. Where taxis are to be allowed to use the bus stop clearway, the broad red line should be replaced by the red route double or single line as appropriate. The bus stop clearway should not operate for a shorter period than the red route controls.
Figure 10-11 No stopping on red route except buses
Used in conjunction with figure 10-10
10.9 Another type of red route is the "red route clearway". This is similar to the 24-hour clearway described in section 9 except that, as for other red routes, it applies also to the verge and footway, not just to the main carriageway. No vehicle is permitted to stop at any time for any purpose, except in signed lay-bys. There is an exemption to allow taxis and disabled badge holders to pick up and set down passengers (see para 10.2). Where bus stops are required, the signs and road markings will be the same as those described in para 10.8, except that where taxis are permitted to use the bus stop, there will be no longitudinal lines running through the bay. The bay will need to be authorised in this case ​because, without the broad yellow line, it is not prescribed by the Regulations. There are no other road markings, and the signing principles that apply to urban clearways (see paras 9.9 to 9.11) will apply to red route clearways. Where the speed limit is higher than 30 mph, the 400 m spacing of signs between junctions should be increased proportionally so that drivers pass a sign approximately every 30 seconds (e.g. 800m spacing at 60 mph). Figures 10-12 and 10-13 show the upright signs.
Figure 10-12 No stopping on red route clearway
Figure 10-13 End of red route clearway
This work has been mirrored or sourced from material provided on the UK Government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual, which states material is available under the terms of the Open Government License unless indicated otherwise. (Crown copyright acknowledged.)
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This document no longer necessarily represents current practice, as it relates to an earlier version of the regulations (TSGRD 2002 as amended at publication date) rather than the current TSRGD 2016 regulations. It should not be used for actual design or operational use without consulting a more recent edition.
This version was transcribed in May 2015, from a 2008 impression.
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