Highways Agency

• Traffic Incident Management Bulletin

January 2007

Off Network Tactical Diversion Routes are key to being able to facilitate the effective management of traffic at times where a significant event/incident has occurred; resulting in a partial or full closure of a motorway/trunk road. These Diversion Routes will run hand-in-hand with the Strategic Diversion strategy that is managed by the National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) and therefore ensure that the HA is proactively managing the flow of traffic at all times and under all circumstances.

During partial or full closures of the motorway/trunk road network, traffic will be directed onto Local Authority roads in an ad-hoc manner, resulting in congestion being caused to all routes in the area due to the lack of coordination. The provision of agreed routes provides the ability to effectively manage traffic movement onto the agreed and signed routes and ensure that the effect on other local roads are minimised.

During May 2006, the Highways Agency issued Area Management Memo 71/06 detailing strategy for Off Network Tactical Diversion Routes. This has been developed to assist in the improvement of Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets as well as to heighten the Local Highway Authorities (LHA’s) awareness of the Highways Agency policy.

The purpose of the AMM is to establish and implement diversion routes for each section of motorway in England. This is to facilitate the re-routing of traffic off the Agency’s network onto LHA roads to assist incident management.

The project is currently in its first year. At present it is estimated that around 25% of the network has signed/agreed diversion routes. It is intended that by the third year of the project (FY 08/09) 85% of the network will have agreed and implemented tactical diversion routes.

All area teams have received funding for the initial surveys and investigation work. Whilst some areas had resources allocated to this area prior to the implementation of AMM 71/06, others have only recently begun undertaking the work.

Initial investigations for each diversion route include surveying possible routes and to establish suitability, including identifying pinch points, such as low or weak bridges, schools and / or hospitals, and main commuter routes. In some regions, contingency routes currently exist. However, these may require revision in line with current guidance to ensure agreement with all stakeholders including LHA’s and the local police.

Once the route has been agreed by all relevant parties, road signing is developed. These will use the standard black shape on a yellow background with trigger signs on the motorway and at other key points that indicate the symbol to be followed for the diversion route. In most cases, these symbols will be added to existing signs. However, continuity of signing is paramount for the diversion to work, and it is planned that, where necessary, extra signs will be added to ensure traffic follows the correct route. One possible obstacle facing the schemes is public comprehension of diversion route signing. At present a small section at the back of the highway code is given to such signage and is rarely referred to on the theory part of the driving test. As a result, it may be necessary to instigate a national awareness campaign to enhance public knowledge.

To enable implementation of the route by the Regional Control Centre (RCC), Traffic Officers, Incident Support Units (ISU) and the Police, route cards will then be developed. These will include information such as location of signage on the motorway, a map of the route, directions and details on any pinch points or problem areas on the route. Detailed plans will be held by the RCC to ensure that full information is available to complete all required actions, as well as held by the Police, Service Providers and identified on road resources such as ISU’s. Laminated Aide-Memoir cards will also be provided to Traffic Officers for reference during the management of an incident

An example diversion route card is available by downloading the PDF below.

• diversion route card (667KB PDF)

For further information please contact Wayne Norris of the TIM team – 0121 6788095