10 Common TM Mistakes

10 Common Event Traffic Management Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them) This short guide is designed to help event managers understand key compliance risks in temporary traffic management (TTM). Based on real-world experience and aligned with UK regulations, it highlights what often goes wrong — and how to put it right.

5 Incorrect Road Closure Points

A proper closure point must include a ROAD CLOSED sign, cones, a traffic barrier, and lamps at night.
Closure points must be installed and removed only by qualified operatives and must fully meet Chapter 8 and Red Book standards.

The point at which a road is closed to traffic is designated by the TTRO (Temporary Traffic Regulatory Order.) Chapter 8 & Safety at Streetworks (the TM Bible) states that a closure point must be denoted by the use of the following, all used in conjunction with each other.

1. ROAD CLOSED

sign (TSRGD:7010.1 )

2. Cones

3. Traffic barrier

(TSRGD:7105)

4. Lamps

(Night time closures)

A correct closure point will look something like the above. In some instances where works vehicular access is required it may be necessary to provide two staggered blockades such as shown in the birds-eye plan. Failure to correctly sign a closure point is considered a failure to comply with the law and could leave you liable should an incursion into your site occur. Do your closure points meet these standards? Did you know that where vehicles travel through a site they must be fully signed, lit, and guarded as if it were open to the public.

ROAD AHEAD CLOSED (TSRGD: 7010.1) should be used to indicate the last junction on a road before the closure point and that there is no suitable place to turn off the road before the closure [(fig.1).

Where a road is closed at a junction and the diversion route takes the side street the road ahead closed is placed within the standard advance warning (fig.2).

Where a side road is closed the sign you use will differ depending on the traffic authority, there is no official sign for this, however, a few variations shown below are permitted under Schedule 13 Part 9 (see point 6 below). Alternatively, a TTRO could be obtained as part of the closure banning left or right turns. This can then be signed with the appropriate 'no left/right turn', this is also the preferred method if a main road is closed to the left or right from a minor road at a T junction (fig.2)