This consultation gives you the chance to have your say on a review of the streets in Devon that are designated as traffic sensitive.
Background
Devon operates a Permit for Works Scheme. This requires some works to hold a permit before they take place on the road network.
As a street authority, Devon may designate certain streets (or parts of streets) as ‘traffic sensitive’. If a street is traffic sensitive, it may hold higher traffic volumes or cause more severe impacts or delays when works are undertaken.
Having a traffic-sensitive designation allows an early identification of these risks, which can then promote good planning to help reduce the impact of the works, for example, no work during the morning rush hours.
Holding an up-to-date list of traffic-sensitive streets allows works promoters to identify streets that are heavily used by pedestrians or vehicles and helps in planning. In turn that assists Devon understand the potential effects that any work would have on pedestrians, businesses, organisations, or local activities in the area.
The Department of Transport published reforms in May 2022 meaning authorities are required to change the criteria for ‘traffic sensitive’ streets. This means that streets which were classed as ‘Winter Maintenance Route’, ‘Special Event Route’ or ‘Tourist Route’ may be removed, or their designations adjusted.
Traffic-sensitive streets
How we decide if a street is traffic sensitive
From April 2023, we will define a street as traffic sensitive if:
- the street is one on which at any time the street authority estimates traffic flow to be greater than 500 vehicles per hour per lane of carriageway, excluding bus or cycle lanes
- the street is a single carriageway two-way road, the carriageway of which is less than 6.5 metres wide, having a total traffic flow of not less than 600 vehicles per hour
- traffic flow contains more than 25% heavy commercial vehicles
- the street is within 100 metres of a critical signalised junction, gyratory or roundabout system
- the street, or that part of a street, that has a pedestrian flow rate at any time of at least 1300 persons per hour per metre width of footway
Consultation Outcome
The consultation is now closed. All changes were implemented in October 2023. All live restrictions can be via our interactive map Map (highway-iams.uk)