Road Orders and Records of Determination

On behalf of the Scottish Ministers, Transport Scotland promotes Road and Traffic Orders that provide the statutory authority to improve and maintain Scotland’s trunk roads.

Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) impose traffic restrictions such as road closures, introduction or varying of speed limits, prohibition of turns (such as right turns and u-turns) and introduction of waiting or loading restrictions.

This page provides details of current orders as well as information on the different types of order and procedures involved.

Draft Road Orders are published in the local press and in the Edinburgh Gazette.

Notice of CPOs are also published in the local press. Draft Road Orders and draft CPOs are available for inspection locally during their objection period and at Transport Scotland’s office in Glasgow.

They are published on the relevant projects page of the Transport Scotland website. Made trunk road Orders (SSIs) can be found on the Office of the Queen’s Printer for Scotland website.

As well as appearing on our website, PTROs are published in the local press and in the Edinburgh Gazette.

They are available for inspection locally during their objection period and at Transport Scotland’s office in Glasgow. TTROs are published in the local press.

Trunk Road Orders: Establish the route of a new road.

Side Roads Orders: Cover connecting local roads associated with a new road scheme and the stopping up and providing new local roads/private means of access and any improvements required to the local road network as a consequence of a new trunk road or motorway road.

Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs): Secure the necessary land purchase and rights in relation to the Trunk Road and or Side Roads Orders.

Temporary / Permanent Traffic Regulation Orders (PTROs): Ensure the safe movement of traffic (introducing a speed limit, prohibiting parking, prohibiting certain movements etc) on a permanent basis and are open to objection.

The procedure for promoting PTROs is set out in The Secretary of State’s Traffic Orders (Procedure)(Scotland) Regulations 1987.

Trunk Road Orders are published as local Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSIs). Trunk road improvement schemes require the drafting and publication of statutory Trunk Road, Side Roads and Compulsory Purchase Orders. These are open to objection. Should an objection from a Statutory Consultee be unresolved this may lead to a Public Local Inquiry.

The procedure for promoting road Orders is set out in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and for draft CPOs in The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Scotland) Regulations 2003.

Traffic Regulation Orders involve both Temporary (TTROs) and Permanent (PTROs) Traffic Regulation Orders. These are promoted under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to either restrict or prohibit traffic on trunk roads and motorways for safety reasons.

They are mainly required in connection with maintenance, repair and construction works. They are not open to objection although certain statutory procedures need to be followed as set out in the regulations relating to the TTROs.

Regulations

The Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Regulation 1992

The Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Amendment (Scotland) Regulations. 2005

Under the Roads (Scotland) Act  1984 local authorities are the roads authority for local roads. Local Authorities have powers under section 16A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 which can restrict traffic in order to facilitate an event held on a road. In certain circumstances the legislation requires the Scottish Ministers to become involved i.e.

• where the traffic order includes a trunk road or motorway;
• when the order will be in force for more than three days;
• when an existing order is required to continue for longer than the anticipated period of time; and,
• when the closure relates to the same length of road which has been subject to a previous section 16A order, within the same calendar year.

In September 2015, Transport Scotland issued ‘Section 16A Special Events – Guidance’ to the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), which was subsequently distributed to local authorities.

• Guidance on Section 16A Special Events
• Section 16A Special Events - Form 16A-1

The guidance was prepared in order to facilitate a more effective and efficient handling process in the instances where local authorities are required to obtain Scottish Ministers’ consent to temporarily prohibit or restrict traffic in relation to an event being held on a road.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 as amended by The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 sets out the requirements for the assessment of the effects of certain public and private road projects on the environment.

The regulations require that for Annex I projects such as the construction of motorways, express roads and new roads with four or more lanes and the realignment or widening of a road to provide four or more lanes that are 10km or more in continuous length, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must be undertaken.

For Annex II projects or maintenance works on the trunk road network that:

• exceed 1 hectare in area and/or
• are situated in whole or in part in a sensitive area

Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers are required to determine if the works require an EIA to be completed.

For the determination to be made, the potential environmental impacts must be assessed against specific criteria set out in Annex III and identify measures that will be implemented to minimise those impacts identified.

The determination can be negative (no EIA required) or positive (EIA required) depending on the outcome of the assessment and if the works have the potential to have likely significant effects on the environment.

The assessment is detailed in the Record of Determination. The outcome of the determination must be declared in a Notice of Determination which is published in the Edinburgh Gazette and local press.