Many urban sites have no space inside the hoarding for a lorry to stop, turn or unload. On those sites, deliveries happen on the highway, and the logistics plan has to secure the right to use it. Our team has planned lay-bys on main roads, timed loading on red routes and pit lanes alongside live junctions. Each needed early engagement with the highway authority.
Pit lanes and loading bays
A pit lane is a section of carriageway or footway taken into the site's control for offloading, usually behind barriers and often only at set times. Typical arrangements include:
- a suspended parking bay or loading bay converted to a construction loading area
- a lay-by built into the footway for the duration of the works
- a timed loading area that reverts to traffic outside agreed hours
- footway diversions or protected walkways around the loading area
The licences you are likely to need
In England, the Highways Act 1980 requires licences from the highway authority for:
- scaffolding on or over the highway
- hoardings and fences on the highway
- depositing building materials
- skips
Changes to traffic or parking, such as suspending bays, closing lanes or restricting turns, need a temporary traffic order. On red routes in London, Transport for London is the highway authority and has its own process.
Lead times vary widely. Temporary traffic orders often need several weeks' notice, and major arrangements may need road safety audits and design approval. Programme them as activities, not assumptions.
Design it like a junction, not a parking space
A loading area on a busy road needs to work for everyone else on it. The plan should show:
- swept paths for the largest vehicle using it
- visibility for vehicles entering and leaving
- how pedestrians and cyclists pass safely
- traffic marshals, and when they are present
- delivery booking so vehicles never queue on the road
- bus stops, cycle lanes and loading restrictions nearby
Bring it into the CMP or CLP early
The highway arrangements usually need to be agreed in principle through the Construction Management Plan, CTMP or Construction Logistics Plan before the licences are applied for. A plan that promises a loading bay the highway authority has not seen is one of the most common reasons for a refused submission.