Red route

On United Kingdom roads, the term red route may refer to a stretch of road with painted red lines signifying that vehicles cannot stop there, or to a road which has historically high accident rates.

Painted lines
The A312 Uxbridge road marked with double red lines

Red routes are major roads with red lines at the sides showing where vehicles are not allowed to stop. The prohibition extends to stopping for loading or unloading, and to boarding or alighting from a vehicle (except for licensed taxis and the holders of blue badges).[1] Red routes are mainly used on major bus and commuting routes.[2]

Red routes are marked by red lines on the sides of the road. Double red lines mean that the rules and regulations apply at all times and on all days. Single red lines means that the prohibition applies during times displayed on nearby signs or at the entry to the zone.[1] Red route clearways are signed but there are no lines on the road. Stopping is only permitted in lay-bys (red lines are only marked at junctions).[3]

The lines were first introduced in London in 1991,[4] and have also been applied in the county of West Midlands since 2003[5] and Leeds since 2019.[6] A similar scheme operates in Edinburgh; here, however, the routes affected (where marked by the use of green road-surfacing rather than red lines – usually on outer bus lanes on major bus routes) are known as greenways. Away from bus routes, conventional red lines are used.

The 390 miles of red routes in London are policed by "Red Route Patrols" and managed by London Streets, an arm of Transport for London.[7]

A number of hospitals in the United Kingdom have mimicked the red road lines, in and around ambulance dispatch and Accident and Emergency areas. These road markings are to allow ambulances and other emergency vehicles uninhibited access in and out of such areas; whilst these road markings are often respected by road users there is very little (if any) enforcement.

History

The Red Routes scheme was developed by the Department for Transport following the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986 to address concerns that there was no London-wide road transport policymaking body.[4]

A Traffic Director for London was appointed by the Department for Transport in 1991 to "streamline the flow of traffic in London" and oversee a London-wide strategy for road transport.[8]

The director was responsible for creating a Network Plan, deciding on the priorities for road travel in London and how best to manage traffic flows. Roads in the Network Plan became the responsibility of the Traffic Director rather than localised London boroughs.[4] The lines were first introduced in north and east London in 1991.[4]

Double red lines on Westminster Bridge

In 1998, the Traffic Director identified nine priorities for the Red Routes scheme:

  1. to facilitate the movement of people and goods in London—reliably and safely, and with minimum overall environmental impact;
  2. to encourage walking;
  3. to improve conditions for cyclists and contribute to the National Cycling Strategy;
  4. to provide better conditions for people with disabilities;
  5. to provide priority for buses so as to achieve their efficient movement;
  6. to improve the local environment and reduce the impact of congestion;
  7. to contribute to London's targets for reduced traffic accidents and road vehicle emissions;
  8. to support reduced car commuting, especially into or across inner London;
  9. to assist measures to reduce traffic on local roads by providing the first choice for non-local traffic, consistent with achieving the other aims for Red Routes.[4]

Between 1997 and 2000, transport policy in the United Kingdom became a devolved matter under Tony Blair, with the Senedd in Wales and the Scottish Parliament assuming control over nationwide and regional transport strategy in their respective nations. When London was granted a devolved assembly and authority, which came into effect in 2000, regional transport strategy became the responsibility of the Mayor of London.[9]

The Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999, which established the devolved administration in London, gave the Mayor of London a General Transport Duty to "develop and implement policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within Greater London". Transport for London (TfL) became the highway authority for all roads under GLA control.[10]

The Greater London Authority Act 1999 passed the management of motorways wholly within London and trunk roads over to the GLA. This caused several roads to be renumbered in London, including the A102(M) Blackwall Tunnel (to A102), the A40(M) Westway (to A40) and the M41 West Cross Route (to A3220).[10]

Routes

Red Routes are managed and controlled by London Streets, which is an arm of Transport for London (TfL).

List of Red Routes controlled by TfL[11][12]
Route Start of TfL control End of TfL control Notes
 A1  Angel, Islington Borehamwood
 A10  London Bridge M25 Junction 25 Including Cycleway 1
 A11  Aldgate Bow Interchange Including Cycleway 2
 A12  Blackwall Tunnel M25 Junction 28
 A13 * Aldgate Purfleet Including Cycleway 3

*Under private-sector contract

 A100  Tower Bridge Bricklayers Arms Including Tower Bridge

Part of the London Inner Ring Road

 A101  Limehouse Bermondsey Rotherhithe Tunnel
 A102  Lower Clapton Hackney Wick
 A102  Blackwall Tunnel Blackheath Formerly  A102(M) 
 A107  Stamford Hill Lower Clapton
 A127  Gallows Corner M25 Junction 29
 A1020  Beckton Woolwich Ferry
 A1023  Tower Bridge Limehouse Link
 A1202  Aldgate Old Street Part of the London Inner Ring Road
 A1205  Bow Poplar
 A1261 * Limehouse Leamouth * Under private-sector contract
 A1400  M11 Junction 4 Gants Hill
 A2  Borough Bexley
 A20  New Cross Ruxley
 A21  Lewisham M25 Junction 4
 A22  Purley Whyteleafe
 A23  Kennington Chipstead
 A24  Clapham Common Nonsuch Park, Cheam Including Cycleway 7
 A200  London Bridge Bermondsey Including Cycleway 4
 A201  King's Cross Bricklayers Arms Including Cycleway 6
 A202  Victoria New Cross Including Cycleway 5 and Vauxhall Bridge

Part of the London Inner Ring Road

 A203  Vauxhall Brixton
 A205  M4 Chiswick Woolwich Ferry South Circular Road
 A210  Lee Eltham Green
 A214  Wandsworth Streatham
 A217  Rosehill Belmont
 A232  Nonsuch Park, Cheam Locksbottom
 A240  Kingston Bypass Worcester Park Road
 A243  Kingston Bypass Ashtead Common
 A2213  Kidbrooke Lee
 A3  London Bridge Ditton Hill Except Elephant & Castle to A2

Including Cycleway 7 and London Bridge

Part of the London Inner Ring Road

 A30  Cranford Staines
 A302  Parliament Square Elephant & Castle Except Waterloo to the Imperial War Museum

Part including Cycleways 3 and 6, and Westminster Bridge

 A306  Barnes Roehampton
 A312  Northolt Hanworth
 A316  Chiswick Sunbury-on-Thames
 A3036  Vauxhall Westminster Bridge
 A3200  Westminster Bridge London Bridge
 A3203  Millbank Lambeth Lambeth Bridge only
 A3204  Vauxhall Elephant & Castle Part of the London Inner Ring Road
 A3205  Vauxhall Wandsworth Including Cycleway 8
 A3211  Westminster Tower Bridge Including Cycleway 3
 A3212  Westminster Battersea Bridge Including Cycleway 8
 A3220  The Westway Clapham Common Including Battersea Bridge

Part formerly  M41 

 A4  Hyde Park Corner Longford
 A40  The Westway Uxbridge Part formerly  A40(M) 
 A41  Baker Street M1 Junction 4
 A400  Euston Camden Town
 A406  M4 Chiswick Beckton North Circular Road
 A4180  Northolt Ruislip
 A4200  Camden Town Mornington Crescent
 A4202  Marble Arch Hyde Park Corner Part of the London Inner Ring Road
 A5  Hyde Park Corner Warwick Avenue Part of the London Inner Ring Road
 A501  The Westway Old Street Part of the London Inner Ring Road
 A503  Camden Town Seven Sisters
 A5205  Warwick Avenue Regent's Park

High accident rates

In Somerset, the local road safety partnership has designated some of the A roads within the county as red routes, indicating that they have a higher than average accident rate.[13][14][15]

The term has been similarly used to denote dangerous routes in Northamptonshire.[16][17][18] It was not clear whether the scheme would be maintained following the 2013 closure of the Road Safety Partnership whose initiative it was.[19]

Lincolnshire has a scheme similar to the Northamptonshire one.[20][21]

The county of Cheshire, including the town of Warrington, also use the idea of red routes to designate roads with historically high accident rates.[22][23]

The former[24] Suffolk speed camera organisation chose the expression red route to denote routes where high levels of accidents justify the frequency use of mobile speed cameras.[25]

Leicestershire County Council elected in 2008 not to implement a red route scheme, believing it can be misleading and arbitrary. It believes in identifying or solving individual danger spots instead.[26]

See also

References
  1. "Road markings" (PDF). direct.gov. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  2. "Red Routes West Midlands". West Midlands Local Transport Plan. 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  3. "Transport for London Understanding road signs". Transport for London. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  4. The Committee Office, House of Commons (22 February 1999). "Memorandum by The Traffic Director for London (IT 160) – Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs – Minutes of Evidence". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  5. "Red Routes". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  6. Johnson, Kristian (20 February 2019). "Double red lines introduced at Leeds Bradford Airport in crackdown on terror". Leeds Live.
  7. "Surface Transport". Transport for London. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  8. Records of the Traffic Director for London. Traffic Director for London. 1991–1999.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. Butcher, Louise (12 August 2020). "Transport in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Greater London Authority Act (1999)".
  11. Transport for London (TfL) (2002). "Transport for London Street Management" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  12. Transport for London (TfL) (2015). "Pan-London Red Routes" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. "A37 Red Route leaflet" (PDF). Somerset Road Safety Partnership. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  14. "Safety measure for busy routes". This is Somerset (Western Gazette etc.). 30 May 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  15. Hill, Phil (9 March 2009). "A361 red route exhibition". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  16. "Red routes total rises". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  17. "Accident blackspots on red route revealed". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. 27 April 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  18. "Danger road' A6 now a Red Route". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  19. "Northamptonshire's road safety partnership disbands". BBC News. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  20. "RED ROUTES MARK 'DANGER' ROADS". Lincolnshire Free Press. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  21. "Road safety group claims Red Route signs are 'effective' as casualty figures halve". Lincolnshire Echo. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  22. Davies, Nicola Davies (14 February 2008). "Eleven roads have 'high risk of death'". This is Cheshire. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  23. "Red Routes". Warrington Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  24. "Suffolk safecam is now closed". Suffolk County Council. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  25. Focus on Safety (leaflet) (PDF). Suffolk Roadsafe Board. p. 2.
  26. "Accident reduction and red routes" (PDF). Leicestershire County Council. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
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