TfL Ref: FOI-2184-1617

Thank you for your email received by us on 14 February 2017 asking for information about yellow box junctions.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our Information Access Policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

In relation to the use of Yellow box junctions painted on the road outside Fire Stations in the Borough of Wandsworth, can you please provide the following information:

• Can details of the Traffic Management Order for changing the Keep Clear road markings on the A3 outside West Hill Fire station to that of creating a yellow box junction be sent to me please.

• Can the date of the TMO application for creating this yellow box junction and any accompanying sketches and drawings be provided please.

• Can details of any objections against the TMO be sent to me please.

Yellow box junctions are governed by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD), not by Traffic Management Order (TMO). As such, we do not hold copies of any TMO application, sketches, drawings or objections.

• Can any authority to proceed with the works be provided please and the date on which that was granted and the date on which the works were carried out.

• Can you please send me details of the delegated authority that Wandsworth has to create street markings in accordance with the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 - Section 64 and section 65 Authorisation of traffic signs and special directions to show that there is a clear audit trail for legally creating this yellow box junction.

The Greater London Authority Act 1999 established TfL as the highway authority and the traffic authority for the GLA roads and GLA side roads that make up the red route network in London. There is no requirement for us to seek authority to install a box junction on our roads. We have not delegated authority to Wandsworth to create street markings on our roads. The box junction was implemented in early 2013.

• Can you please send me details of any application Wandsworth made to the Department for Transport under the authorisation of 'traffic signs and special directions' for this yellow box junction on West Hill outside the fire station,. Date and reference of application to the Department of Transport with accompanying sketches and any formal response received/granted by the Department of transport.

• Can you please send me details of who in Wandsworth was empowered to instruct the works to create the yellow box junction road markings on West Hill A3 outside the fire station and on the basis of what legal authority. ( evidence of DFT authorisation needed please).

As stated above, the legal authority for TfL to install a box junction on the red route is set out in the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It is only necessary for us to seek authorisation from the Department for Transport (DfT) for a box junction which deviates from the requirements set out in the TSRGD. We are satisfied that the box junction outside West Hill Fire Station is fully compliant with TSRGD requirements; therefore we have not applied for DfT authorisation. Schemes of this nature are authorised by TfL’s Director of Asset Management, Dana Skelley.

• Can you please list out ALL yellow box junctions located outside Fire stations in your Borough. If there is no audit trail for the creation of the Yellow box junction on West Hill can you please advise if any relevant TMOs and authorization exist for the others, ( I don’t wish to see copies unless there was one single bundled application and approval covering all stations)

One further box junction has been installed outside a Fire Station on the red route, located at Homerton Fire Station in Hackney. The box junction marking at Homerton is fully compliant with TSRGD requirements; therefore we have not applied for DfT authorisation. As stated above, box junctions are governed by the TSRGD, not by TMO.

• Can you please provide details on what grounds Wandsworth believe the yellow box junction in question to be a legally approved road sign.

As stated above, we are satisfied that the box junction is fully compliant with TSRGD requirements.

• Can you please confirm that in the absence of an approved TMO and DFT authorisation for creating the Yellow box junction on West Hill outside the fire station how a decision to create the yellow box junction was arrived at.

Red routes, by their very nature, are some of the busiest and most congested roads in London. The purpose of installing a box junction outside a Fire Station is to facilitate the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in responding to emergencies with the minimum of delay. The LFB aims to have the first fire appliance on scene within 6 minutes and the second within 8 minutes. To achieve this, it is vitally important they are able to turn out of the Fire Station swiftly.

• In the absence of a need for a TMO the recommendation is that yellow box junctions could be used outside emergency services where there is an access road forming a junction with the main road. Where vehicles exit directly onto the carriageway a keep clear marking is recommended. Fire engines at West Hill exit onto the carriageway and not via an access road.

One part of the TSRGD definition is that a box junction may be placed “on a length of road adjacent to the vehicular entrance to the premises of a fire, police or ambulance station”. The TSRGD does not prescribe that a box junction may only be placed where there is an access road forming a junction with the main road. As stated above, TfL is the highway authority and the traffic authority for the red route in London. As such, it is for us to decide which traffic management measures to implement on our roads.

If this is not the information you are looking for, please feel free to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Melissa Nichols

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London