Traffic Management Act 2004

Traffic Management Act 2004 ^[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for and in connection with the designation of traffic officers and their duties; to make provision in relation to the management of road networks; to make new provision for regulating the carrying out of works and other activities in the street; to amend Part 3 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and Parts 9 and 14 of the Highways Act 1980; to make new provision in relation to the civil enforcement of traffic contraventions; to amend section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2004 c. 18
Territorial extent	England and Wales [2]
Dates
Royal assent	22 July 2004
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Traffic Management Act 2004 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sets out how road networks should be managed by local authorities and includes regulations for roadworks. The Act has been implemented from 1 April 2008 across the United Kingdom.

Provisions

The act gave powers to local authorities and the Highway Agency to manage the powers to patrol motorways to respond to incidents and breakdowns on the motorways so that movement can be restored. ^[3]

Part 2 - Network Management

This section sets out the network management duty to "secure the expeditious movement of traffic", ^[4] which is defined as pedestrians as well as vehicles.

Parts 3 and 4 - Permits and Street Works

All the parties interested in occupying streets/highways need to follow the specified guidelines. The main highlights are as follows:

• Effective communication between highway authorities and parties interested in carrying out street work
• Powers given to highway authorities to impose fixed charges in case of any failure to follow the guidelines
• Disciplined approach and advance communication to plan the street works
• Introduction of web services for communication
• Introduction of Level 3 National Street Gazetteer data
• Explicit provision of cancelling/correcting or reverting the work status.

The second wave of the Traffic Management Act 2004 aims to implement permit regulation. As part of this regulation work undertakers have to apply for a permit to work on a street. ^{[5] [6]} Undertaker have to discuss and agree the restriction on work timing, apparatus etc. with highway authorities. The highway authorities should approve/reject the application after verifying the permit conditions.

Part 5

This allows Transport for London to designate a strategic road network in Greater London, and covers other matters.

Part 6 - Civil enforcement of traffic contraventions

This part covers contraventions such as vehicles parking incorrectly or using bus lanes. These are enforced by penalty charge notices. ^[7]

Part 7

Section 99 - Commencement, transitionals and savings

The following orders have been made under this section:

• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provision) (England) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/2380 (C. 102))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 2) (England) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/3110 (C. 130))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 3) (England) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/1736 (C. 60))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) (England) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/1890 (C. 71))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) (England) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2053 (C. 78))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) (England) (Amendment) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/757 (C. 35))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 6) (England) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3184 (C. 131))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 1) (Wales) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2826 (W. 249) (C. 97))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3174 (W. 279))
• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Commencement No. 3) (Wales) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1095 (W. 98))

Reception

The Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody described it as allowing "people involved in serious accidents to escape prosecution" but allowing others who had been "hard done by" to lack any recourse or any kind of appeal. ^[8]

Damian Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport described it as creating more "bureaucracy", more "confusion", "anger" for motorists. ^[8] He also described the plans for lane rental as "just another way of increasing taxes" on utilities. ^[9]

References

• "Traffic Management Act 2004". Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition. LexisNexis. Volume 38(2). Page 406 et seq.
• "Traffic Management Act 2004". Current Law Statutes 2004. Sweet & Maxwell. London. W Green. Edinburgh. Volume 1. Chapter 18. p 18-1 et seq.

1. The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 100(1) of this Act.
2. The Traffic Management Act 2004, section 100(2)
3. "Yesterday in parliament". The Guardian. 2 April 2004. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
4. Nick Warwick / JCT Consultancy http://www.jctconsultancy.co.uk/Symposium/Symposium2019/PapersForDownload/Securing%20the%20expeditious%20movement%20of%20traffic.pdf
5. Welsh Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee http://www.whauc.com/site/Link%20Docs/01_Documents/05_Traffic%20Management%20Act%202004%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20Permits.pdf
6. "New bid to end congestion misery". BBC News. 12 December 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
7. Hackney Council https://hackney.gov.uk/pcn-challenge
8. Watt, Nicholas (7 January 2004). "Traffic bill under fire from all sides". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
9. "Jambusters to ease traffic congestion". The Guardian. 27 November 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2026.