Page:UK Traffic Signs Manual - Chapter 8 - Part 2- Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and Temporary Situations) - Operations 2009.pdf/125



As the MLC approaches a junction or a motorway service area, the supervisor should instruct the team members by radio the procedure to be undertaken. This will depend on the nature of the works being undertaken, the nature of the junction, and the volume of traffic on both the subject road and the joining road. The slip road may be closed by the police or a traffic officer; or the arrangement described in paragraph

below should be used.

If the police or a traffic officer are not being used to close the slip road, a static "road works" sign to diagram 7001 displaying a "Mobile road works" plate to diagram 7001.1, or mobile sign to diagram 7402 displaying an "Ahead" plate, should be displayed on the entry slip road just before it is reached by the leading working vehicle. See Plan MLC7. As the last sign-bearing vehicle clears the entry slip road, the supervisor should ask for this sign on the slip road to be removed. As appropriate, the sign should be moved forward ready for display at the next junction or motorway service area to be negotiated by the closure train.

On reaching an exit slip road the working vehicles and lane closure vehicles should be prepared to stop if necessary, to give way to traffic leaving the main carriageway. They should then continue in their normal line and at the prearranged speed. As the sign-bearing vehicles on the hard shoulder reach the exit slip road they should follow the same procedure. Each warning vehicle driver waiting to cross a slip road should notify drivers behind him that he has stopped (to prevent bunching). When he has successfully crossed the slip road he should notify following warning vehicle drivers so that they can recover lost ground. Each vehicle should then continue along the hard shoulder of the main carriageway and regain station as quickly as possible.

On reaching an entry slip road each sign-bearing vehicle should stop in turn at the end of the hard shoulder at the extremity of the nose of the junction. The vehicle should be driven across the slip road on to the hard shoulder as and when a suitable gap in the traffic occurs and regain station as quickly as possible. Again, drivers waiting to cross, or crossing, a slip road should advise following drivers of their status. The driver of each vehicle should exercise special care when executing the manoeuvres.

When work is to be carried out on the main carriageway and then on an exit slip road, as the working vehicle reaches the start of the slip road, the mobile train should stop and the closure is removed. The distance plate on each of the advance sign vehicles should then be changed to a plate "On slip road" and, if the number of lanes on the slip road is different from that on the main carriageway, the lane closure signs should be changed. The working vehicle should then work along the slip road escorted by a block vehicle showing a "keep left/right" sign to diagram 610. The remaining mobile signs should maintain station on the hard shoulder of the main carriageway. When the working vehicle reaches the end of the slip road, the closure should be removed.

When it is necessary to work on an entry slip road and then on the main carriageway, a static "road works" sign to diagram 7001 displaying a "Mobile road works" plate to diagram 7001.1, or mobile sign to diagram 7402 displaying an "Ahead" plate, should be displayed at the start of the slip road. The working vehicle, escorted by a block vehicle showing a “keep left/right” sign to diagram 610, should work along the slip road while the remaining mobile signs are sited on the hard shoulder of the main carriageway prior to the junction with their beacons switched off. As the working and escort vehicles reach the main carriageway, the beacons on the waiting vehicles should be switched on and they should move off and take up station in the normal way. If the slip road exceeds 400 m in length, additional mobile signs to diagram 7402 are required. If the number of lanes on the slip road is different from that on the main carriageway, the lane closure signs should be changed when appropriate. The drivers of the hard shoulder sign vehicles should exercise special care when crossing the entry slip road. 123