RoadworksUnited Kingdom
Traffic rules
United Kingdom
33. Roadworks
Roadworks are construction, maintenance, repair or inspection activities carried out on or beside a road. They may temporarily change the road layout, lane widths, speed limits, priority, permitted directions and facilities for pedestrians or cyclists.
Drivers must follow the temporary signs, traffic lights, barriers, road markings and instructions from authorised personnel. They should reduce speed, increase their following distance and remain prepared for narrow lanes, stopped traffic, workers, machinery and sudden changes in the route.
Wikimedia.org • Gavin Wilson • CC0
What should you watch for when approaching roadworks in the United Kingdom?
Look for temporary warnings, cones, barriers, narrow lanes and construction vehicles. The Highway Code requires compliance with temporary speed limits and warns against driving through lanes closed by cones. Expect workers and slow or stationary traffic near the worksite.
🔗 gov.uk • Great Britain Highway Code: Rules 288–290: temporary controls and closed lanes
Is a temporary speed limit at roadworks binding in the United Kingdom?
Where an authorised temporary regulatory speed limit is in force, you must obey it. A roadworks warning alone should not be mistaken for a new numerical limit, but conditions may require driving more slowly.
🔗 gov.uk • Great Britain Highway Code: Rules 288–290: temporary controls and closed lanes
What if only one lane remains open through roadworks in the United Kingdom?
Follow the temporary signals, stop/go instructions, lane arrows and priority signs. Do not enter an opposing traffic lane until permitted, and give vulnerable road users and road workers extra room.
🔗 gov.uk • Great Britain Highway Code: Rules 288–290: temporary controls and closed lanes
Warning for roadworks.
English • GB diagram 7001 • Road works. Road works or a temporary obstruction are ahead. Watch for workers, equipment and temporary traffic controls.
Sources
🔗 Commons.wikimedia.org (Government of the United Kingdom – Department for Transport • Crown copyright • OGL v1.0)
🔗 Legislation.gov.uk • Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions • Great Britain
🔗 Gov.uk • Department for Transport • Know your traffic signs
SVG source: Government of the United Kingdom – Department for Transport • OGL v1.0 • Original revision 2022-02-25. Wikimedia original unmodified. © Crown copyright. Traffic signs are Crown copyright. You may reproduce traffic signs free of charge and without having to seek permission, but you must reproduce them accurately and not in a misleading context (e.g. not on roadside billboards where they could mislead drivers). (ref [1])
Artwork verified against Gov.uk • official published diagram 7001.
Current design and permitted variants verified against Legislation.gov.uk • TSRGD, current text.
