Construction Traffic Management Plans (CTMPs)
A Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) sets out how construction vehicles will reach, service and leave your site safely, and how pedestrians, cyclists and neighbouring road users will be protected while they do. CMP Construct prepares CTMPs compliant with borough council and TfL guidelines, either as standalone documents or alongside a full Construction Management Plan.
At a glance
- Reviewed by
- Borough highways officers
- Often includes
- Swept path analysis where access is tight
- First draft
- Usually 7–10 working days
- Quote
- Free and fixed, within 48 hours
On this page
Councils attach CTMP requirements to planning permissions whenever construction traffic could affect the public highway: constrained access, nearby schools, bus routes, controlled parking zones, or simply the volume of deliveries a build will generate. The condition must be discharged before work can start on site: the plan is submitted, reviewed by highways officers and approved.
What Our CTMPs Cover
Every site is different, but a CTMP that highways officers approve first time typically addresses:
- Approved construction vehicle routes to and from the site
- Vehicle types, sizes and expected movements by phase
- Site access and egress arrangements
- Loading, unloading and delivery management
- Banksman and traffic marshal provisions
- Pedestrian and cyclist safety measures
- Parking bay suspensions and temporary traffic orders
- Swept path analysis where turning movements are tight
Highway Lead Times by London Borough
A CTMP usually depends on highway consents: road closures, parking bay suspensions, and scaffold, hoarding and crane licences. Each borough sets its own notice periods, and several will not process them until the plan is approved. Camden handles Temporary Traffic Restrictions only after CMP sign-off, Islington grants no licences or road closures before the CMP is signed off, Kensington and Chelsea issues licences only once the CTMP condition is discharged, and Tower Hamlets needs the discharged CMP with a road closure application. Typical lead times, from our borough guides:
| Borough | Lead times |
|---|---|
| Westminster | Road closures at least 8 weeks (10 for crane operations); parking suspensions 10 working days. |
| Camden | Temporary Traffic Restrictions 6–8 weeks, processed only after CMP sign-off; parking suspensions 17 days ahead to avoid a short-notice charge. |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Road and footway closures at least 6 weeks (up to 12 on major or TfL roads); permit bay suspensions 10 working days; licences only once the CTMP is discharged. |
| Southwark | Road closures 12 weeks; scaffolding, hoarding and mobile cranes 15 working days; parking suspensions 7 days. |
| Islington | Road closures at least 6 weeks (8–12 on strategic routes); licences 10 working days; parking suspensions 14 days; nothing granted before CMP sign-off. |
| City of London | Road closures at least 12 weeks; scaffold and hoarding licences 4 weeks; parking suspensions 6 working days to process. |
| Lambeth | Highways licences 20 working days; parking suspensions at least 10 working days. |
| Tower Hamlets | Road closures 9 weeks from payment, with the discharged CMP; parking suspensions at least 7 working days. |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | Scaffolding and hoarding 5 working days; cranes 10 working days, or 8 weeks with a road closure; parking suspensions 8 days to 4 weeks by size. |
| Wandsworth | Traffic orders at least 8 weeks; mobile plant 2 weeks; scaffold, hoarding and skip licences 5 working days. |
| Haringey | Road closures at least 8 weeks; parking suspensions 2 weeks; skip licences 5 working days. |
Programme these alongside the CTMP rather than after it: a road closure that needs 12 weeks’ notice can hold up a start date long after the plan itself is approved.
Written by Construction Professionals
Our team plans construction traffic the way a contractor actually runs a site: realistic delivery schedules, vehicle sizes that match the methodology, and routing that a highways officer can approve without rounds of comments. That practical grounding is why our plans are trusted by leading developers and architects across London and the UK.
Where your project also needs a full Construction Management Plan, a TfL-aligned Construction Logistics Plan or a Construction Environmental Management Plan for the noise, dust and environmental controls, we produce the documents together so routing, delivery strategy and site management stay consistent through council review.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) is a document that sets out how construction vehicle movements will be managed throughout a project. It covers delivery routes to and from the site, vehicle types and sizes, loading and unloading arrangements, parking suspensions, and the measures that will protect pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. Councils commonly require a CTMP as a planning condition before work can start.
A CTMP is typically required when a planning condition asks for one, when your project generates regular vehicle movements on constrained roads, or when deliveries affect a public highway, bus route or controlled parking zone. In London, borough highways teams review CTMPs closely, and many will not discharge the relevant condition until vehicle routing and swept path analysis have been approved.
A thorough CTMP includes the proposed construction vehicle routes, expected vehicle numbers and types by project phase, site access and egress arrangements, banksman and traffic marshal provisions, measures for pedestrian and cyclist safety, and any temporary traffic orders or parking bay suspensions needed. Where site access is tight, swept path analysis demonstrates that the proposed vehicles can safely make the required turning movements.
Swept path analysis is a technical drawing exercise that traces the path a vehicle body and wheels take through a turning movement, proving that a lorry can safely enter, manoeuvre within and leave the site. Highways officers frequently ask for it when access is from a narrow street or a busy junction. CMP Construct coordinates swept path analysis as part of the CTMP where the site and council require it.
Between six and twelve weeks in the boroughs we cover that publish a figure, and longer where the council will not start until the plan is approved. Kensington and Chelsea and Islington ask for at least six weeks (up to 12 on major, TfL or strategic routes), Westminster, Wandsworth and Haringey at least eight (ten for crane operations in Westminster), Tower Hamlets nine weeks from payment with the discharged CMP, and Southwark and the City of London twelve. Camden’s Temporary Traffic Restrictions take 6–8 weeks after the CMP is signed off.
Most straightforward CTMPs follow the same timeline as our CMPs: around 7-10 working days from receiving project information to the first draft. Complex sites, for example those needing multiple swept path runs, phased routing or TfL input, are assessed individually with a realistic timeframe agreed up front. Quotations are free and provided within 48 hours.
Related Plans and Guides
- What is a Construction Management Plan?
- What every CMP must include, section by section
- Construction Logistics Plans (CLPs)
- Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMPs)
- What a plan costs and how long it takes
- Borough-by-borough requirements across London
- Permitted construction working hours in each London borough
- Basement Construction Management Plans