A new access onto a trunk road or motorway slip
National Highways can stop a decision dead with a holding direction, and there is nothing to appeal. Here is the policy position and how to get an objection lifted.
A new access onto a trunk road is treated by National Highways as something to be avoided rather than designed. Government policy on the strategic road network states that new direct accesses will not normally be permitted, and for motorways the position is stricter still. So the realistic question on most schemes is not how to design the access but whether the development can be served from the local road network instead.
That matters for programme as much as for design, because National Highways holds a power that no other consultee has. It can direct the local planning authority not to grant permission, and it can issue a holding direction that stops the decision while it considers the case. An application can sit undetermined for months with no appeal clock running.
National Highways as a statutory consultee
National Highways is the highway authority for motorways and trunk roads in England, and a statutory consultee under the development management procedure order for development that would affect the strategic road network.
Its response can take one of four forms, and the difference between them is the whole story:
- No objection, with or without recommended conditions
- A recommendation that conditions or obligations be imposed
- A direction that permission be refused, which the authority must follow
- A holding direction, preventing the authority from granting permission for a period while the matter is considered
The holding direction is the one that catches applicants out. It is not a refusal, so there is nothing to appeal, and the authority cannot determine the application. The only route out is to satisfy National Highways, which means engaging with it directly rather than through the case officer.
The policy position on new accesses to the strategic network
The current circular on the strategic road network and the delivery of sustainable development sets the framework, and three propositions in it shape every case.
New direct access to the strategic road network should be avoided, and development should be served from the local road network wherever that is possible. Access to a motorway is permitted only in exceptional circumstances, and in practice that means a motorway service area, a maintenance facility or a scheme of national significance. And where an existing access is to be intensified, the assessment considers the effect of the intensification rather than treating the existing access as a given.
The last point is the one people misunderstand. A farm access onto an A road that has existed for a century does not carry an unlimited right to generate traffic. A proposal to use it for 40 dwellings is assessed as a new traffic generator at that point, and intensification of an existing substandard access is a common reason for a direction to refuse.
Sustainable transport is part of the policy framework rather than a courtesy. A proposal with no realistic walking, cycling or public transport offer, generating all its trips onto the strategic network, is on weak ground before the geometry is even discussed.
Visibility, geometry and the design standards applied
Where an access on the strategic network is considered at all, the standards are the national highway design standards rather than the street design guidance used on local roads. The distances are longer, the geometry is more demanding, and departures from standard require formal approval from National Highways rather than negotiation with a local engineer.
What that means in practice:
- Stopping sight distances derived from recorded speeds on a high-speed road, which on a dual carriageway are substantial
- Junction geometry to the relevant design standard, with ghost island or right turn provision where turning movements require it
- Visibility over land within the highway boundary or within the applicant's control, maintained in perpetuity
- A departure from standards application where any element cannot meet the standard, with its own approval process and timescale
- Road safety audits at the design stages set out in the national standards, carried out by an independent team
Budget for the departure process if any element is marginal. It is a formal submission to National Highways, assessed on safety grounds, and it is not a negotiation.
Trip generation and the capacity assessment required
The transport evidence for a strategic network case is more demanding than for a local road, and the parameters need agreeing before any modelling is done.
Settle with National Highways: the trip rate source and the comparator sites used, the assessment years including the opening year and a design year, the growth factors applied, the committed development to be included, the peak periods assessed, and the junction modelling package and its inputs.
Then run the assessment and present the inputs as well as the outputs. A junction model reported as a ratio of flow to capacity, with no input file and no assumptions table, will be asked for again. A Transport Assessment on a strategic network case should read as something an independent engineer could rebuild.
Where capacity is the issue rather than safety, mitigation is the conversation. That can mean signalisation, a lane gain, a roundabout improvement or a contribution towards a planned scheme, and all of those feed into the section 278 process below.
Holding directions and how they are lifted
A holding direction is lifted when National Highways is satisfied, and the only way to get there is to understand precisely what it objected to.
Ask for the specific deficiency in writing. Directions are usually issued on one of three grounds: insufficient information to assess the effect, an unacceptable safety effect, or an unacceptable capacity effect with no agreed mitigation. Each has a different remedy.
Insufficient information is the most common and the easiest to resolve, usually through a scoping agreement and additional modelling. A safety objection is the hardest, because it goes to the geometry and often to the principle of the access. A capacity objection is resolvable through mitigation and funding, though the timescale depends on whether the mitigation needs design approval.
Engage directly and early. National Highways operates a formal pre-application service, and a scoping agreement reached before submission is worth more than any amount of correspondence afterwards.
Section 278 works and the agreement process
Any works to the strategic network itself are carried out under a section 278 agreement with National Highways under the Highways Act 1980, and the process is longer and more formal than its local authority equivalent.
Expect technical approval of the design, an independent road safety audit with a response to each recommendation, a legal agreement, a bond or security, commuted sums for future maintenance in some cases, and agreement of the works programme including any traffic management or closures. On a dual carriageway, overnight closures and the lead time for booking them are a real programme item.
Start the technical conversation during the planning application, not after permission. A Construction Traffic Management Plan covering the construction phase access and any temporary arrangement is normally conditioned, and on the strategic network it will be scrutinised.
Alternative access arrangements worth exploring
Because the policy position is restrictive, the options worth testing before committing to a direct access are:
- Access from the local road network, even where it adds length or requires a third party agreement
- A shared access with an existing lawful use, where the intensification can be shown to be acceptable
- Improvement of an existing access rather than formation of a new one
- A left in, left out arrangement avoiding turning movements across traffic
- A site layout that reduces trips onto the strategic network through on-site uses or a Travel Plan with binding measures
A land assembly or a right of way negotiation to reach a local road is often faster and more certain than pursuing a direct access, and that calculation is worth doing honestly at the appraisal stage rather than after a holding direction arrives.
One honest uncertainty: the appetite for intensifying an existing access varies between National Highways regional teams, and a case accepted in one region may be directed for refusal in another. Pre-application engagement is the only way to find out which position you face.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with National Highways, your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
Will National Highways allow a new access onto a trunk road?
Rarely. Government policy on the strategic road network states that new direct accesses will not normally be permitted and that development should be served from the local road network where possible. Access to a motorway is permitted only in exceptional circumstances, which in practice means service areas, maintenance facilities or nationally significant schemes.
What is a holding direction?
A direction from National Highways preventing the local planning authority from granting permission for a period while the matter is considered. It is not a refusal, so there is no decision to appeal and no clock running. The only route forward is to satisfy National Highways directly rather than working through the case officer.
Does an existing access carry a right to generate more traffic?
No. Intensification of an existing access is assessed on its own terms, so a long-standing farm access does not give an unlimited entitlement to serve a new development. Intensification of a substandard existing access onto the strategic network is a frequent ground for a direction that permission be refused.
What standards apply to the access design?
The national highway design standards rather than the street design guidance used on local roads, which means longer sight distances and more demanding junction geometry. Any element that cannot meet the standard needs a formal departure from standards application to National Highways, assessed on safety grounds with its own timescale.
How long does a section 278 agreement take on the strategic network?
Longer than its local authority equivalent. It involves technical approval of the design, an independent road safety audit with responses to each recommendation, a legal agreement, a bond or security, sometimes commuted maintenance sums, and agreement of traffic management including any overnight closures and their booking lead times.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.