Greenlanes (unsurfaced carriageways)

Greenlanes

A greenlane is a colloquialism for describing an unsurfaced carriageway. These are made up of U-roads and some D-roads and as such are afforded the same legal standing as metaled (or surfaced) carriageways. As carriageways all users are permitted to use them including pedestrians, 4x4s, motorcycles, mountain bikes and horses – as a carriageway the highway code should be followed whilst on greenlanes.

Greenways

Some greenlanes have been given the legal definition of 'Greenway', these have restrictions and are denoted by a Loughton symbol at the start of them. These roads are limited to a weight restriction of 500kg and a speed limit of 20mph.

A Greenways Permit is required for large vehicles over 500kg unladen weight to use the road. There are conditions placed upon the issue of the permit such as the times (if appropriate), date(s) and purpose for which a vehicle is permitted to use a specified Greenway. Agricultural Vehicles are Exempt.

Obtaining a Greenways Permit

These can be obtained from the Department of Infrastructure by completing and submitting the form which can be found in under downloads section of this page.

Users rights

As stated above the greenlanes are exactly the same as a metaled carriageway and therefore any pedestrian, vehicle or other user legally defined within the highway code can use a greenlane providing there are no restrictions in place. Any restrictions will be clearly signed with the appropriate traffic signs in compliance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.