Your Traffic Plan Came Back With Comments: Responding to an RFI

A traffic management plan RFI means the council or road authority needs more information or changes before it can approve your plan. Treat it as a checklist, not a rejection: log every comment, decide who answers each one, get design changes done by a qualified designer, and resubmit one complete package with a clear response register.

The worst response to an RFI is a quick partial one. It restarts the conversation without finishing it, and often leads to a second round of comments. This guide shows how to handle comments on a traffic guidance scheme (TGS), traffic management plan (TMP) or construction traffic management plan, with a response register you can copy and a worked example. It is written for builders, project managers and site managers who submit plans to councils and road authorities. Processes, portals and deadlines differ between authorities, so read the instructions in your RFI and check with the reviewing authority.

What an RFI is telling you

Reviewers send comments because they cannot approve the plan as submitted. That might be because:

• information is missing, such as work hours, contact details, duration or a pedestrian route
• the design does not meet a requirement, such as sign positions, lane widths or the arrangement near a bus stop
• the plan conflicts with something else, such as another work or event on the network, a clearway or a public transport route
• the documents do not agree, such as a TGS showing one lane closed while the application describes two

Each type needs a different response. Missing information can often be answered by you within a day. Design issues need your designer. Conflicts may need a different date or method, which is your decision.

If you are not sure whether you have a TMP, a TGS or both, read traffic management plan vs traffic guidance scheme first, because comments often refer to one document but affect the other.

Step 1: Log every comment in a register

Do this the day the RFI arrives. Copy each comment, word for word, into a numbered register. If one comment contains two requests, split it into 3a and 3b. This stops the most common failure: answering eight out of nine points.

Then, for each comment, record:

Step 2: Sort comments into who answers what

Sort the register by owner and send each person their list the same day, with the date you need their answer.

• You or the builder: work hours, construction method, plant and vehicle sizes, site contacts, notification arrangements, programme.
• The traffic designer: sign layout, tapers, buffers and spacings, lane widths, pedestrian and cyclist routes, swept paths, detour design. Our guide on briefing a traffic management designer explains what they need from you to do this well.
• The traffic control provider: crew numbers, equipment availability such as TMAs or VMS boards, and how the arrangement will be implemented and inspected.
• Third parties: bus operators, neighbouring sites, utility owners, if the comment requires their agreement.

Do not edit the TGS yourself, even for a "small" change such as moving a sign. A traffic guidance scheme must be prepared by a suitably qualified person, and the designer needs to check that one change does not break another part of the plan.

Example scenario: seven council comments on a residential build

Here is how this plays out on a typical job. A builder submits a TGS and a construction traffic management plan to the local council for a three-storey residential build on a local street. The plan shows a footpath closure, a works zone for deliveries, and occasional stop/slow for a mobile crane. Ten working days later, council sends seven comments.

What goes wrong: the builder's first instinct is to answer 2, 5 and 7 straight away and send them, because they are easy. That would leave the application stuck while the designer works on 1, 3, 4 and 6. Instead, the builder sends the easy answers to the designer for inclusion, so everything goes back together.

The swept path problem: the designer finds the 19 m semi-trailer cannot turn into the site without crossing the opposite kerb. The builder decides to limit deliveries to a smaller rigid truck. That is a decision only the builder can make, and it is recorded in the register and the CTMP.

What gets recorded: the register, the revised TGS and CTMP with revision B and a list of changes, the bus operator's written agreement, the notification template, and the date resubmitted.

For more on what makes the vehicle check tricky, see construction vehicle swept-path analysis.

Step 3: Write responses the reviewer can check in seconds

Reviewers handle many applications. Make yours easy to close out:

• Answer each comment directly, in one or two sentences.
• Point to where it is fixed: "See TGS Rev B, sheet 2, north approach."
• Mark the changes on the drawings, using clouds or a revision list, so the reviewer does not have to compare every sheet.
• Say what you did not change, and why, if you disagree with a comment. Keep it factual and offer to discuss.
• Use one revision number across all updated documents.

The difference between a response that closes a comment and one that starts another round is usually specificity:

A vague answer forces the reviewer to open every drawing to check, and the safe choice for them is to send another comment.

Step 4: Resubmit one complete package

Before you hit submit, run this check:

• every comment in the register has a response and status "closed"
• every changed document carries the new revision and date
• drawings, the CTMP and the application form all describe the same arrangement
• third-party agreements are attached
• your contact details are correct for any follow-up

Step 5: Check what the changes do to your booking

Comments rarely change only the paperwork. In the example above, moving crane lifts to permitted hours changed the crane booking and the traffic control shift times. Adding a pedestrian diversion may need another controller. A smaller delivery truck may mean more deliveries.

Once the plan is approved, send the approved revision to your traffic control provider and confirm crew numbers, equipment and start times. Our guide to why road occupancy applications get rejected covers the most common reasons in NSW, many of which apply to council applications too.

Avoiding the next RFI

The best RFI response is not needing one. Before your next submission:

• visit the site and check the plan against what is really there
• confirm permitted work hours with the approving authority first
• show pedestrians, cyclists, bus stops and driveways, even if unaffected
• include swept paths for any large vehicle entering or leaving
• make every document describe the same arrangement
• include contacts and notification arrangements

Next steps

When your next RFI arrives, start the numbered register the same day and send each owner their list. For state road requirements, check Transport for NSW or, in Queensland, Transport and Main Roads, along with your local council. If you book traffic control through a provider that uses TrafWise, send the approved plan with your booking so the crew sets up the right revision.