Local Government Act 1888

11 Entire maintenance of main roads by county council.

(1) Every road in a county, which is for the time being a main road within the meaning of the [41 & 42 Vict. c. 77.] Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878, inclusive of every bridge carrying such road if repairable by the highway authority, shall, after the appointed day, be wholly maintained and repaired by the council of the county in which the road is situate, and such council, for the purpose of the maintenance, repair, improvement, and enlargement of, and other dealing with such road, shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties as a highway board, and may further exercise any powers vested in the council for the purpose of the maintenauce and repair of bridges, and the enactments relating to highways and bridges shall apply accordingly; and the county council shall have the same powers as a highway board for preventing and removing obstructions, and for asserting the right of the public to the use and enjoyment of the roadside wastes; and the execution of this section shall be a general county purpose, and the costs thereof shall be charged to the general county account.

(2) Provided that any urban authority may, within twelve months after the appointed day, or in case of a road in the district of such authority becoming a main road at any subsequent date then within twelve months after that date, claim to retain the powers and duties of maintaining and repairing a main road within the district of such authority, and thereupon they shall be entitled to retain the same, and, for the purpose of the maintenance, repair, improvement, and enlargement of, and other dealing with such road, shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties as if such road were an ordinary road vested in them, and the council shall make to such authority an annual payment towards the costs of the maintenance and repair, and reasonable improvement connected with the maintenance and repair of such road.

(3) The amount of such payment shall be such annual sum as may be from time to time agreed on, or in the absence of agreement may be determined by arbitration of the Local Government Board.

(4) The county council and any district council may from time to time contract for the undertaking by the district council of the maintenance, repair, improvement, and enlargement of, and other dealing with any main road, and, if the county council so require, the district council shall undertake the same, and such undertaking shall be in consideration of such annual payment by the county council for the costs of the undertaking as may from time to time be agreed upon, or, in case of difference, be determined by arbitration of the Local Government Board ; and for the purposes of such undertaking the district council shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties and liabilities as if the road were an ordinary road vested in them.

(5) Provided that in no case shall a county council make any payment to a district council towards the costs of such undertaking as respects any road, or towards the costs of the maintenance, repair, or improvement of any road by an urban authority, until the county council are satisfied by the report of their surveyor, or such other person as the county council may appoint for the purpose, that the road has been properly maintained and repaired, or that the improvement or enlargement of or other dealing with the road, as the case may be, has been properly executed.

(6) A main road and the materials thereof, and all drains belonging thereto, shall, except where the urban authority retain the powers and duties of maintaining and repairing such road, vest in the county council, and where any sewer or other drain is used for any purpose in connexion with the drainage of any main road, the county council shall continue to have the right of using such sewer or drain for such purpose, and if any difference arises between a county council and any highway or sanitary authority as respects the authority in whom the drain is vested, or as to the use of any sewer or other drain, the council or the highway or sanitary authority may require such difference to be referred to arbitration, and the same shall be referred to arbitration in manner provided by this Act.

(7) Where a county council declare a road to be a main road, such declaration shall not take effect until the road has been placed in proper repair and condition to the satisfaction of the county council.

(8) If at any time the county council are satisfied, on the report of their surveyor or other person appointed by them for the purpose, that any portion of a main road, the maintenance and repair of which are undertaken by any district council, is not in proper repair and condition, the county council may cause notice to be given to such district council, requiring them to place the road in proper repair and condition; and, if such notice is not complied with within a reasonable time, the county council may do everything that seems to them necessary to place the road in proper repair and condition, and the expenses of so doing shall be a debt of the said district council to the county council.

(9) If any difference arises under this section between a county council and a district council as to the refusal of the county council to make a payment under this section to the district council in respect of any undertaking or road, or as to a road having been placed in proper repair and condition previously to its becoming a main road, or as to any notice given to the district council by the county council to place a road in proper repair and condition, such difference shall, if either council so require, be referred to the arbitration of the Local Government Board.

(10) The county council may, if they think fit, contribute towards the costs of the maintenance, repair, enlargement, and improvement of any highway or public footpath in the county, although the same is not a main road.

(11) Every authority having any power or duty to light the roads in their district shall have the same power and duty to light any main road in their district.

(12) Anything authorised or required by law to be done by or to a highway or road authority shall, as respects a main road maintained by a county council, be authorised or required to be done by or to that council; and every authority having any power to break up any road in their district for the purpose of sewerage or otherwise shall have the like power of breaking up any main road in their district, but if the road is broken up the authority shall repair it to the satisfaction of the county council maintaining such road, and if it is not repaired to the satisfaction of the county council, that council may cause the necessary repairs to be done and may charge the costs against the authority, and the same shall be a debt due from the authority to the council.

(13) Section twenty of the [41 & 42 Vict. c. 77.] Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878, shall apply as if it were herein re-enacted and in terms made applicable to this section.