Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878

Main Roads

13 Disturnpiked roads to become main roads, and half the expense of maintenance to be contributed out of county rate

For the purposes of this Act, and subject to its provisions, any road which has, within the period between the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and seventy and the date of the passing of this Act, ceased to be a turnpike road, and any road which, being at the time of the passing of this Act a turnpike road, may afterwards cease to be such, shall be deemed to be a main road; and one half of the expenses incurred from and after the twenty-ninth day of September one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight by the highway authority in the maintenance of such road shall, as to every part thereof which is within the limits of any highway area, be paid to the highway authority of such area by the county authority of the county in which such road is situate out of the county rate, on the certificate of the surveyor of the county authority, or of such other person or persons as the county authority may appoint, to the effect that such main road has been maintained to his or their

Provided that no part of such expenses shall be included in—

(1) Any precept or warrant for the levying or collection of county rate within the metropolis, subject and without prejudice to any provision to be hereafter made; or

(2) Any order made on the council of any borough having a separate court of quarter sessions under section one hundred and seventeen of the Municipal Corporation Act, 1835.

The term " expenses " in this section shall mean the cost of repairs defrayed out of current rates, and shall not include any repayment of principal moneys borrowed, or of interest payable thereon.

14 Description of highway areas

The following areas shall be deemed to be highway areas for the purposes of this Act; (that is to say,)

(1) Urban sanitary districts :

(2) Highway districts :

(3) Highway parishes not included within any highway district or any urban sanitary district.

15 Power to declare ordinary highway to be a main road

"Where it appears to any highway authority that any highway within their district ought to become a main road by reason of its being a medium of communication between great towns, or a thoroughfare to a railway station, or otherwise, such highway authority may apply to the county authority for an order declaring such road, as to such parts as aforesaid, to be a main road; and the county authority, if of opinion that there is probable cause for the application, shall cause the road to be inspected, and, if satisfied that it ought to be a main road, shall make an order accordingly.

A copy of the order so made shall be forthwith deposited at the office of the. clerk of the peace of the county, and shall be open to the inspection of persons interested at all reasonable hours ; and the order so made shall not be of any validity unless and until it is confirmed by a further order of the county authority made within a period of not more than six months after the making of the first-mentioned order.

16 Power to reduce main road to status of ordinary highway

If it appears to a county authority that any road within their county which, within the period between the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and seventy and the date of the passing of this Act, ceased to be a turnpike road ought not to become a main road in pursuance of this Act, such authority shall, before the first day of February one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, make an application to the Local Government Board for a provisional order declaring that such road ought not to become a main road.

Subject as aforesaid, where it appears to a county authority that any road within their county which has become a main road in pursuance of this Act ought to cease to be a main road and become an ordinary highway, such authority may apply to the Local Government Board for a provisional order declaring that such road has ceased to be a main road and become an ordinary highway.

The Local Government Board, if of opinion that there is probable cause for an application under this section, shall cause the road to be inspected, and if satisfied that it ought not to become or ought to cease to be a main road and become an ordinary highway shall make a provisional order accordingly, to be confirmed as herein-after mentioned.

All expenses incurred in or incidental to the making or confirmation of any order under this section shall be defrayed by the county authority applying for such order.

17 Turnpike road in several counties

"Where a turnpike road subject to one trust extends into divers counties, such road, for the purposes of this Act, shall be treated as a separate turnpike road in each county through which it passes.

18 Accounts of expenses of maintenance of main roads

Every highway authority shall keep, in such form as may be directed by the county authority, a separate account of the expenses of the maintenance of the main roads within their jurisdiction, and shall forward copies thereof to the county authority at such time or times in every year as may be required by the county authority, and the accounts so kept shall, where the accounts of the highway authority are audited under this Act or under section two hundred and forty-seven of the [38 & 39 Vict. c. 55.] Public Health Act, 1875, be audited in the same manner as the other accounts of such authority, and where the accounts of the highway authority are not so audited shall be subject to such audit as the county authority may direct.

If any highway authority makes default in complying with the provisions of this section, or with any directions given in pursuance thereof by the county authority, the county authority may withhold all or any part of the contribution payable by them under this Act towards the expenses of the maintenance of main roads by such highway authority for the year in which such default occurs.

19 Highway district situate in more than one county

"Where a highway district is situate in more than one county, the provisions of this Act, with respect to the expenses of the maintenance of main roads, shall apply as if the portion of such district situate in each county were a separate highway district in that county.

20 Repair of main roads in certain cases

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, in the case of any county in which certain of the bridges within the county are repairable by the county at large, and others are repairable by the several hundreds within the county in which they are situate, it shall be lawful for the county authority from time to time, by order, to declare any main road or part of a main road within their county to be repairable to the extent only and in manner provided by section thirteen of this Act, either by the county or by the hundred in which such main road or part is situate, as they think fit; and where a main road or part thereof is declared to be repairable by a hundred, the expense of repairing the same shall, to the extent to which but for this section the expense or any contribution towards the expense of repairing the same would be repayable out of the county rate, be repayable out of a separate rate which shall be raised and charged in the like manner as the expenses of repairing the hundred bridges in the same hundred would have been raised and charged.