Highways Act 1980

General power of improvement

62 General power of improvement

(1) The provisions of this Part of this Act have effect for the purpose of empowering or requiring highway authorities and other persons to improve highways.

(2) Without prejudice to the powers of improvement specifically conferred on highway authorities by the following provisions of this Part of this Act, any such authority may, subject to subsection (3) below, carry out, in relation to a highway maintainable at the public expense by them, any work (including the provision of equipment) for the improvement of the highway.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) above, but without prejudice to any enactment not contained in this Part of this Act, work of any of the following descriptions shall be carried out only under the powers specifically conferred by the following provisions of this Part of this Act, and not under this section—

(a) the division of carriageways, provision of roundabouts and variation of the relative widths of carriageways and footways;

(b) the construction of cycle tracks ;

(c) the provision of subways, refuges, pillars, walls, barriers, rails, fences or posts for the use or protection of persons using a highway;

(d) the construction and reconstruction of bridges and alteration of level of highways ;

(e) the planting of trees, shrubs and other vegetation and laying out of grass verges ;

(f) the provision, maintenance, alteration, improvement or other dealing with cattle-grids, by-passes, gates and other works for use in connection with cattle-grids;

(g) the execution of works for the purpose of draining a highway or of otherwise preventing surface water from flowing on to it;

(h) the provision of barriers or other works for the purpose of affording to a highway protection against hazards of nature.

(4) A highway authority may alter or remove any works executed by them under this section.

(5) In relation to any highway in Greater London maintainable at the public expense which is neither a trunk road nor a metropolitan road, subsections (2) to (4) above have effect for the purposes of, and of the provision of equipment for, the erection, maintenance, alteration or removal of traffic signs which are light signals for controlling the movement of vehicular traffic or of pedestrians (but for those purposes only) as if that highway were maintainable by the Greater London Council and not by the London borough council concerned or, as the case may be, by the Common Council.