Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967

Bollards and other obstructions

69 Bollards and other obstructions on roads outside Greater London.

(1) Where the passage, or the passage in any direction, of vehicles or of vehicles of any class is prohibited at any point of a road outside Greater London by an order under section 1 or 9 of this Act, the authority who made the order may, in accordance with the following provisions of this section, place or authorise or require the placing at or near that point of such bollards or other obstructions as they consider appropriate for preventing that passage.

(1A) The bollards or other obstructions which may be placed under subsection (1) above—

(a) shall include obstructions of any description whatsoever ;

(b) may be either fixed or moveable ; and

(c) may be placed so as to prevent the passage of vehicles either at all times or at certain times only;

and where the powers conferred by that subsection have been exercised with respect to two or more points of a road so that the passage of vehicles along a stretch of that road is prevented, those powers shall extend to placing, or authorising the placing, of further obstructions on that stretch of road ; but any obstructions placed under those powers shall not be so placed as to prevent at any time the passage of foot passengers past the point or along the stretch of road in question and shall not be of such a nature that the reopening of the road in question to vehicles would be unreasonably difficult or as to alter the nature of the surface of the road.

(2) Where the order has been made as respects a trunk road, the appropriate Minister may place the bollards or other obstructions on the trunk road or authorise or require the highway authority for any road leading into or crossing the trunk road at the said point to place them on that other road.

(3) Where the order has been made as respects any other road the authority who made the order may place the bollards or other obstructions on that road, but, where that authority is neither the appropriate Minister nor the highway authority for that road, only with the consent of that highway authority.

(4) The appropriate Minister may authorise or require any authority who have placed bollards or other obstructions on a road in pursuance of this section to remove them.

(5) If an authority fail to comply with any requirement imposed under this section, the appropriate Minister may himself carry out the work required by the requirement, and the expense incurred by him in so doing shall be recoverable by him from the authority and, in England or Wales, shall be so recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

(6) Any requirement imposed under this section—

(a) if relating to a road in England or Wales, shall be enforceable on the application of the appropriate Minister by mandamus;

(b) if relating to a road in Scotland, shall be enforceable by order of the Court of Session on an application by the Lord Advocate under section 91 of the [1868 c. 100.] Court of Session Act 1868.

(7) Any power conferred by this section to place any obstruction or authorise or require any authority to place any obstruction includes power to maintain or light, or, as the case may be, authorise or require the authority to maintain or light, the obstruction.

(8) Any enactment authorising the making of grants or loans in connection with traffic signs shall extend to any such obstructions as are mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this section.

70 Bollards and other obstructions on roads in Greater London.

(1) The Minister or the Greater London Council (hereafter in this section referred to as " the Council ") may, to such extent as the Minister or Council may consider necessary in connection with any order under section 6 or 9 of this Act made or proposed to be made by the Minister or, as the case may be, the Council—

(a) authorise or require the highway authority for any road in Greater London which is not a trunk road to place in the carriageway such bollards or other obstructions as the Minister or Council may consider appropriate for preventing the passage of vehicles, or vehicles of any class, at any point at which their passage (whether in any direction or in one direction only) is prohibited by any such order as aforesaid and to maintain and light those obstructions ;

(b) authorise or require any highway authority to remove any obstruction placed by that authority in pursuance of an authorisation or requirement under paragraph (a) above.

(1A) Subsection (1A) of section 69 of this Act shall apply in relation to the placing of bollards or other obstructions under subsection (1) above as if for any reference in the said subsection (1A) to subsection (1) of that section there were substituted a reference to subsection (1) above.

(2) To such extent as the Minister or, as the case may be, the Council may consider necessary in connection with any order such as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, whether made or proposed to be made by the Minister or by the Council, the Minister may do with respect to any trunk road, or as the case may be the Council may do with respect to any metropolitan road, any thing which the authority making or proposing to make the order might under subsection (1)(a) above require to be done with respect to any other road by the highway authority therefor.

(3) If a highway authority fail to comply with any requirement under subsection (1) above, the Minister or, as the case may be, the Council may carry out the work required by the requirement, and the expense incurred by the Minister or Council in so doing shall be recoverable summarily as a civil debt from the authority.

(4) References in this section to a highway authority include references to any person who, not being a highway authority, is responsible for the maintenance of a road.

(5) Section 68 of this Act shall apply in relation to any such obstruction as is mentioned in subsection (1) above as it applies in relation to traffic signs ; and the power of the Minister under that section to make advances towards expenses incurred in relation to traffic signs shall be exercisable with respect to any expenses incurred by the Council by virtue of subsection (2) above.