Trunk Roads Act 1936
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1936 c. 5 |
| Year | 1936 |
Trunk Roads Act, 1936
(1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 5.
An Act to provide that the Minister of Transport shall be the highway authority for the principal roads in Great Britain which constitute the national system of routes for through traffic; to make consequential amendments in the law relating to highways; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[18th December 1936]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Transfer of trunk roads to Minister of Transport.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the principal roads in Great Britain constituting the national system of routes for through traffic which by virtue of this Act become trunk roads shall be known by that name and as from the date upon which any road becomes a trunk road the Minister of Transport (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Minister’) shall be the highway authority for the road.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the roads specified in the First Schedule to this Act shall by virtue of this Act become trunk roads as from the first day of April nineteen hundred and thirty-seven.
(3) If the Minister is satisfied that it is expedient to construct a new road or improve any road with a view to superseding any part of a trunk road by the creation of a new route for through traffic, he may after serving upon the council of every county within whose area the part of the trunk road to be superseded, or the route which is to supersede it, is situated, notice of his intention to do so, and, after considering any representation made by any such council within three months after service of the said notice, and after holding a local inquiry, if he thinks fit to do so or if a request therefor is made by any such council within the said three months and not withdrawn, make an order providing that—
(a ) upon such date as may be specified in the order, the route which is to supersede the part of the trunk road shall, by virtue of this Act, become a trunk road; and
(b ) upon the first day of April next following the date on which the Minister serves upon the councils aforesaid notice that the said route is ready to be used for the purposes of through traffic, the part of the trunk road to be so superseded as aforesaid shall become a county road.
(4) Where an order has been made under the last foregoing subsection, section thirty-two of the Local Government Act, 1929 (which entitles the councils of certain boroughs and urban districts to claim the functions of maintenance and repair of county roads), shall have effect as if the part of the trunk road to be superseded as aforesaid had become a county road on the date of the making of the order, so, however, that any functions of maintenance and repair claimed under the said section in respect of the said part shall not be exercisable until the date on which it becomes a county road.
(5) Where at the date of the passing of this Act a road was being constructed or improved by a highway authority, or was being improved by an authority in the exercise of functions under section thirty-two of the Local Government Act, 1929, or plans for the construction or improvement of a road by such an authority had been approved by the Minister, then, if the Minister is satisfied that by reason of the construction or improvement any part of a road specified in the said First Schedule has been or will be superseded by the creation of a new route for through traffic, he may at any time before the first day of April nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, and after serving upon the authority notice of his intention to do so, by order make such modifications in the provisions of the said Schedule as may be necessary for the purpose of substituting for references therein to the part superseded, references to the route which has superseded or will supersede it.
(6) If it appears to the Minister that the description in the said First Schedule of any road is in any respect an incorrect or insufficiently clear description of the route for through traffic, he may, after consultation with the council of every county within which the part of the road affected is situated, by order make such modifications in the provisions of the said Schedule as may be necessary for correcting or clarifying the description of the route for through traffic:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine.
2 Exclusion of county of London and of county boroughs.
(1) No road which is within the county of London or within any county borough shall, by virtue of this Act, become a trunk road.
(2) In the event of the extension of the area of the county of London, or of the constitution of any new county borough, or of the extension of the area of any county borough, all roads within the county of London, or of the county borough, as the case may be, which immediately before the alteration were trunk roads shall cease to be trunk roads and the council of the metropolitan borough within which the roads are situated, or the council of the county borough, as the case may be, shall become the highway authority for those roads.
3 General provisions as to functions with respect to trunk roads.
(1) Upon any road becoming a trunk road, then in relation to the road, all functions which immediately before the road became a trunk road were exercisable by highway authorities as respects county roads and county bridges, and any functions of construction, maintenance, repair or improvement exercisable as respects that road by a local authority under any Act, including any private or local Act, shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, be exercisable by the Minister to the exclusion of any other authority; and all enactments relating to those functions shall have effect accordingly, but subject in the case of the enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Act to the modifications specified in the second column of that schedule.
(2) In relation to trunk roads the functions conferred on local authorities by the enactments specified in the Third Schedule to this Act shall be exercisable by the Minister (without the necessity of any resolution of adoption or of any order or declaration of any Government Department) and of the said functions—
(a ) those mentioned in Part I of that Schedule shall not be exercisable by any other authority;
(b ) those mentioned in Part II of that Schedule shall not be exercisable by a county council in any borough or urban district but save as aforesaid shall, in so far as they are exercisable by local authorities, be exercisable by those authorities as well as by the Minister;
(c ) those mentioned in Part III of that Schedule shall not be exercisable by a county council in any borough or urban district and shall not be exercisable by any local authority except with the consent of the Minister;
and those enactments shall have effect accordingly, but subject, in the case of the enactments specified in the said Parts I and II, to the modifications specified in the second column of those Parts.
(3) Where the Minister is satisfied that functions substantially similar to those conferred by the enactments specified in the Third Schedule to this Act have been conferred on any local authority by a private or local Act, he may after consultation with the local authority by order direct that the provisions of the last foregoing subsection shall apply in relation to the functions conferred by the private or local Act in like manner as they apply to the similar functions conferred by the enactments specified in the said Schedule, and may by the same order specify the modifications subject to which the provisions of the private or local Act are accordingly to have effect.
(4) Where by any enactment empowering statutory undertakers to execute works in, under, upon, over, along or across any road, the undertakers are required—
(a ) to give notice to a local authority, or to obtain the consent or approval of a local authority;
(b ) to carry out the works under the superintendence of a local authority;
(c ) to reinstate the road to the satisfaction of a local authority; or
(d ) to do anything in relation to a county road;
any such requirement and any provisions of such an enactment empowering the local authority to act in default of the undertakers or otherwise to enforce any such a requirement shall, in relation to trunk roads, have effect as if for references to the local authority there were substituted references to the Minister and as if for references to a county road there were substituted references to a trunk road; and notwithstanding the provisions of any enactment as to the determination of disputes in connection with the execution of any such works arising between the statutory undertakers and any authority, any such disputes arising between the statutory undertakers and the Minister shall be determined by an arbitrator to be appointed, in default of agreement, by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
(5) Except where the foregoing provisions of this section otherwise require, any document (including any enactment) relating to the functions of a local authority as respects county roads, or roads chargeable to a county shall, in relation to functions not transferred to the Minister under this Act, be construed as if references therein to such roads included references to trunk roads.
(6) Section nine of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909 (which contains provisions as to roads...
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