(1)The Secretary of State may, for the purposes of—
(a)any provision of this Act which refers to a classified or unclassified road; or
(b)any other enactment (whether passed or made before or after the passing of this Act) which refers to a road classified by the Secretary of State,
classify a road or proposed road (whether as a principal road or otherwise) from time to time in such manner as he may determine after consultation with any roads authority in whose area the road is, or will be, situated.
(2)In any enactment in force at the commencement of this Act a reference to a classified road (or any cognate reference) shall be construed as a reference to a road (or proposed road) which for the time being is classified, for the purposes of that enactment, under subsection (1) above.
(3)A road which, immediately before the commencement of this Act, bore (or fell to be treated as bearing) a classification (whether as a principal road or otherwise) given by the Secretary of State under any enactment shall, until the Secretary of State otherwise directs, be treated as continuing to bear that classification and as having been so classified under subsection (1) above.
(4)The Secretary of State may by order assign a new description to a class of roads (or proposed roads) classified under subsection (1) above; and except in so far as the order otherwise provides, any reference in any enactment passed or made before the date of the order to a road (or to a proposed road) in terms of the old description shall be construed as a reference to a road (or to a proposed road) of the new description.
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 11 definition of "principal road" applied (1.1.1993) by New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (c. 22, SIF 59, 108), s. 136(3); S.I. 1992/2990, art. 2(2), Sch. 2