The Lake Lothing (Lowestoft) Third Crossing Order 2020

Construction and maintenance of new, altered or diverted streets and other structures

8.—(1) Any highway to be constructed altered or diverted under this Order including any culverts or other structures laid under it must be maintained by and at the expense of the local highway authority from its completion.

(2) Where a street which is not and is not intended to be a public highway is constructed, altered or diverted under this Order, the street (or part of the street as the case may be) must, when completed to the reasonable satisfaction of the street authority, unless otherwise agreed in writing, be maintained by and at the expense of the undertaker for a period of 12 months from its completion and at the expiry of that period by and at the expense of the street authority.

(3) The structure and highway surface of the new bridge must be maintained by and at the expense of the local highway authority from the date of the completion of the new bridge.

(4) Where land not previously part of the public highway comes to form part of the public highway by virtue of the construction, diversion or alteration of the streets set out in Schedule 4 (permanent stopping up of highways and private means of access and provision of new highways and private means of access), unless otherwise agreed with the street authority, the land is deemed to have been dedicated as public highway on the expiry of a period of 12 months from completion of the works to the street that has been constructed, altered or diverted.

(5) In any action against the undertaker in respect of loss or damage resulting from any failure by the undertaker to maintain a street under this article, it is a defence (without prejudice to any other defence or the application of the law relating to contributory negligence) to prove that the undertaker had taken such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the street to which the action relates was not dangerous to traffic.

(6) For the purposes of a defence under paragraph (5), the court must in particular have regard to the following matters—

(a) the character of the street and the traffic which was reasonably to be expected to use it;

(b) the standard of maintenance appropriate for a street of that character and used by such traffic;

(c) the state of repair in which a reasonable person would have expected to find the street;

(d) whether the undertaker knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that the condition of the part of the street to which the action relates was likely to cause danger to users of the street; and

(e) where the undertaker could not reasonably have been expected to repair that part of the street before the cause of action arose, what warning notices of its condition had been displayed,

but for the purposes of such a defence it is not relevant to prove that the undertaker had arranged for a competent person to carry out or supervise the maintenance of the part of the street to which the action relates unless it is also proved that the undertaker had given the competent person proper instructions with regard to the maintenance of the street and that the competent person had carried out those instructions.

(7) The date of completion of any works to a highway pursuant to this article is to be agreed by the undertaker and the local highway authority.

(8) The date of completion of any works to a street which is not and is not intended to be a highway pursuant to this article is to be agreed by the undertaker and the street authority.