Road adoption

Manchester City Council as a Highway Authority has a duty to maintain adopted highways. 

Manchester has approximately:

• 400 bridges and highway structures;
• 1,400 km of highway (Roads, pavements and cycleways);
• over 100,000 of highway drainage gullies.

We also has maintenance responsibilities for certain public rights of way. 

What is an adopted highway?

We maintain records of the adoption status of the highway network it looks after.  Adopted highways are highways repairable at public expense. 

What is a private street?  

A private street or unadopted highway is a highway which is not maintained by the us.  We have no legal obligation to carry out any repairs of unadopted highways.   

What legal requirements can apply to both adopted highway and private streets?  

A number of legal provisions apply to both adopted highway and unadopted highway e.g. the law relating to obstruction of highways. 

How does a highway become adopted?  

Legal highway adoption agreements can be entered into with us to allow new or private streets or unadopted highways to become adopted.   

What can you do

Contact us to find out if a highway is adopted.