Adopted and unadopted roads

The majority of roads in Buckinghamshire are maintained by us as the highway authority.

Private roads and private streets are not maintained by us. They are maintained by the people or businesses that front the road or the organisations that own the freehold of the land the road is on.

We are occasionally asked to repair or adopt them as public highways. It is our policy not to intervene and maintain or adopt these roads. Those responsible for the road should pay to bring the road up to an appropriate standard. We can then promote an adoption of the road under the Highways Act 1980, thus reducing the initial costs whilst achieving longer term benefit for users of the road.