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. 

## Classification of roads, etc. 

9.  On the date on which the roads described in Schedule 3 (classification of roads, etc) are completed and open for traffic— 

(a) the roads described in paragraphs 1 to 16 of Part 1 (A12 and A146) of Schedule 3 are to be classified as the A12, as if such classification had been made under section 12(3) (general provisions as to principal and classified roads) of the 1980 Act; 

(b) the roads described in paragraphs 17 to 24 of Part 1 of Schedule 3 are to be classified as the A146, as if such classification had been made under section 12(3) (general provisions as to principal and classified roads) of the 1980 Act; and 

(c) the roads described in Part 2 (other roads) of Schedule 3 are to be classified as set out in that Part and are, where specified in that Part, to be classified roads for the purpose of any enactment or instrument which refers to highways classed as classified roads, as if such classification has been made under section 12(3) of the 1980 Act. 

