Vehicle crossings are provided to assist vehicle access on to or across footways, such as driveways.
These can be provided at the request of householders, subject to payment of the costs of installing the dropped kerb, a fee for provision of the quote (£50) and a fee for administration of the work (£137 from April 2024).
In order to ensure that vehicle crossings are constructed to the required standard and specification, all domestic vehicle crossings are built by the Council's approved Contractor.
New Applications
To make an application for a vehicle crossing please use the following link to email to the Highways Team. We will send you a checklist to complete and details of how to pay for the quote. We also require a sketch or photograph of the location with the markings on to show where you would like your crossing point to be. Once this information has been received it will be logged on our system and you will receive an email with your reference number.
The provision of a quote can take up to 28 days, if no quotation has been provided within this time period, please get in touch through the highways e-mail address.
Important notice
The construction of a vehicle crossing by the Council does not give the occupier of the premises any particular rights, except to drive across the footway to gain access to the property with a private or light goods motor car.
The crossing itself is part of the public highway. From the date that the Council accepts the completed crossing, they will assume responsibility for its maintenance at no cost to the occupier, apart from any damage caused by illegal use by heavy vehicles, etc.
As there is no right to have a vehicular crossing provided, there is no right of appeal should the Highway Authority refuse to sanction the installation of a crossing facility.
Dropped kerbs for vehicles (vehicle crossings) are provided to allow access for vehicles from the carriageway on to or across the footway, such as driveways. This removes the sharp difference in footway and carriageway levels and helps to prevent damage to vehicle tyres etc.
Planning permission is not usually required for such work, but will be if the property:
- has the frontage directly on to a classified road
- involved is a listed building
- involved is other than a house for a single family, e.g. Flat, Maisonette, Commercial or Industrial Premises.
If it appears that your property comes within one of the above classifications and planning permission is required you should contact the Council. Alternatively see our planning permission information.
If you decide to go ahead with the construction you must remove the fence, wall or hedge within the property at the place where the crossing will be located before construction can take place.
Please refer to the Vehicle Crossings Policy and Installation Criteria (below) for further information
Residents and visitors may apply for dropped kerbs at locations where wheelchair users and pedestrian with mobility difficulties are having problems.
When a high number of requests are received they are forwarded to the Sefton Access Forum which consists of representatives from the various disability groups within Sefton.
Due to financial constraints, the Access Group have to prioritise those sites which give the greatest benefit, for example dropped kerbs within a shopping area will benefit more people than one outside an individual's house. These locations will be prioritised to be done first. Requests for dropped kerbs should be made to the Traffic Management Team.
Document Downloads
| Vehicle Crossings Policy & Installation Criteria 2024 |  (pdf 940KB) |
| Sefton Classified Roads List - April 2024 | (pdf 246KB) |
| Vehicle Crossing Pre Application Checklist | (pdf 128KB) |