Parliamentary roads
From early times, transport petitions have been submitted to Parliament about roads. For example, the Parliament Rolls record of 1290 has Walter Goodlake of Wallingford seeking permission to levy tolls on a stretch of road to carry out repairs. In 1304, a road leading to Salisbury was placed in the charge of the bishop to ensure its repair.
Petitions and Private Acts
These petitions were made to the Crown in Parliament. It wasn't long after that petitions were addressed to one of the two Houses of Parliament and sometimes resulted in a Private Act.
The earliest about a road is a statute of 1421, dedicating a recently-repaired road and bridges between Abingdon and Dorchester-on-Thames to public use.
Public legislation
There has also been much public legislation governing roads. This has included numerous Acts which attempted to protect certain roads by restricting the size of loads carried on them, or by specifying minimum wheel widths. The Highways Act of 1835 also formalised the practice of driving on the left.
In 1992 the Transport and Works Act provided for local inquiries and ministerial orders in place of private legislation so reducing the number of private bills that came before Parliament.