The road is owned by the original seller. I believe it is a 60' wide strip and everyone on the road has easements to access the road. The original seller is no older than 35, farms probably 600 acres surrounding all our homes, and has lived in the area his whole life. He inherited all the land from his grandfather and his brothers. Barring catastrophe, he isn't going anywhere. I am going to call him in the near future to verify that he owns the road and that we can do to it what we want. I am sure he doesn't care what happens to the road, as he doesn't use it.
Zoning in our county was passed about 6 months after the last trailer was moved in. The guy we all bought land from is adamant that he won't sell any more land up there, and if he wanted to he'd be forced to follow the new zoning laws, so I don't think it will happen even if he gets hard up for money.
I am not going to purposely get my car stuck at this point, as 2 of the 3 neighbors above me have agreed to help out with the road. If nothing is done someone will get stuck, no ifs, ands, or buts. We have had a stretch of unbelievably warm, sunny weather for this time of year. As soon as the first snow hits, forget it. Being as I have the only tractor up there, they will have to call a tow truck or come talk to me to get them out. Anyone out there is much more likely to lose their job because they got their own car stuck vs. anything that I would ever do. I have made no demands or threats to anyone. My wife has written and dispensed two very nice, pleasant letter explaining the obvious problem and requesting financial assistance as well as a call for advice or comments.
I am not funneling money to a relative. I am going to borrow my FIL's backhoe and pay my SIL's boyfriend, who is a heavy equipment operator by profession, $50 to dig some ditches and smooth the road. I'm going to buy 2 tri-axles of gravel and have them spread on the road. I have asked each person for $100 for this purpose. $400 ($600 if everyone responds) will not pay for a contractor to come in and do this. It'll cost $50 to get anyone out there, plus another $60+/hour of backhoe work (I don't know the going rate for backhoe work in our area, but I'm sure it's at least $60, probably higher). No money left for rock, which is $225/tri-axle. I would absolutely love to hire a company to grade the road, dig ditches, install culverts, and pave the thing, but that isn't happening for $400.