STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT OF WAYS?

LBrown59 · Jun 6, 2005

STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT OF WAYS?

Who is responsible for maintenance repair improvements and up keep of roadside ditches?
Is it the State or the Land Owner?

coveredbridge · Jun 6, 2005

( STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT OF WAYS?

Who is responsible for maintenance repair improvements and up keep of roadside ditches?
Is it the State or the Land Owner? )

In PA it is the responsibility of the local government (city, borough, or township), even if it is a "state" road. US routes and interstates are maintained by the DOT. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Soundguy · Jun 6, 2005

I think you will find that it varies by state and area.

Most areas the county or state maintains it's own row's.. In some areas.. like private communities, even though a mandated row exists.. it is up to the developer or homeowner to maintain the row.

What's yer issue?

Soundguy

LarryD · Jun 6, 2005

Around here the county runs a full time crew this time of year. I'm not sure how many machines they have but I see one on my road every few weeks, one of those boom mounted brush hog type.

Ever seen what that can do to a mail box. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

pekabu · Jun 6, 2005

Around here town roads are mainained by the highway dept, but if you have a culvert for your driveway that is your responsibility.

Bird · Jun 6, 2005

Unless something has changed in the last couple of years in Texas, the state handled mowing and maintenance of state roads, including farm-to-market roads and the county handled the county roads. However, in many cases, landowners simply took it upon themselves to do that. I had no fence across the front of my property, so I kept the borrow ditch mowed just like the yard, right to the pavement, and I mowed the borrow ditch across the road (Corp of Engineers Lake Property over there) with a string trimmer or the brush hog. So when the county mowers came down the road, they simply picked up their mowers as they drove past my place.

Berniep · Jun 8, 2005

It's like Bird said around here in Indiana.
The county will mow the ditches but usually just after all the noxious weeds go to seed so most people mow their own.

LBrown59 · Jun 8, 2005

( I think you will find that it varies by state and area.

Most areas the county or state maintains it's own row's.. In some areas.. like private communities, even though a mandated row exists.. it is up to the developer or homeowner to maintain the row.

 What's yer issue? 

Soundguy )
~~~~ ~~~~
The issue is the condition of the ditch : <<Not The Mowing Of The Ditch Or Right Of Way>>

It is excessively deep ranging anywhere from 1 to 3 feet deeper than it ought to be in places.
The excessive depth has resulted in the side walls of the ditch caving in on both sides of it.
I've lost 3 or 4 feet of my front lawn in spots where the ditch has caved in.

I applied for a permit to install a 40 foot culvert 60 feet below the present 40 foot drive way in an effort to reduce the hazard of entering and exiting the highway at the dangerous present blind drive way and to achieve a shorter more direct approach driveway to the garage that I built closer to the house than the distance the old drive is from the house.

The state would not issue me a permit for the 40 foot of driveway culvert unless I linked the new culvert to the old culvert by repairing the 60 feet of ditch between them and installing 60 feet of culvert to connect them.

This appears like a ploy to get me to take on their responsibilities at my expense.
If I do this on the 60 feet It would result in great benefits to the state.
1*There would no longer be a ditch for them to have to mow along.
2*No ditch no more maintenance for the state.
3* No more expenses for the state for repairs on the ditch as this would shift that responsibility over onto me.
Pretty nice free gift to the state and free up keep and repairs for them forever.
How sweet A deal for the state.

I've lived here for 39 years and the state has always taken care of the ditch.

My question is why all of A sudden is it now my responsibility to not only repair the 60 feet of ditch between the old and new culverts but on top of that upgrade the ditch by installing 60 feet of culvert in the ditch?
Let's see buy the state 60 feet of culvert $375
Give them 10 truck loads of dirt to cover the culvert $500 Give them free use of my BX 23 $225.
Darn nice 1100 dollar gift from me to the state don't you think?
The 1100 don't cover the cost for the dirt and the use of my tractor on the 40 foot repair of the ditch for the driveway culvert.

As I see it the only obligation to me is the cost of the 40 feet of culvert for the new driveway the cost of the fill dirt over the 40 feet of covert and the operating cost of my tractor while installing the 40 foot culvert.

Somehow I get the feeling the state is trying to take me for a ride.

Soundguy · Jun 8, 2005

I agree with you, if it is in fact county/state ROW. They ( dot or road dept.. etc.. may be called something different in your area ) are 100% responsible.

I'd call your local office that handles stormwater/ runoff, perhaps your water management district.. state or county road dept, depending on who's it is. Then complain. Perhaps show up at a commission meeting.

Send a certified letter to the referenced depts/offices. That's their nickle ( your tax payer money anyway).

In fact.. in most places, a land owner can't even work or build/erect structures in the swale.. it's utility work or county/state contractors only.

The driveway issue is common.. many places make it tough as nails to get more than one roadway entry per road.. once they let you have the entrance.. it becomes an 'apron' that they have to maintain if they ever do road work..e tc.

( I'm a CE here in FL... this kind of stuff's a pain everywhere
When I built my house.. road dept wanted a culver under my drive... none o fhte neighbors have a culvert, and the natural flow/grade of the swale at my driveway is virtually flat. To have put in a culvert whould have meant I would have had an 18" hump in my driveway.. efectively preventing me from bringing my flatbed or horse trailer in....

Guy from DEP finally talked the county man out of it.. thank goodness...)

Good luck

Soundguy

Tom_H · Jun 8, 2005

I agree; sounds like they're trying to take you for a ride. Could be some new young manager who's been told by a hot-shot politician to be aggressive in cutting expenses.

I'm curious about these places where the ditch dips down 1 to 3 feet lower than the rest of the bed. You've been there a long time and these low spots just recently caused your yard to start caving in. It sounds like someone dug those holes out not very long ago. Did the people who normally maintain the ditch do that? If so, it sounds like you could have a legal case against them to come repair what they damaged.

Good luck. Ain't fighting the government so much fun /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif ? Especially since we and they are on such a level playing field (said sarcastically). /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif