|
 |
Donald R. Huff,
Chairman
Eugene S. Fleming, Vice Chairman
Jack Demming, Member
Michael A. Roper, Managing Director
Robert M. Tholl, Office Manager |
|
|
|
Right-of-Way
The right-of-way certified by the Road Commission by the McNitt Act of
1931 varied in widths generally from 66 to 80 feet depending on the type
of road and use at the time. When you consider twenty to twenty-four
feet of pavement, six to eight feet of shoulder on each side and eight
to ten feet of ditch on each side, the sixty-six feet are used up in a
hurry. Most of the right-of-way is just a release for road purposes
only, which was obtained through the McNitt act, but some of it has been
purchased in deed by the Road Commission.
If we have a Township agreement to improve a section of road and the 66
ft is not wide enough to make the improvements needed, then we have to
buy additional land from the property owners along the road. Many times
the land owners are so pleased to get their road improved that they will
sell the needed right-of-way to the Road Commission for one dollar. If
that is not agreeable or if Federal money is going to be spent on the
construction, we will have the property appraised and offer the market
value for the property. Sometimes even this does not work. The owner
does not want the road changed at all, giving reasons that it will put
more cars by his house or that he doesn't want the road any closer to
his house. If the majority of the owners feel this way, the road
probably won't be improved, but if it is just a small percentage we will
be forced to go to condemnation proceedings. This method is a last
resort procedure and causes the courts to step in and award us the
needed property at the appraised value.
If the developer of a subdivision wants us to take over the maintenance
of the new roads, he must first bring them up to County Road
specifications and then we will certify them. Generally they must be an
eighty foot wide right-of-way, graveled and then paved. If you can
imagine what it would be like if all the roads in Michaywe were given to
us as sand trails, then you can see the need for specifications like
this.
Land owners sometimes think they own property right up to the edge of
the gravel. This is not always so. Some get upset when we grade the
shoulders of the roads that they have planted grass on and are mowing.
There is a reason for grading the shoulders other than just to tear up
sod. Usually it is done to fill a drop-off, to widen the road a little,
to reinstate the ditch for proper drainage or to pull in gravel to the
center that has washed off the road. Even more abstract is when we
scrape off a few inches so the shoulders can freeze up. Unfrozen
shoulders can mean disaster if our plow digs in and changes the
direction of the truck.
Even though we have some control over the right-of-way, we are not a law
enforcement agency. We get calls because of cars going too fast, too
loud, too early in the morning, etc. If you have a problem of this
nature then please call the Sheriff's Department or the State Police. We
do have three weigh masters who can issue tickets for overweight
vehicles on our roads.
|
[