Road right-of-way distance?

[Cobleskill]

I have a Horse Chesnut with a co-dom lead leaning out over the road I consider unsafe. It isn't a tree I feel safe climbing and rigging in. I could probably run a high line and get it down. Primary lines are fairly close. Service drop would have to come down, and nobody is gonna pay me. How far off the road, or from the center are the city/town responsible in your area. It is a rural road.

There was a lawsuit in our town over a tree that blew down and caused severe head/brain injuries. The tree was pretty far off the road, as I remember. Our highway superintendent stopped a couple of years ago to ask me if he could trim the Red Oak limbs (4-6" at biggest) that leaned over the road. I asked what the problem was. He was worried about them breaking off with an ice storm. I told him oaks are pretty strong and explained to him where a dead Elm with a lean to the road was, if he was looking for tree work. He ingnored that problem. 6 months later I saw sawdust on the road and the tree was gone. I stopped and asked the homeowner in the area if he saw them working on it. 2 AM in the middle of winter. Brilliant. It was on a blind curve, and the tree was about 12" in diameter where it would be out on the road. Potential lawsuit. Don't know if anybody hit it, it didn't look like it.

 

[Mr. Sir]

It all depends. The road in front of my house is 22 feet from the center line. The pavement is 12 feet from the center line, so the county "owns" 10 feet of my lawn.
Your best bet is to contact the Department of Transportation.

 

[SkwerI]

Every road and street will have specified right-of-way distances. You first have to figure out if it is a city, county or state road. Usually the closest street sign will tell you who's jurisdiction it is, ours will have either a city logo or the county logo on them. Some cities don't have logos but the color of the sign will indicate the city (Maitland is black, Winter Park is blue, Longwood is green, etc). Then you can contact the appropriate streets department and ask them to look it up or perhaps even to come mark it for you.

 

[Cobleskill]

I know it is a town road, so that means I probably have to deal with the douche that wanted to trim the oaks, but dropped the ball on the elm. I would say the tree starts about 8 feet off the pavement, and the road isn't all that wide.

 

[Cobleskill]

I was doing a search for right of way ownership distances and this thread popped up. Amazing. I did get this tree removed by power co. and possibly jointly funded by town? Private co., I think it was Lewis. Slow as molasses. Guy in the bucket would drop 3 or 4 tiny limbs and then sit and wait while 2 ground guys chipped that up. OK with me.

So a few years later..... A huge Ash has been standing dead this summer and just barely alive last summer. It falls across the road at night in the rain. A car immediately hits it. I think it is on the town's right of way, but the way I read it if it is a visible hazard to the road they are responsible even if it isn't. I know the landowner and actually walked out and checked out the possibility of pulling it against the lay. No good drop zone and the guy would think splitting the wood would be a good deal for both of us. Fortunately the motorist was not seriously hurt, but the lawsuits are looming nevertheless.

Any guesses on who will lose on this deal?

 

[squisher]

Sounds like you already lost out for not jumping on the 'half the wood' deal. Lol.

 

[Merle Nelson]

In CA 'act of God' still prevails in court unless someone has it in writing that it was forwarned to be a dangerous tree. Talking about a trees danger might hold up in court if one admitted to it on the stand.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Justin, I like your sense of humor.

 

[Altissimus]

My experience here is , even if it is in the ROW they bitch about budget ... seems more important than liability to the road boss.