The Town of Royalton hereby enacts this article for the purpose
of reducing the cost of maintaining and rehabilitating low-volume
rural Town roads while providing that such roads when used in a manner
consistent with the road classification will be safe for the users
thereof. While there are generally accepted standards for the design,
maintenance and rehabilitation of high-volume roads, there are no
such comparable standards for roads over which a relatively low volume
of traffic passes. In the event there can be a savings in the cost
of maintaining or rehabilitating a road that has relatively few vehicles
traveling over it, the money saved could be spent on more intense
maintenance of roads over which travel is greater. The result could
be greater overall safety for the general public. Since the Town resources
to be expended for highways is limited, it is incumbent upon the Town
to utilize such limited resources in a manner which targets expenditures
on the most heavily traveled roads. It is for such purposes that this
article is enacted.
The Town Superintendent of Highways, in the event he (or she) finds it to be in the best interests of the Town, may classify one or more roads or portions thereof as one of the following types of roads: low-volume collector; residential access; farm access; resource/industrial access, agricultural land access; recreational land access or minimum maintenance road. However, no road shall be finally determined to be a minimum maintenance road until so designated by the Town Board by local law. The classification of any road or designated portion thereof shall be consistent with the definitions of such type of road as set forth in §
158-26 of this article. Upon the classification of any road or portion of thereof by the Town Highway Superintendent, such designation shall be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and a copy shall be presented to each member of the Town Board by the Town Clerk within 10 days of such filing. Such designation shall be accompanied by a finding by the Town Superintendent, which shall contain the information upon which the highway superintendent relied when designating such road or portion thereon. The Town Board may at a Town Board meeting following the filing of such designation adopt a resolution accepting such designation except that the designation of a minimum maintenance road shall be by local law as provided in §
158-20 of this article. Upon the adoption of such resolution, the road or portion thereof shall be classified as determined by the Town Highway Superintendent, and such Town Highway Superintendent shall take into consideration the guidelines for maintaining such road or portion thereof as set forth in §
158-26 of this article.
Notwithstanding the provisions of §
158-19 of this article, no road or portion thereof shall be designated as a minimum maintenance road except after following the procedure set forth in §§
158-20 through
158-22, inclusive.
A. The Town Superintendent of Highways shall submit to the Town Board a recommendation that a road or portion thereof should be designated as a minimum maintenance road. No road or portion thereof shall be recommended as a minimum maintenance road by the Town Superintendent of Highways unless the traffic volume is less than 50 vehicles per day as determined by the Town Superintendent of Highways and such road or portion thereof is an agricultural land access road or a recreational land access road, and that such road or portion thereof does not provide farm centers of operation and/or year-round residences with principal motor vehicle access to goods and services necessary for the effective support of such farms and/or year-round residences. Provided, however, that the Town Board, upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Highways, may consider exceptions to the traffic volume and year-round residents limitations set forth above, after review of all pertinent factors as outlined in Subsection
F, or as may be appropriate.
B. The Town upon the approval of such recommendation shall by local
law designate such road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance
road.
C. At least 10 days before the public hearing on such local law, written
notice of such hearing shall be served by certified mail upon every
owner of real property, as determined by the latest completed assessment
roll, abutting such road or portion thereof to be designated a minimum
maintenance road.
D. No local law designating a minimum maintenance road shall be effective until signs pursuant to §§
158-22 and
158-26E of this article are first posted advising the public that such road is a minimum maintenance road.
E. No road or portion thereof, once designated a minimum maintenance
road, shall be determined to have been abandoned pursuant to the provisions
of Subdivision 1 of § 205 of the Highway Law until at least
six years have elapsed since the termination of the designation of
said road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance road.
F. Prior to any public hearing relating to the adoption of a local law
designating a low-volume road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance
road, the Town Board shall issue findings that such road or portion
thereof should be designated a minimum maintenance road.
(1) Such findings shall include but not be limited to:
(a)
The volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road, and
a review of the accident history on said road;
(b)
A determination that the property owners of land abutting the
road shall continue to have reasonable access to their property.
(c)
A determination that the users of the road or portion thereof
traveling at a reasonable and prudent speed, under the circumstances,
shall not be placed in a hazardous situation;
(d)
A determination that such road, or portion thereof, does not constitute a farm access as defined pursuant to §
158-26 of this article;
(e)
A determination that such road, or portion thereof does not
constitute access to a year-round residence; and
(f)
A determination that such road, or portion thereof, should be
designated a minimum maintenance road, based on a cost/benefit analysis,
if such road does constitute a farm access or does provide access
to a year-round residence.
(2) Such findings shall be on file in the office of the Town Clerk and
be available for public inspection for at least 60 days before the
public hearing on the local law.
A copy of the findings in §
158-20 shall also be sent to the Board of Education of the central school, Town and county planning boards in which each road or road segment is located. Such school board and planning boards shall review the findings and within 45 days file with the Town Clerk a resolution recommending such road designation or, in the event such designation is not recommended, the school board or planning board shall set forth in a resolution the reasons for not recommending such designation. The Town Board may, by resolution, accept, accept in part or reject the recommendations of either the school board or Town Planning Board or county planning board prior to any vote upon the proposed local law. In the event the school board, county planning board or Town Planning Board take no action upon the findings issued by the Town Board, the Town Board shall consider such in action as a recommendation for the proposed minimum maintenance designation.
Appropriate signs shall be placed on a minimum maintenance road.
Such signs shall notify and advise motorists of the need to exercise
caution when traveling such road and shall conform to the manual of
uniform traffic control devices. Properly posted signs shall be prima
facie evidence that adequate notice of a minimum maintenance road
designation has been given to the public.
Minimum maintenance roads shall be maintained in a manner determined by the Town Highway Superintendent to be consistent with the volume and type of traffic traveling on such road. Nominal road maintenance practices such as, but not limited to, paving, patching, blading, dragging or mowing may be done less frequently depending upon the existing condition and use of the road as shall be determined by the Town Superintendent of Highways. The guidelines for the method and manner of maintaining a minimum maintenance road are set forth in §
158-26 of this article.
Any person or persons owning or occupying real property abutting
a road or portion thereof which has been designated a minimum maintenance
road may petition the Town Board to discontinue the designation of
such road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance road. Such petition
shall be filed with the Clerk of the Town. Such petition shall identify
the road or portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum maintenance
road and set forth the reasons for such discontinuance. The Town Board
shall hold a public hearing upon petition within 30 days after its
receipt; at least 10 days' public notice shall be given prior to the
conduct of such public hearing. At least 10 days before the public
hearing on such petition, written notice of such public hearing shall
be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
determined by the latest assessment roll, abutting such road or portion
thereof. In the event the Town Board, after such public hearing, determines
that such road or portion thereof shall continue as a minimum maintenance
road, no petition may be submitted pursuant to this section until
the lapse of at least two years from the date of the filing of the
petition. In the event it is determined that such road shall be discontinued
as a minimum maintenance road, the Town Board, by local law, shall
discontinue such road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance
road and such discontinuance shall take place six months after the
commencement of the next succeeding fiscal year.
Notwithstanding the provisions of §
158-24 of this article, the Town Board may adopt a local law discontinuing such minimum maintenance road designation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in the public interest.
The following tables
and accompanying data shall be used as guides by the Town Superintendent
of Highways to classify low-volume roads in the Town of Royalton and
shall be used to enable the Town Superintendent to determine the guidelines
he or she may follow to enable him or her to determine the manner
in which low-volume rural roads may be designed, maintained and operated.
A. Classification for low-volume roads and guidelines for their design,
maintenance, and operation. The following classifications have been
developed to establish a close relationship between the uses of low-volume
roads and their design, maintenance and operation and are hereby adopted
by the Town of Royalton. The classifications identify the significant
use characteristics, including traffic volumes, vehicle types and
seasonal use characteristics, that are present on New York State's
low-volume roads. Guidelines for the design, maintenance and traffic
control have been developed that are closely matched to those use
characteristics. Such guidelines shall be used by the Town Superintendent
of Highways. Land use adjacent to the road shall be the basis for
classification because it is a convenient and accurate way of identifying
the kind of use that a low-volume road serves.
(1) A low-volume road is a road with zero to 400 vehicles per day.
(2) Low-volume road classifications in the Town of Royalton.
(a)
Low-volume collector: collects traffic from any of the other
classifications and channels it to higher-level roads, such as arterials
and interstates.
(b)
Residential access: provides access to residences. The traffic
volume generated depends on the number of residences. All-year access
for fire trucks, ambulances and school buses should be provided.
(c)
Farm access: provides access to a farm's center of operations
including the residence. Traffic volume is generally low, but may
include occasional heavy trucks and farm equipment.
(d)
Resource/industrial access: provides access to industrial or
mining operations. Traffic volume can vary and can include heavy trucks
and significant numbers of employees' cars.
(e)
Agricultural land access: provides access to farm land. Traffic
volumes are low and vary seasonally. These roads should accommodate
farm equipment that can be up to 20 feet wide.
(f)
Recreation land access: provides access to recreational land
including seasonal dwellings and parks. Volumes of traffic can vary
with the type of recreation facility and season of the year, and may
include recreational vehicles.
(g)
Minimum maintenance road: a low-volume road or road segment
which may be of a seasonal nature, having an average traffic volume
of less than 50 vehicles per day which principally or exclusively,
provides agricultural or recreational land access. A road, or road
segment, which has been so designated may be maintained at a level
which allows such road to remain passable and functional in accordance
with standards contained in this section of the guidelines. In no
way shall the term "minimum maintenance" be construed to mean "no
maintenance" or "abandonment." Further, such term shall not apply
to those roads, or road segments, which provide farm access as previously
defined or access to an individual year-round residence.
B. The guidelines for rehabilitation design shall include three rehabilitation
design types:
(1) Rehabilitation
Design Type A is an all-purpose road on which vehicles can pass without
a reduction in speed.
(2) Rehabilitation
Design Type B is an area service, two-lane road on which vehicles
may have to reduce their speeds to pass.
(3) Rehabilitation
Design Type C is an area service, one-lane road on which either of
two passing vehicles must slow, stop or briefly leave the roadway
to allow the other to pass.
C. Vehicle interaction characteristics shall be considered by the Town
Superintendent of Highways as the basis for assigning the design types
to the respective classifications. Vehicle size (as determined by
the absence or presence of significant truck traffic) and traffic
volumes (of either greater as equal to 50 vehicles per day, or less
than 50 vehicles per day) are the criteria used. The fifty-vehicle-per-day
threshold is used because, at fewer than 50 vehicles per day, vehicle
interactions become so infrequent that the effect on vehicle operation
is negligible.
D. The guidelines to be followed by the Town Superintendent of Highways
for maintenance shall include the provisions for a minimum maintenance
designation that allows a reduced level of maintenance on roads which
are used for agricultural or recreational land access.
E. The guidelines for traffic control parallel the maintenance guidelines.
They may include recommendations for signs on normally maintained
roads and a minimum maintenance road sign shall be posted at the entrance
points to minimum maintenance roads. The only other signs recommended
for minimum maintenance roads are those mandated by law (for all roads).
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Table 1
Rural Low-Volume Road Classification
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|
Road Use
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|
Road Classification
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Vehicle Type
|
Average Daily Traffic
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1
|
Low-volume collector
|
All vehicles
|
50 to 400
|
|
1(a)
|
|
|
Less than 50
|
|
2
|
Residential access
|
Cars, emergency and service vehicles
|
50 to 400
|
|
2(a)
|
|
|
Less than 50
|
|
3
|
Farm access
|
Cars, light trucks
|
250 to 400
|
|
3(a)
|
|
Occasional heavy trucks, farm equipment
|
Less than 250
|
|
4
|
Resource/industrial access
|
Trucking, employees' cars
|
50 to 400
|
|
4(a)
|
|
|
Less than 50
|
|
5
|
Agricultural land access
|
Occasional farm equipment
|
Less than 400
|
|
6
|
Recreation land access
|
Cars, RVs (seasonal)
|
50 to 400
|
|
6(a)
|
|
|
Less than 50
|
|
Guidelines
|
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|
Road Classification
|
Rehabilitation Design Type
|
Maintenance
|
Traffic Control
|
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|
No. 1
|
A
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 1(a)
|
B
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 2
|
B
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 2(a)
|
C
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 3
|
A
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 3(a)
|
B
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 4
|
A
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 4(a)
|
B
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 5
|
C
|
Minimum maintenance
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 6
|
B
|
Normal
|
MUTCD
|
|
No. 6(a)
|
C
|
Minimum maintenance
|
MUTCD
|