Research Reports
Report Details
| Title: | Legal Implications to Closing or Reducing Maintenance on Low Volume Roads in North Dakota |
| Authors: | Peter Welte, Jill Hough, and Ayman Smadi |
| University: | North Dakota State University |
| Publication Date: | Mar 1997 |
| Report #: | MPC-97-69 |
| Project #: | MPC-103 |
| TRID #: | 00735894 |
| Keywords: | abandonment, highway departments, highway maintenance, highway safety, legal factors, low volume roads, minimization, rural highways, tort liability, traffic crashes |
| Type: | Research Report – MPC Publications |
Abstract
North Dakota has more than 102,000 miles of rural roads. Approximately half of these roads are paved and the rest are gravel or dirt. Due to limitations in funding and shifts in traffic patterns, counties and townships are forced to make difficult decisions regarding the maintenance of their roads. Some roads have higher levels of traffic and thereby justify higher levels of maintenance, whereas some roads with minimum levels of traffic may justify reductions in maintenance and possibly closure. Legal questions arise when counties and townships consider changing the maintenance levels and possibly closing some of their roads. Road safety is a goal all counties and townships strive to achieve. However, reducing maintenance levels or closing a road may pose some safety concerns, especially in the form of accidents involving motorists who are unaware of road conditions. As a result, tort actions for property damage, personal injury or wrongful death may be filed against counties or townships. This project discusses some of the legal implications and outlines possible approaches to assist counties and townships in North Dakota to minimize their tort liability with respect to closing roads, abandoning roads, or designating minimum maintenance roads.
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