Private Road?

Someone in one of our smaller towns decided the piece of road going across their property wasn't public property.

Late last month, Jean R. Short erected fences on her property at the end of a narrow road in her lakeside neighborhood.

A Virginia Department of Transportation sign noting the "end state maintenance" has stood on Dan Circle for years, but local residents have used the snippet of road across Short's property to make a loop around to another road.

To the dismay of some of the neighbors, the fences ended that practice.

...

Dale Goodman, VDOT residency administrator for Mecklenburg and Brunswick counties, said signs noting that the stretch is not maintained by the state have been there for decades.

"The question I was asked [was], 'Do we want it?' My answer was no," Goodman said. "We never have maintained it."

Well, maybe, but maybe not. I can see a lot of the VDOT data in my GIS job.

We have what are called "Right-of-Way images" available for one thing. These are an out-the-windshield view of the road, one picture snapped each 1/100 mile (52 ft) for every road in the 50,000+ miles we maintain. Yes, that is a lot of pictures - millions in fact (And I loaded every blinkin' one of them off of tape into the server). For this road we clearly show a sign that says "End State Maintenance", but then the images continue as if our crew kept on driving the loop mentioned.

That can't be right! I'm not so sure though. This was a well maintained road, with very professional looking guardrails at an embankment, etc. It didn't look like a private driveway. Our official roadway inventory system also contradicts the sign, and says the whole loop belongs to VDOT.

So, who are they going to believe? It might be private, or it might be VDOT's responsibility, or the sign could mean that the town is supposed to maintain the road. This sounds like one to just keep quiet so they don't use the "Fire His Ass" certificate.