How do private roads become public?

What is the process by which private roads eventually become public roads that are maintained by the province? (grading, paving, plowing, etc.)

Resolution

The following written questions were submitted to the Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy – please see answers below.

Question 75 & 76 – Private to Public Road Transfer (PDF)

75) What is the process that is to be followed for a private road to become the responsibility of the public? (i.e. Government of PEI provides road maintenance)

In order for a private road to be taken over by the provincial government, the owners of the road must have the road brought to the standard required of a provincial paved subdivision road standard. This work must be done at the owner’s cost and then the road must be deeded to the provincial government.

76) What criteria are used to determine if a road should be publicly maintained?

This summary includes the basic requirements for a private road to be considered for transfer to the Provincial Government as a public road.

The road right-of-way (ROW) must be 20.117 metres (66 feet) wide and consist of the following:

1. A 6 metre wide asphalt surface consisting of 2 layers of asphalt totaling 100mm in thickness

2. Gravel shoulders on each side which are 2 metres wide.

3. A minimum of 150 mm thickness of gravel under the asphalt and gravel shoulders.

4. A minimum of 150 mm (preferably 300 mm) sandstone under the 150 mm thickness of gravel.

5. A drainage ditch on both sides that is approximately 1metres in depth and approximately 5 metres wide.

6. A circular cul-de-sac with a right-of-way diameter of 40 metres or other acceptable form of turnaround, will be required at the end of any dead end roads.

There are also specific requirements for the horizontal (curves) and vertical (crest and sags, ie hills and valleys) alignments of the roadway to meet a 40km/h design speed. There are also sight distance requirements for the intersection of the private road to the existing public road that must be met, as well as sight distance requirements at internal intersections and driveways.

An Engineer and Surveyor will need to be hired to confirm that an existing private road meets the above requirements and also to prepare a survey and deeds of the road to be transferred to Government. It most likely will also be necessary to involve other Department’s to ensure that lot sizes and services (water and septic) meet provincial standards.

At time of transfer to Government, the land (ROW) must have clear title and be unencumbered.

All costs associated with bringing the private road up to these standards shall be covered by the private land owner(s) serviced by the private road. For further and more detailed information and prior to hiring an Engineer or Surveyor one should contact:

Alan A. Aitken, P.Eng,  Traffic Operations Engineer , 902-368-5006,  aaaitken@gov.pe.ca

or

Orooba Mohammed, P.Eng  Traffic Data Engineer, 902-368-5107, ohmohammed@gov.pe.ca