This is a question that I'm really not sure how to ask. I live along a road that is maintained by the State of Pennsylvania. Along my property line, which is actually right-of-way, there is now a gutter from rain runoff. When there's a heavy downpour the rain comes rushing down the grade and has washed out a good part of the yard and formed a gutter, which at some places is nearly a foot deep. When I would run my riding mower along it I was afraid I would slip into the ditch. I called PennDot last fall and the road maintenance supervisor told me he would see what he could do, but now 8 months later I have heard or seen nothing. Lately I have been putting a bunch of rocks in the ditch so I can at least ride over the area without slipping in. My question (finally) is would it be wise if I add cement to the rocks to make it more stable? I would do it by buying the bags of ready mix and little by little try to fill it in. Any suggestions or ideas would be great. Thanks.

 

I dont think DOT is who you need to talk to. In Nebraska, its DOR. Department of roads.

 

In Pa, it's definitely PennDot. I know it's the Dept. of Transportation but they have a division that does the road maintenance. I spoke to the supy and he told me he would see what he can do LAST OCTOBER! Seems to me they're not interested.

 

I see. Maybe this time tell them remember me? I called about this last October. That you tipped over your mower, broke your arm, nearly cut off your legs and that you are going to have your big city lawyer sue them for negligence. See how soon they have a truck there. After it's fixed you can tell them you were only kidding about the broken arm part.

Sounds like they need to install an erosion fence of some type, or maybe excavate the ditch deeper. I think ditches are supposed to be deep enough to handle runoff without washing over your property.

If it's all on their right of way and you are mowing it as if it was your front yard, well that's probably a different story.

 

I agree with calling them again. They are less likely to ignore you if keep bugging them.

 

It IS part of the right-of-way but if I don't mow it before too long it would look like a mini jungle, just like it does across the street. My neighbor across the street used to mow along there but now there's so much debris he'll wreck his rider if he keeps it up. This ditch in front of my house is about 200 feet long. Not all of it so deep and PennDot filled in two sections of it about 5 feet each. That's one of things that bugs me. Why did they only do that little bit? Thanks for your reply. I will call them tomorrow and try to get them out here. I don't want to lie to that guy but perhaps when he hears my mower ALMOST toppled he will get moving.

 

The water must go somewhere. If you fill in the ditch it will just find another route to continue to erode that section. What is needed is culvert installed.

You say its right of way. But do you pay taxes on it? If so they have a responsibility to provide reasonable safety and landscaping . If you don't pay taxes then it's all on you and if you got hurt, not their problem.

The cement idea is a bad one. You could be held responsible for upsetting the drainage and or damaging their equipment if they need to access the right of way. Remember, right means they have total access to this area for any reason at any time. Anything you do to obstruct that access and you can be fined.

I agree with the other that you must pester them on a regular basis and stress the safety issue and property erosion.

 

My yard comes up to the road but as I understand it I do not own that part that abuts the road. So I do pay taxes on it but it's their property. It was kind of weird last year when they had a large crew with machinery working on the road but all they did was the other side. The other side has lost of weeds and stuff that people dropped there and the neighbor sort of mows it but not consistently. It has over grown. But last year when the highway people came through they dug out along the side of the road to make the rain water flow better, but they barely touched my side which is the bigger problem. A neighbor up the street from me put in a small parking area for his house (which he no longer owns) and he used the small 1/4 or 1/2 inch stones. Of course whenever we got a downpour the stones would come rushing down the street on MY side and acted like a grit and ate away the dirt alongside the road. Now it's a ditch. Whenever I mow I fear the mower tipping over into that ditch. I KNOW it won't feel very good on my 73-year-old body!