Road damage caused by government decisions

[Subjection]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WI

I live on a quiet residential road that's just off a main street. Right now (and in the past) there is some street maintenance being done on the main road. As a result, they are detouring all the traffic from the main street to the residential road in front of my house. A great deal of this traffic includes semi trucks, which can legally weigh as much as 40 tons. Residential roads are not designed or reinforced to handle this much weight. The road is designed for passenger vehicles. With several hundred of these trucks and other heavy vehicles passing through the residential area each day, the damage to the road is becoming obvious that the pavement is going to need replacing very soon. Guess who normally pays for residential? The residents of that street!

So here's my question....is it even legal for the city to direct heavy vehicle traffic to roads that aren't designed to handle the weight in the first place? Especially when the repairs have to be covered by the residents there? Is there any way that the cost could be diverted to the city's street department main fund rather than on the backs of the residents of the street? It's almost like if a parking lot in the city had to be repaved, they divert all the cars that would normally park there onto somone's front lawn and then the homeowner has to pay for the damage to their yard afterwards. It just doesn't seem right.

 

[Zigner]

Do you mean that yours is a PRIVATE road?

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WI

I live on a quiet residential road that's just off a main street. Right now (and in the past) there is some street maintenance being done on the main road. As a result, they are detouring all the traffic from the main street to the residential road in front of my house. A great deal of this traffic includes semi trucks, which can legally weigh as much as 40 tons. Residential roads are not designed or reinforced to handle this much weight. The road is designed for passenger vehicles. With several hundred of these trucks and other heavy vehicles passing through the residential area each day, the damage to the road is becoming obvious that the pavement is going to need replacing very soon. Guess who normally pays for residential? The residents of that street!

So here's my question....is it even legal for the city to direct heavy vehicle traffic to roads that aren't designed to handle the weight in the first place? Especially when the repairs have to be covered by the residents there? Is there any way that the cost could be diverted to the city's street department main fund rather than on the backs of the residents of the street? It's almost like if a parking lot in the city had to be repaved, they divert all the cars that would normally park there onto somone's front lawn and then the homeowner has to pay for the damage to their yard afterwards. It just doesn't seem right.

While Googling about, I found these: http://wilawlibrary.gov/topics/landown.php
and
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/62/I/22
62.16  Street grades; service pipes.

(1)  Grade.

(a) Establishment; damage. The council shall have authority to establish the grade of all streets and alleys in the city, and to change and reestablish the same as it deems expedient. Whenever it changes or alters the permanently established grade of any street any person thereby sustaining damages to that person's property on the affected street may have such damages set off against any special assessment levied against the person's property for any public improvement made in conjunction with such grade change or may maintain an action to recover such damages.

I'm no attorney, but maybe that's a starting point for you.

 

[Subjection]

While Googling about, I found these: http://wilawlibrary.gov/topics/landown.php
and
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/62/I/22
62.16  Street grades; service pipes.

(1)  Grade.

(a) Establishment; damage. The council shall have authority to establish the grade of all streets and alleys in the city, and to change and reestablish the same as it deems expedient. Whenever it changes or alters the permanently established grade of any street any person thereby sustaining damages to that person's property on the affected street may have such damages set off against any special assessment levied against the person's property for any public improvement made in conjunction with such grade change or may maintain an action to recover such damages.

I'm no attorney, but maybe that's a starting point for you.

I'm not an attorney either, so I don't quite understand what this means about "establishing the grade".

 

[Silverplum]

I'm not an attorney either, so I don't quite understand what this means about "establishing the grade".

Attorneys wouldn't know, either: it's an engineering thing. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3407500138.html

 

[Zigner]

Attorneys wouldn't know, either: it's an engineering thing. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3407500138.html

I disagree. An administrative law attorney could very well know exactly what that means

 

[Subjection]

Do you mean that yours is a PRIVATE road?

No, it's not a private road. It's a residential road, but when it's damaged and in need of repair, the cost is paid by only the residents. Since this road is now being damaged more because the city is directing traffic onto it that the road was not designed to handle, it doesn't seem right that the residents should foot the bill for repairing it. If a legal measure exists that would hold the city responsible for making the decision to divert heavy truck and equipment traffic onto residential roads that are now damaged as a result, then I'm interested.

 

[Dave1952]

Where do you live, County and City? I'm surprised that your roads can not handle traffic. I'm surprised that the residents are billed for the road repairs of public roads. Where I live taxes are used to maintain roads in the situation that you describe.

 

[Subjection]

Where do you live, County and City? I'm surprised that your roads can not handle traffic. I'm surprised that the residents are billed for the road repairs of public roads. Where I live taxes are used to maintain roads in the situation that you describe.

I live in Eau Claire, WI. Main roads are covered under the normal city and county taxes, but residential roads are billed only to the homeowners that live on that road. The cost is placed on property tax bills as a special levy and can run at least a few thousand dollars for each homeowner.

As for the road not being able to handle traffic--it's not the normal traffic of passenger vehicles that it can't handle. It's the heavy vehicle traffic such as big rigs which can weigh up to 40 tons that the residential roads aren't designed to handle. If you look at how residential roads are constructed, you'll see that they aren't reinforced with rebar and are made with just asphalt because that's about all that's needed for passenger vehicles. Here's what I'm talking about: http://www.harrissupplysolutions.com/6-rebar.html

So when the heavy vehicle traffic is diverted from the main street that is equipped to handle the heavy vehicles over to a residential area, you now have a situation where the road cracks and buckles and then needs to be repaired or resurfaced--simply because the street department people diverted heavy traffic onto it when the road is not built to withstand that type of stress.

BTW, I called the street department yesterday to ask about weight limits on the residential roads and about who would have to pay for this damage. They said they'll have one of their engineers look it up and call me back. So far, they haven't.

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Eau Claire, WI. Main roads are covered under the normal city and county taxes, but residential roads are billed only to the homeowners that live on that road. The cost is placed on property tax bills as a special levy and can run at least a few thousand dollars for each homeowner.

As for the road not being able to handle traffic--it's not the normal traffic of passenger vehicles that it can't handle. It's the heavy vehicle traffic such as big rigs which can weigh up to 40 tons that the residential roads aren't designed to handle. If you look at how residential roads are constructed, you'll see that they aren't reinforced with rebar and are made with just asphalt because that's about all that's needed for passenger vehicles. Here's what I'm talking about: http://www.harrissupplysolutions.com/6-rebar.html

So when the heavy vehicle traffic is diverted from the main street that is equipped to handle the heavy vehicles over to a residential area, you now have a situation where the road cracks and buckles and then needs to be repaired or resurfaced--simply because the street department people diverted heavy traffic onto it when the road is not built to withstand that type of stress.

BTW, I called the street department yesterday to ask about weight limits on the residential roads and about who would have to pay for this damage. They said they'll have one of their engineers look it up and call me back. So far, they haven't.

Since the city requires the residents of the street to pay for road repair, then you would be perfectly within your rights (you and the other residents) to petition the city to cover the cost of repairs to the road based on their diversion of traffic down your street. You would also be perfectly within your rights to sue if they refuse to cover the repairs.

However, you are making the assumption that the additional damage to your street has not already been taken into consideration and planned for by the city. This cannot be an unusual situation. There have to have been other occasions where traffic had to be diverted down a residential street due to repairs to a city street. There is likely already some provision in place to deal with that.

I would suggest that you take it up with your city councilman or other elected official for your area.

 

[Dave1952]

Call the City Engineer, (715) 839-4934, and see about getting your road fixed for free. He budgets such projects, I think. Also try getting into the news, either TV or print. Your story is short, and easily understood. Your request is not unreasonable.

 

[single317dad]

I'll relate a story that may or may not be of any use to you, OP.

Very near me there's a lakeside community (fairly large -- about 5k residents or so). The population of this area makes up nearly 20% of the entire county population.

Taxes and assessments work quite uniquely there: when developing a lot, the owner must pay a substantial water and sewer fee; roads were built and are maintained (potholes, resurfacing, plowing, etc.) by the POA via fees from the owners; a small police department is paid by the POA, and supplemented by the county sheriff; the lake and amenities are private and maintained entirely through fees. The whole community is an independent entity that handles its own infrastructure. The residents also pay county taxes and state property tax which is distributed to counties and school systems.

A problem arose a few years ago because the roads in the area were in terrible disrepair. Technically, they're county roads, but they're built and maintained fully by the POA. Anyone can use these public roads, so the POA brought a lawsuit against the county after unsuccessful negotiations to have the county chip in on repairs. After a short time in court, an agreement was finally reached for the county to perform the work and supply the equipment while the POA bought the materials. Finally, over the past two summers, many roads were repaired.

All that said (perhaps pointlessly), the moral of the story is that with sufficient badgering, the city or county can be moved, but don't expect it to happen overnight.