Washington Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on January 19, 2011

Click here to view bill details.

I have a concern about our specific road that I am sure is not uncommon for the State of Washington.  I see nothing related to my concerns in any of the legislation or literature I have read,and wonder if it is something that can be addressed in this instance?  Can this type of thing be added to an agreement?

A loaded cement truck weighs up to 70,000 pounds.

A loaded log truck weighs up to 80,000 pounds.

A loaded Motor Home (Greyhound bus size) weigh up to 45,000 pounds.

A bit of Association history.  Our Road Association is compromised of 11 current homes on 2.5  to 19.61 acre parcels each, One 5 acre unimproved parcel, and two 88 acre parcels at the very top of our 1/2 mile paved road that are both timber producing properties.  Our property owners agreed to pay equal amounts for their annual dues.  Only 2 of these are at present in the District Court for Small Claims. 

A bit of road history.  the original road was wood, and later a gravel logging road.  In 1998 the property Owners paid to have a good paved road built with chip-seal technology.  That held up well with regular maintanence until one of the timber properties was logged in 2005. We paid for a new layer of chip-seal in 2007, but unforseen damage from the weight of the heavy trucks took a toll (portions sinking due to unseen understructure damage).  We have tried to talk with the timber property owners about our concerns. They insist that the road should hold the weight as it used to be a logging road, and insist that the construction vehicles used through the years are the problem. They say they would rather the road be gravel anyway.  We do not want to be in a situation to have to sue them each time they log their property.  Our road needs a new resurface and complete rebuild in some sections in order to keep the substructure from more damage.  The cost for this is over 40 thousand dollars. We do not have this type of money currently but need to stop any further damage to the road. 

If a majority of the property owners agree, could they impose a weight limit on the road to be posted?

Can they make the heavy hauling owner have a pre and post inspection for damages by qualified road engineer?

Can the property owners require a retainer for repairs prior to the use? 

I don't know if this is the venue to address these issues, but I am sure it is a problem for a lot of Private Roads.

Thank you for your time.

Janet Ballantyne

 I live on a private road in an unopened Thurston County right of way.  A real estate attorney told me this Act would not apply to roads in unopened city/county right of ways, only to easements.  The Bill needs to be amended to expand its coverage.

 Who do we contact to enforce the road maintenance on a private road? In rural Gig Harbor?? The USPS  of Wanna has already stopped service to our neighborhood. Thanks, Don.

 I would like a copy of the whole bill 1349, when does it go into effect.

We live on a privite road, most residents help with the cost of keeping the road up, but we have some who will not and one tells everyone they are going to sue us because I print a list of who paid and who hasn't and mail it out to all property owners.

I would like to send a copy of this bill to all, as there are no road agreement

Thank you

Ellie

 

 Do you think we will ever get a response to our questions?

I highly doubt we'll get any useful help here. It looks like were on our own if your on a private road.  

After driving a couple of years on private roads I had to search for transmission repair Tucson, the roads were so bad and no one cared about this. How can someone check the real costs of maintenance of a road? They could say they need huge amounts of money for maintaining the road and no one can prove if this is true or not.

 Call or Write your House and Senate rep for your district.  Ask that this bill be resubmitted to the senate & house,  as it did pass the House last session, but of course they ran out of time to approve it.  I have contacted all 3 for Mason Co. and was told to set up meetings with them in Nov. Dec. to discuss this bill, it can not be reintroduced till Jan.  If we all make these calls, maybe we can get it passed.    Then each home owner should be given a copy so they know they are responsible.  Form an association and collect dollars for the up keep.

I don't see how the price of gasoline is a health issue. From where I am standing people who love to cycle will always find time to do this activity and people who are lazy and prefer to drive all day long instead of walking will find means to pay the gas for the car, even though the price was increased. As for me, I will donate a car to some charity event and start walking to work. I will keep the family car in case of an emergency.

Now that our Reps for our Counties have been elected lets start writing and calling about the PRIVATE ROAD MAINTENANCE Bill.