WHATS THE LEGAL SIZE OF A ROAD

my question is, is there a legal standard size width of a highway (double yellow line, solid white line on shoulder). the reason i ask is, i travel springfield rd in springfield delco,(sleepy hollow deli area) and ever since the roads have been milled and resurfaced the stripes seem to be WAY much closer together. i was following an suv tonite and noticed there was about 8" on either side of his outer tires between the lines, that doesnt give much room for error if you know what i mean. thank you in advanced, bogey

You might find some info on that at the PennDot site and click on "Design & Construction" and all the sub categories.

I don't know.


P-11getsoutaflashlightandtapemeasurerSHOOTER

i think a normal road is supposed to be 12 ft wide

Normal road per ideal design is 12' wide per lane...this can be cut down to 10' though (which is very noticeable to drivers), and could be due to a required amount of shoulder or who knows what...

Is that road a township or state road? We just repainted the lines on most of our township roads and the state said we had to use double lines not single. Not only did we spend more money because of that but it made the lanes appear to lose a half a foot.

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Originally Posted by Exbiker

Is that road a township or state road? We just repainted the lines on most of our township roads and the state said we had to use double lines not single. Not only did we spend more money because of that but it made the lanes appear to lose a half a foot.

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its a state road. i think the company that painted the lines were sniffing the fumes that day.

The traffic volume of a roadway determines the width. I work for a transportation engineering firm so i deal with this stuff everyday! what state road is it?

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Originally Posted by jstizy

The traffic volume of a roadway determines the width. I work for a transportation engineering firm so i deal with this stuff everyday! what state road is it?

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springfield rd in springfield township. its very narrow from the sleepy hollow deli on up about a quarter mile (going towards bishop ave)

It depends on way too many things. When it was obtained, under what act it was obtained, how much the landowners would give, etc, etc.


You will have to call the maintainer of the road (PennDOT, township or municipality) to find out. For PennDOT you will have to give them the County, Municipality, State Route number, Segment number and offset footage.

State Right of Ways in PA vary from 8ft to hundreds of feet wide. Some of the (pre)colonial right of ways are only 16.5ft, 20ft, 25ft or 33ft wide. Right of ways obtained from the late 1850's to mid 1900's are generally 33ft to 50ft wide.

Most township right of ways are 33ft wide. City/borough RoW widths generally run from 16.6" for alleys to 25-50ft wide for roads.

Typically the pavement or improved surface is centered within the right of way, but sometimes there are variances and center offsets. Despite how wide the pavement or improved surface is, the entire width of the right of way is the "road".

Typical "lane" widths start at 8ft wide, but generally hover around 10 to 12ft wide.

I have seen pavements wider than the legal public right of way - Warrens Mill Rd, Greenville Township, Somerset Co is one of them.