The Road Blog Part 5: You Can’t Just Abandon That Public Road

This blog is the fifth in a municipal law series on all things roads. Legal issues involving roads are fact specific and require an analysis of the facts and circumstances of your situation. This blog addresses the issue of abandonment of public roads. If you have a specific question or legal issue, please contact the municipal law attorneys at SMGG.

There is never a shortage of material for blogs on road case law in Pennsylvania.  Road disputes are ubiquitous. The Commonwealth Court recently spoke again on the vacation of public roads in Basinger v. Adamson (Pa. Cmwlth. Court, June 2, 2023). 

This case began like almost every road dispute, with a not-so-neighborly exchange of letters about the status of a road that neighbors jointly utilize. This dispute led to a declaratory judgment action in the court of common pleas. 

During the trial, all parties agreed that the road had been a public road at one point in time.  Witnesses testified as such. Counsel argued as such. The issue was whether a public road, established before the Second Class Township Code was enacted in 1933, was abandoned either before or after 1933. 

Some important takeaways from the Commonwealth Court decision:

The moving party has the burden of proof to establish that the road is a public road.

The judicial admissions “proved” that the road was public road. Once admitted by counsel, it became a fact which has been admitted for the advantage of the admitting party and could not subsequently be refuted by that party. 

Once established as a public road, the road could only be “abandoned” through formal action.

Importantly, “the Township could not vacate a road before the Code’s enactment, unless there was a statute authorizing the same, and the Township could not vacate a road after the Code’s enactment simply by abandoning it.”  Basinger at *15.

Please note that this blog post provides general information regarding road laws in Pennsylvania. If you have a question about posting and maintaining public roads, please reach out to a member of our municipal team so that we can provide more specific advice based on the facts and circumstances relating to your property. For more information on this or other municipal concerns, please contact Gretchen E. Moore at gmoore@smgglaw.com or Alexis M. Wheeler at awheeler@smgglaw.com.

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