Is there any requirement for a project alignment to be at the center of ROW?

[khu]

I have a project that is adding a bike lane, ditch, and sidewalk to an existing highway. We were directed by the client to maintain the existing lane and start our improvements at the edge of the lane (sawcutting inside and keeping lane line).

One of the PMs in our office is adamant that the alignment defining the project needs to be located at the center of ROW. The issue is that the centerline of the road does not even follow this exactly and the edge of travel lane is not a consistent offset from the center of the road (or ROW). Since our project offsets are all defined by the edge of travel lane this means that we have no way to show a typical section with consistent offset from the alignment.

I guess I've never heard of this requirement and we create arbitrary alignments all the time. I always understood that the project documents control the definitions for the reference point for improvements and that a legal description of the ROW boundaries does not ultimately matter for the purpose of defining improvements. Obviously ROW needs to be understood so as to not encroach on adjacent properties.

 

[fel3]

I am not aware of any requirements for a roadway or project alignment to follow the centerline of a right-of-way, even though it is often (but not always) the preferred solution. I know of quite a few road and project alignments in Central and Southern California that do not follow the centerline of the right-of-way and I have designed a couple myself. In my experience, urban roadways are usually centered within the right-of-way, but rural roadways are less likely to be centered.

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[1503-44]

Pipelines stay within a road RoW when constructed adjacent to a road. We do not follow the centerline of the road with a constant offset. Our minimum curvatures are different from the typical road, so many times it's not even possible.

--Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[IRstuff]

One of the PMs in our office is adamant that the alignment defining the project needs to be located at the center of ROW.

Isn't the road itself already built in the center of its ROW?

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[1503-44]

Not necessarily at all locations.
It is often achieved in straight road segments.
At curves, RoW are not necessarily curved.
The only requirement is that it be constructed within the RoW.
Country dirt roads may be laid out on old horse and wagon trails and the RoW penciled in long afterwards. The road may touch one RoW edge and be far from the other.
Lots of roads around me were laid out after houses were built and RoW widths are not even constant. The RoW may go around various houses that extend into paved segments.
Drainage RoW follow the stream, can be very irregular.
HV Powerline RoW seldom have curves. They like their straight lines.

--Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[LittleInch]

One of the PMs in our office is adamant that the alignment defining the project needs to be located at the center of ROW

This particular PM sounds like a complete idiot then. Can you instead report to the other one(s) who might have some actual sense.

Then " Since our project offsets are all defined by the edge of travel lane ..." So why show the CL of the ROW at all?? Just don't show it on the cross section or if you do just add a lighting bolt and say "Varies". Job done.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[IRstuff]

We were directed by the client to maintain the existing lane and start our improvements at the edge of the lane (sawcutting inside and keeping lane line).

Is this in the contract or the specification? If so, then PM be damned; you follow the spec and contract, barring anything illegal.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[khu]

Is this in the contract or the specification? If so, then PM be damned; you follow the spec and contract, barring anything illegal.

Yes it is. Also the road centerline does not even match the center of ROW and the edge of travel lane is not parallel to the centerline of the road, so everything is skewed to the center of ROW. This means if we run a typical section there will be areas that our bike lane buffer does not meet the minimum requirement.

 

[1503-44]

Raise a query to the client. Specification conflict with instructions, or visa versa, stating that you can't follow the RoW Centerline while maintaining the edge of road. Ask for them to resolve the conflict.

--Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[ACtrafficengr]

How would he station this?

Yes, there is apparently a major encroachment.


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