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Staff explains right-of-way rules; commission reviews proposed reclassifications for Ridge Pike, Egypt Road and others
Summary
Planning staff and a transportation presenter explained how roadway functional classification (collector vs. arterial) drives ultimate right-of-way widths and what that means for developer obligations; the commission reviewed seven proposed reclassifications and asked staff to refine narrow segments and exceptions for built-up areas.
Upper Providence planning staff and consultant Anthony presented a technical briefing on how the township's right-of-way and functional-classification maps are used to set developer obligations and guide future road improvements.
Anthony (presenter) summarized a four-step process for land-development review: identify the roadway classification on the right-of-way map, consult the SALDO (township ordinance) for the ultimate right-of-way and pavement-width requirements, apply those requirements to developer frontage in reviews, and show the ultimate right-of-way and setbacks on plan drawings. "The collector road is showing that it's required to have an 80 foot ultimate right of way," he said, using Hopwood Road as an example.
The commission reviewed seven candidate reclassifications recommended in the comprehensive plan and mapped by staff: Ridge Pike, Route 113, Black Rock Road, Egypt Road, Cider Mill Road, and minor corrections such as Jaeger (already corrected in the new comp plan text). Anthony said traffic counts and PennDOT classifications (daily ADT ranges cited in the presentation) generally support the changes and that adopting a classification documents the township's expectation but does not itself obligate the township to build the wider roadway.
Commissioners probed how reclassification affects built-up areas where houses sit near the road. Staff said the map can designate the desired ultimate right-of-way while acknowledging existing nonconformities; if the township later chose to acquire the added right-of-way it would have to pay fair market value. The group discussed marking narrower segments (for example, portions of Egypt Road that functionally slow traffic) as exceptions on the map to preserve village character while keeping the broader classification where appropriate.
Anthony and staff agreed to refine the next draft so the map either preserves narrower segments where warranted or calls them out explicitly as existing nonconformities, and to coordinate with PennDOT where corridor classifications already align with county or state designations.
