Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
General rule. No
driveway, local road or drainage facility or structure shall be constructed or
altered within State highway right-of-way and no drainage facility of the
Department may be altered or connected onto without first obtaining a permit
from the Department. A permit may not be required for maintenance.
(b)
Who may apply for a
permit. Permit applications shall be submitted in the name of the
owner of the property. If the applicant does not hold fee title to the
property, the applicant shall notify the fee title holder that an application
has been submitted.
(c)
Where to submit application. Permit applications shall be
submitted to either the district or county office having jurisdiction over the
county in which the proposed work will be performed.
(d)
When to submit
applications. Permit applications shall be submitted prior to the
construction of any building which the proposed driveway will serve to assure
that the driveway can be constructed in accordance with this chapter.
(e)
Application procedure and
required information. Permit applications:
(1) Shall be submitted in person or by mail
on a properly completed Department Form M-945A.
(2) Shall be signed by the
applicant.
(3) Shall include five
sets of plans, of a quality sufficient for microfilming, detailing the location
and pertinent dimensions of both the proposed installation and related highway
features.
(4) Shall be accompanied
by a check or money order, payable to the Department, in the appropriate
amount, as set forth in §
441.4 (relating to permit
fees).
(5) Shall be submitted to
the Department at least 30 days prior to the anticipated start of
work.
(6) Shall contain proof that
the applicant is an owner. The proof shall be in the form of a copy of the
valid legal document or court order verifying the applicant's legal estate or
interest in the property.
(7)
Shall, when submitted by an applicant other than a fee title holder, contain:
(i) Proof of one of the following:
(A) The fee title holder consents to the
application.
(B) The applicant
provided written notice of the submission of the application to the fee title
holder apprising the fee title holder of the administrative rights relative to
the permit application under 1 Pa. Code §§35.23,
35.24 and
35.27-35.32. The Department will not
grant or deny the permit application until 30 days after receipt of the written
notice by the fee title holder.
(ii) A signed written statement, whereby the
applicant agrees to indemnify and defend the Commonwealth (if requested) from
all suits, damages, claims and demands of any type whatsoever by the fee title
holder of the property because of granting the permit to the applicant, such as
a failure of the permittee or other person to comply with the permit or any
other statutes, ordinances or regulations in connection with the
permit.
(iii) Proof that the
applicant executed and recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds in the
appropriate county or counties, a covenant running with the land providing that
all subsequent purchasers, heirs, assigns or transferees of the property take
the property subject to the indemnification in subparagraph (ii), unless
released by the Department.
(f)
Traffic control plan.
Submission of the traffic control plan shall be as follows:
(1) When the applicant anticipates that it
will be necessary to close a portion of a lane to vehicular traffic in order to
perform the permitted work, the applicant shall submit a traffic control plan
with the application.
(2) The
district office may require the applicant to submit a traffic control plan if
it is anticipated that a potential hazard or interference to vehicular or
pedestrian traffic will result from performance of the work.
(3) The traffic control plan shall be either:
(i) A detailed drawing, showing all traffic
control devices.
(ii) a reference
to a standard drawing found in Publication 43 or Publication 90, provided the
referenced standard drawing properly depicts the work area and completely
addresses the needed traffic control.
(g)
Drainage control plan for other
than minimum use driveways. Drainage control plan for other than
minimum use driveways shall be as follows:
(1)
If it can reasonably be anticipated that there will be an increase in the flow
of water onto the highway or into highway drainage facilities as a result of
action by the applicant, or that there will be an increase in the flow of water
onto the property of some other person as a result of any action authorized by
the permit, a drainage control plan shall be submitted with the application.
The drainage control plan shall contain the following:
(i) Source of water.
(ii) Existing flow in cubic feet per
second.
(iii) Predicted flow in
cubic feet per second.
(iv) Where
drainage currently flows.
(v) Where
drainage ultimately outlets.
(vi)
Hydraulic computations showing effect of additional flow on existing highway
drainage system.
(2)
Issuance of a permit shall be conditioned upon the Department's approval of the
drainage control plan.
(h)
Drainage release for other than
minimum use driveways. If it can reasonably be anticipated that there
will be an increase in the flow of water onto the property of some other person
as a result of action, authorized by the permit, a drainage release shall be
submitted with the application. Where possible, drainage releases-Form L-15 or
CC-15-will be obtained, by and at the expense of the applicant, from all
property owners over whose land additional drainage will flow. All drainage
releases shall be notarized and recorded, by and at the expense of the
applicant, in the County Office of the Recorder of Deeds. If a drainage release
cannot be obtained from any affected property owner, the Department may
nonetheless issue a permit if it determines that there is no reasonable and
prudent alternative available to the applicant and the applicant executes an
indemnification agreement acceptable to the Department.
(i)
Plans for other than minimum use
driveways. The permit application for all driveways other than those
classified as minimum use shall include a plan which illustrates, as a minimum,
the following, including dimensions where applicable:
(1) Existing highway pavement, ditches,
right-of-way and relevant property lines, highway appurtenances, utilities, and
medians.
(2) Existing and proposed
building, including a description of present and proposed use of
building.
(3) Details of internal
traffic circulation, parking, and traffic signs.
(4) Design features of existing and proposed
driveways, curbs, tapers, acceleration, and deceleration lanes including the
following:
(i) Driveway width.
(ii) Driveway radii and other points of
curvature.
(iii) Driveway grades or
profile view of drive.
(iv)
Driveway angle relative to the highway.
(v) Dimensions of traffic islands adjacent to
the highway and within the development that separate traffic flow from or onto
the highway.
(vi) Driveway surface
material and traffic island materials.
(vii) Location of all required traffic
control devices.
(5)
Distance from each existing and proposed driveway to the following:
(i) Nearest intersecting street, road, and
highway.
(ii) Nearest driveway on
adjacent properties.
(iii) Street,
road, highway, or driveways opposite the site.
(iv) Relevant property lines and property
lines extended to the roadway.
(v)
Building and business appurtenances on the site.
(6) Sight distance in each direction from
each proposed driveway.
(7) The
number of vehicles per day which are expected to utilize each proposed
driveway.
(j)
Review by municipalities, planning commissions, and zoning
boards. Review by municipalities, planning commissions, and zoning
boards shall comply with the following:
(1)
Certain local governing bodies wish to review driveway applications within
their jurisdictions.
(2) A listing
of these municipalities and local agencies is available from the appropriate
district office.
(3) Each
application for an access driveway within one of these jurisdictions must be
accompanied by evidence which indicates that the location and type of access
being requested has been reviewed by that municipality or agency.
(4) The Department will consider any comments
or recommendations resulting from this review prior to approving the access
permit.
(k)
Authority to reject application. The Department will examine
and determine the genuineness, regularity, and legality of every application,
and may reject any application if not satisfied of its genuineness, regularity
or legality, or the truth of any statement contained in the application. The
Department may also make such investigations and require such additional
information as it deems necessary.
(l)
Penalty for falsifying
application. Information provided in applications must be accurate.
Section 4904 of the Crimes Code, (18 Pa. C.S. §
4904), makes it a misdemeanor for a person to
mislead a public servant in performing an official function by making any
written false statement which the person does not believe to be true.
(m)
Newspaper or mail
receptacles. Permits are not required for the placing of newspaper
receptacles or mail boxes, although their location is subject to the
maintenance requirements of the Department.
The provisions of this §441.3 amended under section 420 of
the State Highway Law (36 P.S. §
670-420).
