Virginia Law

A. Service consideration. A street may only be accepted by the department for maintenance as part of the secondary system of state highways if it renders sufficient public service to justify expending public funds for its subsequent maintenance.

In the event the governing body requests the addition of a street before it meets these public service provisions, the resident engineer will review each request on an individual case basis and determine if the acceptance of a street prior to normal service requirements is justified. However, prior to deferring acceptance based solely on service requirements, the resident engineer shall confer with the appropriate Central Office Division Administrator or other designee appointed by the commissioner.

The public service requirements of this subsection may be waived for cul-de-sac streets less than 0.25 miles in length when the acceptance of the street or streets will complete the acceptance of all streets within the subject section of the subdivision.

B. Criteria. For the purpose of these requirements, public service may include, but is not necessarily limited to, streets meeting one or more of the following situations:

1. Serves three or more occupied units of varied proprietorship with a unit being a single-family residence, owner-occupied apartment, owner-occupied residence in a qualifying manufactured home park, a stand-alone business, or single business entity occupying an individual building, or other similar facility. However, streets providing service in settings similar to an apartment building setting will only be considered for acceptance if the street is well defined and appears to be a street rather than a travel way through a parking lot.

2. Constitutes a connecting link between other streets that qualify from the point of public service.

3. Provides an extension of a street to the subdivision boundary to facilitate the continuity of possible adjacent development, if required by local ordinance. Such streets shall normally incorporate an adequate means for vehicles to turn around and reverse direction.

4. Serves as access to schools, churches, public sanitary landfills, transfer stations, public recreational facilities, or similar facilities open to public use.

5. Serves at least 100 vehicles per day generated by an office building, industrial site, or other similar nonresidential land use in advance of the occupancy of three or more such units of varied proprietorship. Any addition under this provision shall be limited to the segment of a subdivision street that serves this minimum projected traffic and has been developed in compliance with these requirements.

6. Constitutes a part of the network of streets envisioned in the transportation plan or element of a county's comprehensive plan that, at the time of acceptance, serves an active traffic volume not less than 100 vehicles per day.

C. Apartment and retail shopping complexes. A through street that serves a shopping center or rental apartment building may be considered for maintenance as part of the secondary system of state highways if it is deemed by the department to provide a public service. However, internal streets in these complexes do not normally qualify for addition to the system because their operation and maintenance are considered to be a responsibility of the owner, who stands to profit, rather than the tenant or customer.

1. However, a street that serves as the principal access to rental apartment buildings may be considered to provide public service if unrestricted public use is permitted and maintenance continuity is practical.

2. Entrance streets and the internal traffic circulation system of shopping centers and apartment complexes qualify only if more than three property owners are served and the street is separated from the parking areas.

3. Streets serving manufactured home parks may only be considered if the residents of the park own the land occupied in fee simple.

D. Special exceptions. There may be other sets of circumstances that could constitute public service. Consequently, any request for clarification regarding unclear situations should be made in writing to the resident engineer. The resident engineer should then consult the appropriate Central Office Division Administrator or other designee appointed by the commissioner for resolution.