Urban Compact Areas

State vs Municipal Maintenance Responsibilities on State and State Aid Highways

Title 23 § 754-- Town maintenance in compact areas—
1.Jurisdiction-- all state and state aid highways within compact areas of urban compact municipalities, as defined in subsection 2, as determined by the department must be maintained in good repair by the town in which the highways are located at the expense of the town.

Per 23 § 2, the definition of "highway" means all of the right-of-way that may have been laid out by the State, county or town.

Municipal urban maintenance duties

• Winter snow & ice control
• Pothole repair
• Pavement markings per MUTCD (centerline and possibly edgeline and crosswalks)
• Traffic Signs per MUTCD (regulatory, warning, and advisory)
• Ditching
• Driveway and cross culvert cleaning, repair, and replacement
• Catch basin cleaning and repair
• Surface treatments i.e. sand seals, chip seals, crack sealing, asphalt shimming, thin overlays (typically less than 1 inch thick and do not improve strength)
• Traffic signal maintenance
• Guardrail installation or repair
• RR signs and pavement markings
• Brush cutting, erosion control, mowing, herbicide application
• Tree pruning or removal
• Retaining walls
• Sidewalk maintenance
• Dust control, street sweeping

MaineDOT maintenance duties

• Route and destination signs
• Capital pavement projects
• Bridge and minor span maintenance and capital improvements
• Speed Limit signs on state or state aid highways when first installed or when changed due to recent DOT review