Types of Roads in Washington County

When traveling in Washington County, you use roadways that are the responsibility of the state, cities, private property owners or Washington County.

You may not be able to tell the difference, but when it comes to maintenance, understanding which jurisdiction has authority over a roadway is very important.

Knowing the different types of roadways can help you decide who to contact if you want to request a road service or have questions about road work.

County roads

These are roads that have been accepted into the Washington County road system and are built to our Road Design and Construction Standards. Our crews maintain these roads and manage permitting within the public rights-of-way.

Sidewalks, landscaping and vegetation are typically maintained by adjacent property owners, unless we installed them as part of a County project.

Local access roads

Local access roads are sometimes called public dedicated roads. They are built and dedicated to the public, but are not accepted into our County road system, often because they are not built to our Road Design and Construction Standards. We do not maintain local access roads, and ORS 368.031 limits our ability to spend County funds on them. However, we do have authority over local access roads and process permits for work in the rights-of-way.

These roads are generally maintained by adjacent property owners through:

• Informal agreements in which neighbors share the cost of hiring contractors for maintenance
• Formal agreements in which neighbors share the cost through homeowners’ associations
• Maintenance Local Improvement Districts, which collect property taxes to fund maintenance.

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

Private roads

Private roads are owned by private property owners or homeowners associations. They are not dedicated to the public nor accepted into our County road system. We do not maintain private roads. Some private roads are left open to the public, while some property owners have the ability to limit access. The property owners are entirely responsible for maintenance.

State highways and city streets

Most roads inside city boundaries are under the jurisdiction and maintenance of the city. Our Washington County crews sometimes have jurisdiction and maintenance responsibility for major roads that run through a city, but most streets are under city jurisdiction.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has jurisdiction and maintenance responsibility for the state’s highway and Interstate system.