A permit is required from the Road Commission for any and all work being conducted within the road right of way, whether it is by a contractor or a property owner. Permit applications and information are available on our Special Services Department website.

Some examples of work that require a permit are:

• Adding or improving a driveway approach
• Adding, improving, or maintaining a public or private utility
• Adding or improving a sidewalk or non-motorized path
• Excavating/filling roadside ditches
• Surveying and other engineering operations
• Placing a banner, decoration, or similar object
• Closing a section of county road for a parade, celebration, festival, bike/run event, demonstration, or similar activity
• Grading or excavation, landscaping, tree planting, tree trimming or tree removal
• Any construction activity that impacts storm water runoff into or around county road right of way.

Standard mailboxes are allowed without a permit in the road right of way.

Michigan law prohibits the placement of any object, except authorized mailbox mountings, within the county road right of way unless that object is permitted by the Road Commission.

In many instances, property owners or contractors place fences, rocks/boulders, trees/shrubs, earthwork (including berms), signs, or other objects within the road right of way as a measure of improving landscape. However, these fixed objects often become hazards to errant motorists, vision obstructions, or interfere with road and public utility improvements.

The Road Commission asks for everyone’s cooperation in keeping the road right of way free of all potential hazards and future road and conflicts with public utility improvement.

Right-of-Way Encroachment Policy

Safe Environment - On shouldered roads, rigid concrete driveways located in the shoulder of the road can pose safety risks to our maintenance staff and cause equipment damage. Our operators need to grade shoulders in the summer and plow in the winter. Flexible asphalt driveways minimize impacts to both our drivers and equipment. Curbed roads do not have shoulders that are graded or plowed.

Efficient and Cost-Effective Restoration - The restoration of concrete driveways with concrete is not very efficient or cost-effective for the Road Commission as compared to asphalt for the following reasons:

• It takes much longer to saw cut, excavate, and remove concrete driveways that need adjusting versus the time it takes to mill an asphalt driveway.
• In order to maintain access for the property owner, concrete driveways are often required to be poured half width at a time, where asphalt can be placed the full driveway  width.
• Concrete can take up to 28 days to fully cure, where asphalt can be driven on the same day. In most cases, asphalt driveways can be placed at the same time the contractor is paving the lane of the road.
• There is an additional expense for concrete testing and quality assurance.

Curbed roads are milled and resurfaced, therefore it is not necessary to change the driveway approach.

REMINDER—A permit MUST be obtained from the OCRC in order to construct, reconstruct, relocate, surface or resurface a driveway or private road approach adjoining a road within the Road Commission’s ROW.

The Road Commission established a county-wide Tree Planting Policy to balance the benefits that trees can provide, the desires of the community, and related safety concerns.

The policy depicts tree planting locations as it relates to the type of road, number of lanes within the road, and the speed limit. On subdivision streets, the policy allows trees to be planted 25 feet from the centerline of the road.

REMINDER: A permit must be obtained from the OCRC in order to plant a tree within the ROW.

If there is a ditch along the road in front of your property, you should not fill it in even if it does not drain water to a positive outlet. The purpose of most roadside ditches is to prevent water from pooling on the roadway during or after a storm, and to lower the water table beneath the roadbed. Filling in even a fairly shallow roadside ditch can cause serious damage to the road and pavement from frost heave, and increases the chance that water and ice will build up on the road and create a hazard to motorists.

If an open ditch is not desired, a property owner can obtain a permit to enclose the ditch with storm sewer to insure proper roadside drainage.

Understanding Roadside Drainage