Access to Town and state roads

A. Driveway access. Plans for any driveway access onto any Town or state road shall show any construction, cut, fill, or other alteration of grade or pitch within the Town or state right-of-way. No zoning certificate shall be issued by the Zoning Official for construction or use of land requiring an access driveway onto a Town or state road until the applicant obtains the written approval of the Director of Public Works or his authorized representative. All driveway access to state roads requires the approval in writing of the State of Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Such approval shall state that the proposed access driveway will not substantially interfere with traffic flow and any future widening of the road and will not constitute a safety hazard to traffic on the state road.
B. Specifications. All specifications for any such driveway access must conform to the following requirements:
- (1) Any driveway shall be so graded that it will not be necessary to change the established grade of the adjacent Town or state road.
- (2) No part of any driveway access shall extend beyond the road line in such a manner as to change the grade of the road or obstruct the free flow of water draining off the road.
- (3) Where a driveway approach crosses an open ditch or where such construction will interfere with the drainage of water along the side of the road, a culvert of such size and width and of such material as determined by the Director of Public Works or his representative shall be installed.
- (4) The driveway access shall be so constructed that there will be no drainage from the driveway onto the Town or state road. Written approval of drainage plans shall be obtained from the Town Engineer.
- (5) If, in the opinion of the Director of Public Works or his representative, protection is required for the shoulder and/or edge of the Town or state road, an apron of bituminous concrete or other suitable material or treatment shall be installed.
- (6) All required construction shall be at the property owner's expense.
C. Inspection. Upon completion of construction of a driveway access, the Director of Public Works or his authorized agent shall make a final inspection and accept or reject, in writing to the Zoning Official, such construction. In the event of rejection, the owner shall be given a period of 30 days to bring such construction into compliance with all pertinent regulations. At the end of this thirty-day period, absent such compliance, the driveway access shall cease to be utilized. The Zoning Official shall also have the authority to require repair or reconstruction of any existing driveway access to a Town or state road that does not conform to the requirements of pertinent regulations.
D. Public street ingress and egress. No building shall be erected upon a lot which does not have access to a public street.