Every locality may lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish or change the grade of, close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, plant and maintain shade trees on, improve, maintain, repair, clean and light: streets, limited access highways, express highways, roads, alleys, bridges, viaducts, subways and underpasses. Localities may make, improve and repair sidewalks upon all public rights-of-way and may convert sidewalks to bicycle paths. A locality’s power and authority over its public rights-of-way and other public places shall be the same, regardless of whether the public right-of-way or place has been expressly or impliedly dedicated to public use, has been conveyed to the locality by deed, or has been acquired by any other means.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 15.2-2001

  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
  • public right-of-way: as used in this chapter means any area over which the public has a general privilege to travel. See Virginia Code 15.2-2000
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.

Furthermore, any locality may establish highway user fees for highways that are not part of any system of state highways when such highway’s traffic-carrying capacity is increased by construction or improvement.

Code 1950, § 15-77.53; 1958, c. 328; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-889; 1974, c. 407; 1997, c. 587; 2006, c. 924.

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