RoadKeeper

Pennsylvania's rules for shared roads

In this state

Since late 2021, Pennsylvania obliges every owner benefiting from a private road to contribute in proportion to the amount of road they use, toward keeping it at its current level of improvement, with a civil action behind the duty. And a road the township maintains for twenty-one years stops being private.

Shared-way statute36 P.S. § 2735 (Act 75 of 2021)
How owners are assessedA written agreement controls; absent one, each owner sharing a common benefit contributes in proportion to the amount of the private road utilized, toward keeping it at its current level of improvement.
If someone won't payA civil action enforces the contribution duty; the default funds upkeep of the road as it stands, so upgrades need agreement, not litigation.
Where the text liveshttps://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information?sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&actNum=75

Questions Pennsylvania treasurers ask first

Does Pennsylvania make neighbors pay for the road?

Yes, since Act 75 of 2021: absent a written agreement, each benefited owner contributes in proportion to the amount of the private road they utilize, enforceable by civil action.

Can we force a holdout to fund paving?

Not through the default: it maintains the road at its current level of improvement, so upgrades come from agreement, not statute.

What controls before the default?

A written agreement among the owners; the 2021 law is the floor under roads that never wrote one.

How is proportion of road utilized figured?

By how much of the road serves each parcel, which makes measured distances and use records the working evidence.

Can the township plowing our road change what it is?

Under the Second Class Township Code, a road used for public travel and maintained by the township for at least twenty-one years is a public road, so accepting town upkeep has a long-run price.

Is there a lien or fee shift?

Neither appears in the 2021 default; interest, costs and process belong in your own recorded agreement.

What is the Private Road Act people mention?

An older court-supervised process about opening private roads for landlocked parcels; it is a different tool from the 2021 maintenance duty, and worth counsel if access itself is the problem.

How old is the law this amends?

The host is the General Road Law of 1836; the maintenance duty inside it is from 2021.

What records matter most here?

Two ledgers: who paid, for the use-proportional default, and who did the maintaining, because provenance is what keeps a private road private.

The RoadKeeper Team

Built by the people who make RoadKeeper. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.

This page is general information for road association volunteers, not legal advice. Laws change and every road's documents differ — for decisions about your association, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Reviewed against primary sources; see citations on each page.