POLICY: All Right of Way (ROW) must be acquired in accordance with the Uniform Act, and NCDOT, as delegated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), must certify the ROW to ensure that acquisition procedures have been followed and that all property is publicly accessible.
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All projects must be accessible to the public when completed. Sufficient public access may be guaranteed by public ownership or by a lease or easement document. The Local Government Agency (LGA), in coordination with NCDOT, is responsible for ensuring that sufficient ROW exists for the project.
Either the project can be constructed within existing ROW/easements/property that can be documented, or the LGA will need to acquire new ROW/easements/property.
If it is necessary to acquire ROW, the LGA must comply with the Uniform Act (49 CFR 24) – Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition for Federal and Federally-Assisted Programs. This law applies to any federal project or program that requires real property acquisition and displacement of people from their acquired home, business, farm or nonprofit organization real property. The Uniform Act ensures the fair and consistent treatment for owners of real property to encourage and expedite acquisition by agreements with such owners, minimize litigation and relieve congestion in the courts, and promote public confidence in federal and federally-assisted land acquisition programs.
IMPORTANT: It is the policy of NCDOT that all projects, regardless of the funding source at the time of acquisition, comply with the Uniform Act as well as other federal and state requirements. Failure to do so could result in the loss of federal or state funding, or Reimbursement status for the project.
The Division of Highways has developed and utilizes a Right of Way Manual and Manual for Real Estate Appraisal Standards and Legal Principles – both of which are based on applicable state and federal laws, including but not limited to the Uniform Act, and decades of experience in acquiring property and managing matters related thereto in service of the public. NCDOT has also developed a brochure, Understanding the Right of Way Process, that provides an overview of the ROW process.
LGAs are encouraged to utilize the procedures, directions, and forms for Right of Way Support provided by NCDOT.
