Applicable texts
Article L161-1 of the Rural Code
Rural roads are the roads belonging to the communes, assigned to public use, which have not been classified as communal roads. They are part of the private domain of the commune.
Article L161-2
The use of a rural road for public purposes is presumed, in particular by the use of the road as a passageway or by repeated acts of surveillance or roadwork by the municipal authority.
The destination of the road may be defined in particular by its registration on the departmental plan of walking and hiking routes.
Article L161-3
Any path assigned to public use is presumed, until proven otherwise, to belong to the municipality on whose territory it is located.
Article L161-4
Disputes which may be raised by any interested party concerning the ownership or the total or partial possession of rural roads are judged by the courts of law.
Article L161 – 5
The municipal authority is responsible for the police and the conservation of rural roads.
Article L161 – 6
The following may be incorporated into the rural road system, by deliberation of the municipal council taken on the proposal of the board of the landowners’ association or of the general assembly of the syndicate association
a) The roads created in application of articles L. 123 – 8 and L. 123 – 9 ;
b) The exploitation roads opened by authorized syndicate associations, under c of article 1 of the aforementioned ordinance of July 1, 2004.
Article L161 – 7
When, prior to its incorporation into the rural road system, a road has been created or maintained by a landed association, an authorized syndicate association, created under c of article 1 of the aforementioned ordinance of 1 July 2004, or when the road is created in application of article L.
121 – 17, the work and maintenance are financed by means of a tax distributed in proportion to the interest of each property in the work. The same applies to a rural road whose opening, straightening, widening, repair or maintenance was the responsibility of a syndicate association before January 1, 1959.
In other cases, the municipal council may institute the tax provided for in the preceding paragraphs, if the road is used for the operation of one or more properties. The provisions of article L. 2331 – 11 of the general code of local authorities, hereinafter reproduced, are applicable to this tax
general code of local authorities, hereafter reproduced, are applicable to this tax:
“Art.L. 2331 – 11: The particular taxes due by the inhabitants or owners by virtue of the local laws and customs are distributed by deliberation of the municipal council.
“These taxes are collected as for direct taxes.
Article L161-8
Special contributions may, under the conditions provided for communal roads by article L. 141-9 of the highway code, be imposed by the municipality or the syndicated association mentioned in article L. 161-11 on owners or contractors responsible for damage to rural roads.
Article L161-9
The provisions of article L. 141-6 of the highway code are applicable to deliberations of municipal councils concerning the widening of rural roads not exceeding two meters or their straightening.
Article L161-10 When a rural road ceases to be used by the public, the sale may be decided upon after an inquiry by the municipal council, unless the interested parties, grouped in a syndicate association in accordance with article L. 161-11, have asked to be responsible for maintenance within two months of the opening of the inquiry.
When the alienation is ordered, the riparian owners are given notice to acquire the land adjoining their properties. If, within a period of one month from the date of the warning, the riparian owners have not submitted their bids or if their bids are insufficient, the land is alienated according to the rules followed for the sale of communal properties.
Article L161-10-1
When a rural road belongs to several communes, a decision on the sale is taken after a single survey by concordant deliberations of the municipal councils. It is the same when roads belonging to several communes constitute the same itinerary between two intersections of ways or paths. The modalities of application of the survey prior to the alienation are fixed by decree.
Article L161-11
When works are necessary or when a rural road is not maintained by the municipality and either half plus one of the interested parties representing at least two thirds of the surface area of the properties served by the road, or two thirds of the interested parties representing more than half of the surface area propose to take charge of the works necessary to put or maintain the road in a viable state or request the institution or the increase of the tax provided for in article L. 161-7, the municipal council must deliberate within a period of one month on this proposal. If the municipal council does not accept the proposal or if it does not deliberate within the prescribed time limit, an authorized syndicate association may be constituted under the conditions provided for in article 1 c and title III of the aforementioned ordinance of 1 July 2004.
The road handed over to the syndicate remains however open to the public unless otherwise decided by the municipal council and the general assembly of the syndicate.
Article L161-12 The technical characteristics which rural roads must meet, the conditions under which rural roads may be modified to adapt to the agrarian structure, the conditions under which voluntary subscriptions for these roads are accepted and carried out, and the methods of application of article L. 161-7 are fixed by regulation.
Article L161-13 The following provisions of the highway code are applicable to rural roads
1° Article L. 113-1 relating to road signs ;
2° Articles L. 115-1, L. 141-10 and L. 141-11 relating to the coordination of work carried out on public roads
file to download:
120621 – Note on the Rural Road
