Right of way

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Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e., by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.^[1] Access granted by a right-of-way ranges from being broad enough to grant access to the general public,^[2] to being restricted for the benefit of only a specific individual or adjacent property.^[3]

A similar right of access also exists on land held by a government, lands that are typically called public land, state land, or Crown land. Also, when an individual owns a piece of land that is bordered on all sides by lands owned by others, an easement may exist or might be created so as to initiate a right of way through the bordering land. The right to roam provides legal access to public and private land and water.

The term categorizes an easement, or grant to use the land, in order to construct transportation facilities, such as railways, canals, electrical grids, pipelines, etc.^[4]

The term may also describe priority of traffic flow, "the legal right of a pedestrian, vehicle, or ship to proceed with precedence over others in a particular situation or place".^[5] In hiking etiquette, where when two groups of hikers meet on a steep trail, a custom has developed in some areas whereby the group moving uphill has the "right of way".^[6]

The term "right-of-way" is also used to denote the land itself, such as the strips of land along a railroad track; as well as a path, trail, road, bridleway, etc. that provides legal public access across private land, or along a waterway or shoreline.

A "permissive right of way" is closed for a day or more each year and can be rescinded at any time.