RI has more flood-prone and eroded roads. This bill would make them walking paths.

The House of Representatives voted 74 to 1 on Tuesday to pass legislation that would allow old, unmaintained roads to become hiking trails and flood-prone coastal streets to remain open to pedestrians and cyclists only.

H 7645, introduced by Rep. Terri Cortvriend, D-Portsmouth, aims to fix a problem first highlighted by The Providence Journal in 2022.

As it stands, state law requires cities and towns to either ensure that public roads are passable for vehicles or to formally abandon them.

Once they're abandoned, roads become private property and are no longer open to hikers, cyclists, horseback riders and other recreational users.

While this scenario most commonly plays out in rural areas, Cortvriend and the bill's Senate sponsor, Victoria Gu, noted that coastal communities face a similar dilemma when roads that are threatened by erosion or flooding become impractical to maintain.

The bill would offer a third option: Municipalities could abandon a road but retain a public easement, ensuring that it can still be used by walkers, cyclists and others even though it's not in drivable condition.

"Public access to nature has long been imperiled in Rhode Island by a lack of specific laws protecting it," Cortvriend said in a statement. "Old roads and paths that are enjoyed by the public are often the subject of disputes when property changes hands or the area becomes more developed."

Reserving an easement "will legally establish public access and head off any future disputes about it," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Abandoned roads in RI would become walking paths with this bill