A rod is one-quarter of a Gunter's Chain, which is 66' long. A rod is 16.50 feet. Your Right-of-way has always been measured in feet. I live in PA where the old roads were two-rod roads--33' wide.
I can understand the concept of a three-rod road because it would be 49.50 feet wide, very close to today's 50' Right-of-way found in most county and township roads. A five-rod road, however, is hard to wrap my mind around, because it would entail an 82.50' wide Right-of-way for roads built in the 19th century.
In our current case, the town controls from the center of the road 25 feet on each side, which is about 10 feet into the grass.
You own what your Deed of Title says you own, unless the deed is faulty. You should also have some sort of markers for the front of your property. They may be driven pipes, pins (rebar or iron rods), axle shafts, iron shafts with a bolt, concrete monuments, nails in pavement or drill holes in the sidewalk--just to name a few. The bottom line is you own what your Deed says you own--NOT 25 feet from the center line of the pavement some contractor haphazardly lays down. Think about it--can these people overwrite your Deed with a sloppy job? The answer is NO.
BTW--who defines the center of the road? The guy who drives the striping truck?
We have ornamental trees and flowers that encroach on that area here and there, which is fine as long as they don't obstruct the view. But our picket fence has to be 25 feet from the road center, and we need permission to change anything substantially in that area. But the Town Clerk is a reasonable person, willing to honor any reasonable request.
Normally you can plant anything or make any improvements (as long as they don't interfere with motorists' sightlines) between the front of your property and the back edge of the sidewalk/curb/road shoulder. On the flip side, the State/County/Township can rip them out at any time without any reason. When it comes to fencing, unless you have a state or local ordinance specifically stating "25 feet from the center of the road" you can erect one up to your property line.
The go-to guy whenever you have any kind of property problems is a local Surveyor. He/she will be familiar with the applicable laws and usually be able to read the riot act to clueless clerks, zoning and planning commission idiots. If that doesn't work you may have to hire a lawyer. If so, hire one that your Surveyor approves of because he/she knows property law.
Dear Tinian:
The municipality can only impose restrictions on the right of way that have to do with the safety of the road. The municipality has no right to remove any vegetation without the permission of the abutting property owner unless it is a potential safety problem related to the use of the road. The abutting property owns the roadbed as a presumption in the law and therefore, owns the vegetation. If you believe otherwise, you're wrong on the law but you'd fit right in at Scarsdale Village Hall.
Probably you're right about the fence. But it's live and let live, so we put up the fence where the old one had been.
Yes, we have rebar stakes driven in at all points on the property line, and they are back a ways from the road, but not as far back as the fence line. I've walked the bounds and taped the trees along the boundary lines. It's our property, but the town can, and does, dig drainage ditches and repair culverts. It's in everyone's interest to have proper drainage. Our neighborhood has resisted a state proposal to straighten the road and hardtop it, because then passing cars would start really whizzing by. As it is now, they would slide off into a ditch if they tried to speed by our house.
We're on a dirt road, so the center is somewhat problematic, but again you can pretty much see where things have been, historically.
I may have gotten the 5 rod business wrong. Maybe 6 rod? This was from a neighbor with historical interests. But current regulations translate the old rods into feet.