---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAYS -- ABANDONMENT OF ROADS (Authorizes the town of Middletown, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway from an abutting property owner, to buy the abandoned highway from the abutting owner, at fair market value.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAYS -- ABANDONMENT OF ROADS (Authorizes the town of Middletown, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway from an abutting property owner, to buy the abandoned highway from the abutting owner, at fair market value.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5127"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5127 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cities & Towns", "Highways", "Middletown", "Property", "Transportation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Abney", "Cortvriend", "Ruggiero"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-25"
last_action: "2021-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/20d0dc67-3d26-4f2a-b825-9c142958f824"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "08500cc77323e1a61081f4457d3067796862d96a286549c9d391cd1d333330a8"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5127 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAYS -- ABANDONMENT OF ROADS (Authorizes the town of Middletown, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway from an abutting property owner, to buy the abandoned highway from the abutting owner, at fair market value.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5127** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5127.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **60–10** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Abney — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Ruggiero — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-25** 01/25/2021 Introduced, referred to House Municipal Government `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-01** 02/01/2021 Committee transferred to House Municipal Government & Housing
- **2021-02-05** 02/05/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/11/2021)
- **2021-02-11** 02/11/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/10/2021)
- **2021-06-10** 06/10/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/15/2021)
- **2021-06-15** 06/15/2021 House read and passed `passage`
- **2021-06-16** 06/16/2021 Referred to Senate Housing and Municipal Government `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/24/2021)
- **2021-06-24** 06/24/2021 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/29/2021)
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 Effective without Governor's signature `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/20d0dc67-3d26-4f2a-b825-9c142958f824`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).