"Highway" caches and geocache placement issues

[+Halina23]

I've tried to publish a cache in my small town here, on a 25 mph road (actually Broadway, or the main street of the town) that has regular pedestrians, crosswalks, a sidewalk, law requirements for absolutely stopped traffic when a pedestrian crosses the road....the problem is that the DOT has classified this road as a highway and my publication request has been rejected as a result. I have submitted photos of this "highway" and shown how people are walking here regularly, on the side sidewalk, via crossing lights (two), and crossing areas for peds, etc., and how there are parking spots adjoining the walking area...to no avail. However, I previously published a similar such cache, also in my town, on the same "highway!" Obviously, it was through a different reviewer. 

Can anyone assist or advise me on how I can get this cache published? Can I petition the DOT? 

[+niraD]

4 minutes ago, Halina23 said:

I've tried to publish a cache in my small town here, on a 25 mph road (actually Broadway, or the main street of the town) that has regular pedestrians, crosswalks, a sidewalk, law requirements for absolutely stopped traffic when a pedestrian crosses the road....the problem is that the DOT has classified this road as a highway and my publication request has been rejected as a result. I have submitted photos of this "highway" and shown how people are walking here regularly, on the side sidewalk, via crossing lights (two), and crossing areas for peds, etc., and how there are parking spots adjoining the walking area...to no avail. However, I previously published a similar such cache, also in my town, on the same "highway!" Obviously, it was through a different reviewer. 

Can anyone assist or advise me on how I can get this cache published? Can I petition the DOT? 

Is the cache actually within the right of way for the highway? Or is it on property that is adjacent to the right of way for the highway?

[+Halina23]

1 minute ago, niraD said:

Is the cache actually within the right of way for the highway? Or is it on property that is adjacent to the right of way for the highway?

It was placed on the "fence" of the bridge there, right by the ped crosswalk sign. I was a bridge cache. So, I think this would be the highway/road bridge. 

[Keystone]

The OP seems to be focused on pedestrian access and the "walkability" of the bridge.  A larger concern behind the "no caches on highway bridges" guideline is security.  There's been too many bomb squad or other law enforcement callouts for caches hidden on, under or near highway bridges.  Either someone spots the "suspicious object" (sometimes, it's an engineer inspecting the bridge) or muggles report "suspicious activity" (geocachers lingering for a long time at one spot on the bridge, which in a muggle's imagination can be anything from a drug deal to a terrorist conspiracy to blow up the bridge).  I have a bookmark list full of these examples from years gone by.

 

I use a bright line test so that I don't need to pass judgment on whether a particular bridge is a "highway" bridge, and to promote consistency in reviewing standards.  If the bridge carries traffic along or over a numbered Interstate Highway, Federal Highway or State Highway, then the cache gets a Reviewer Note similar to the one the OP received.  If it's a bridge carrying or passing over a road that isn't a numbered Highway, I will publish that.

 

The OP is welcome to appeal their reviewer's decision to Geocaching HQ, but it's unlikely that the appeal will succeed.