There are basically four different highway authorities that have maintenance responsibilities within Rock Island County. Listed are the highway authorities along with their general jurisdictional responsibilities:
- City or Village: Responsible for all public streets within the corporate limits except any State or county roads within the corporate limits.
- County: Responsible for all county roads which, in general, consist of main collector routes. County roads can also exist within the corporate limits of a city or village.
- State: Responsible for all marked and unmarked state routes and interstates. State roads can exist within the corporate limits of a city or village.
- Township (Road District): Responsible for all township roads within a given township. Roads on township lines may be the responsibility of either of the adjacent townships and it may change from one section to another. Township roads cannot exist within the corporate limits of a city or village. Therefore, if the corporate limits of a road are adjacent to or included within any part of the right-of-way, that road is the maintenance responsibility of the city or village.