Legal Question in Construction Law in California

The party who uses the road has to maintain it. If it is an easement, the owner of the underlying land merely has to not put roadblocks on the property but has no duty to maintain the easement.

First, I think I understand what you're trying to ask, but let me point out that an access road is not going to be on 'personal property.' The law recognizes two broad classes of property, real property and personal property. Real property is sometimes also called real estate, although the preferred legal term is the former. It includes land and buildings, etc. attached to the land. Personal property, on the other hand, is stuff like money, patents, cars, furniture, TV sets, etc. that isn't land and buildings.

When X has an easement allowing him to reach his real property by using a road lying on Y's real estate, X will ordinarily be responsible for the cost to maintain the road. This can be modified by contract, but usually isn't.

If X and Y both use the road, or both use some part of the road, the law will require them to share the cost of maintenance in some fair and equitable proportion based upon relative useage and relative wear and tear the useage imposes on the road. Again this can be modified by an explicit agreement to the contrary.

If there is no agreement to the contrary, maintenance costs will be apportioned based upon relative use. This is also true when several users have shared use of the easement.