In the event that the proceeding for the opening and laying out of a private road referred to in the preceding section shall have been completed, and a final decree confirming said road shall have been made, and such proposed road shall not have been physically opened upon the ground, and shall have remained or shall remain unopened to use for a continuous period of five years next after the entry of the final decree confirming said road, then such proceedings shall be deemed to be void and of no effect, and the land proposed to be taken shall revert to the owners of the land, as in the case of the vacation of a public road, free of any easement or right of the petitioner or petitioners for such road to use the same: Provided, That in all proceedings heretofore had and in which the final decree shall have been made for a period of four years and upwards prior to the passage of this act, then in that case the proceedings shall not be deemed void for a period of one year from the approval hereof.
36 P.S. § 2738