I know of no gated tract where the roads are not private, that’s one of the reasons the hoa for gates places is high. It’s not the gate operation that costs money, it’s the fact that the public has no access therefore the city/county will not pay for the paving, streetlights, insurance or anything else that has to do with the roads. These people do pay property tax just the same so they have the same access to other services (police, fire, etc.) just not anything to do with the streets. Sorry, you can’t get the gates removed, only the homeowners can do that.