Section 4. If county commissioners, aldermen or selectmen adjudge that public necessity and convenience require that the commonwealth lay out and take charge of a new or existing way as a highway in whole or in part, in their county, city or town, they may apply, by a written petition, to the department, requesting that said way be laid out and taken charge of by the commonwealth.
Structure Massachusetts General Laws
Part I - Administration of the Government
Title XIV - Public Ways and Works
Section 2 - Road Information; Duties of Local Officials
Section 3 - Purchase and Maintenance of Road Machinery; Storage Quarters
Section 5 - Filing of Highway Plan; Right to Abandon or Discontinue; Width of Highway
Section 6 - Alteration of Location
Section 7 - Acquisition of Land Outside Limits of Existing Highway
Section 7a - Acquisition of Land to Alter or Relocate Ways Connecting With State Highways
Section 7b - Acquisition of Slope Easement to Protect Existing Ways
Section 7c - Limited Access Ways; Definition; Acquisition of Land; Motorist Service Facilities
Section 7d - Public Utility Easements and Cattle Passes
Section 7e - Sale, Transfer, Lease or Rental of Excess Lands
Section 7f - Entry on Private Land for Purpose of Surveys, Soundings, Drillings and Examinations
Section 7g - Relocation of Public Utilities; Purchase of Lands and Easements
Section 7h - Lease of Lands for Public Parking Facility
Section 7k - Relocation of Facilities of Public Utilities; Entry Upon Lands
Section 7l - Lease of Air Rights Over State Highways
Section 8 - Construction of State Highways; Advertising for Proposals
Section 10 - Contributions by Cities and Towns
Section 11 - Acquisition of Land to Supply Road Materials
Section 12 - Discontinuance or Abandonment
Section 13 - Duties of Department; Definition of State Highway
Section 13a - Highway Landscaping; Acceptance of Gifts of Easements
Section 14 - Removal of Trees and Other Obstructions Near Highways
Section 15 - Contracts for Maintenance and Repair
Section 18 - Defects in Highways; Liability
Section 19 - Jurisdiction of Local Police; Snow Removal
Section 20a - Illumination of Highways
Section 21 - Excavations or Driveway Openings on State Highways; Conditions; Enforcement
Section 22 - Prescriptive Rights of Adjoining Owners
Section 26 - Maintenance of Ways in Small Towns
Section 26a - Maintenance of Ways in Small Towns; Contributions by County
Section 27 - Maintenance Costs; Conditions of Payment
Section 28 - Maintenance of Ways in Small Towns; Performance of Contract
Section 29 - Maintenance of Ways in Small Towns; Determination of Town's Contribution
Section 29a - Laying Out or Altering Ways; Consent, Acquisition, Funds
Section 30 - Use of Federal Aid for Highways and Rural Post Roads