N.Y. Highway Law § 11: Maps, plans, specifications and estimates

§ 11. Maps, plans, specifications and estimates. Whenever the

commissioner of transportation shall have determined upon the

construction or improvement of a state highway, or section thereof, he

shall make or cause to be made surveys, and suitable preliminary maps,

plans and specifications. The commissioner shall have the following

powers and duties in respect to such highways:

1. He shall cause the highway or section thereof so determined to be

improved to be mapped both in outline and profile.

2. He may provide for a deviation from the line of a highway already

existing, if thereby a shorter or more direct highway, or a lessened

gradient may be obtained without decreasing the usefulness of the

highway. If such deviation requires the consequential relocation of any

tracks and appurtenances of a railroad company, he may acquire adequate

right of way to provide for the relocation of the highway as well as the

railroad tracks, pursuant to section thirty of this chapter, and he may

enter into a written agreement with the owner of the lands from which

the tracks shall be relocated to exchange such lands for the lands

acquired for their relocation. The work of relocating the tracks may be

done by the owner, and the commissioner of transportation is hereby

empowered to enter into an agreement with the owner for the performance

of all or any part of the work at the expense of the state, and such

expense shall be deemed to be a part of the cost of the relocation of

the highway.

3. He may provide for the widening of an existing highway.

4. He shall cause to be prepared preliminary plans and specifications

for the construction or improvement of such highway or section thereof

providing for a telford, macadam or gravel roadway, or other suitable

construction, taking into consideration climate, soil and materials to

be had in the vicinity thereof, and the extent and nature of the traffic

likely to be upon such highway, specifying in his judgment the kind of

highway a wise economy demands.

5. He shall provide in such plans and specifications for necessary

culverts, drains, ditches, waterways, embankments, guard rails and

retaining walls, and he may also provide for cattle passes wherever he

may deem them to be necessary and suitable in the interest of public

safety and as a traffic precaution.

6. He may provide therein for the removal or planting of trees, and

seeding or sodding, within the boundaries of the highway, when necessary

for the preservation thereof.

7. He may provide therein for the removal of, or the trimming of any

trees within the boundaries of the highway necessary for the convenience

or safety of the public, or the construction or preservation of the

highway.

8. He shall provide therein for the erection of suitable guide boards.

9. He may provide for such other work as may be required to complete

the construction or improvement in a proper manner.

10. He shall cause an estimate to be made of the cost of the

construction of such highways or section thereof in accordance with such

plans and specifications. In making such estimate he shall cause to be

ascertained and specified with all practical accuracy the quantity of

embankment, excavation and masonry, the quantity of all materials to be

used and all items of work to be placed under contract.