§ 25-45 Damage to roads and bridges — State roads and bridges.

Whenever any State road or bridge under the jurisdiction of the State Highway Administration shall be destroyed or rendered impassable, in whole or in part, by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, in connection with the work herein contemplated, it shall be the duty of Baltimore City to replace the road or bridge, as nearly as possible, at the City’s expense, with a suitable and convenient road or bridge in lieu thereof; provided that the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore shall not have the power, anything in this subheading or in any other Act to the contrary notwithstanding, to condemn any such State road or bridge under the jurisdiction of the State Highway Administration, but shall have the right to divert, alter, close or destroy any State road or bridge under the jurisdiction of the State Highway Administration when necessary in the course of such work, only by agreement with the State Highway Administration, on such terms as replacing the road or bridge for the convenience of the public as may be required by the State Highway Administration.

In the event that Baltimore City and the State Highway Administration may not be able to agree upon the terms under which the State road or bridge is to be altered, diverted, closed or destroyed, or upon the location or character of the State road or bridge to replace the same, or upon any other terms concerning the replacement of the road or bridge, the matter shall be referred to the Chief Engineer of the State Highway Administration and the Director of Public Works of Baltimore City, for the time being, who shall have complete power in every respect to consider and decide all questions in connection with such diversion, alteration, closure or destruction of such State road or bridge, and to determine where, how and in what manner, and within what time, the road or bridge shall be replaced by Baltimore City.

No State road or bridge shall be closed or altered in whole or in part under the provisions of this subheading until another is constructed and opened to the public in lieu thereof as herein provided, and these Engineers shall have full power and authority to summon, and require the attendance of, all witnesses in connection with their inquiries under <cite data-path="25|§25-45">this section</cite>, and to require that their testimony shall be taken under oath, as required by law.

The decision of these Engineers in all matters between Baltimore City and the State Highway Administration which may pass by transfer or succession upon them under <cite data-path="25|§25-45">this section</cite> shall be final and conclusive unless impeached for fraud in appropriate proceedings instituted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, to set aside their findings on such ground.

Whenever these Engineers may require and determine that the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore shall construct a road to replace any State road diverted, altered, closed or destroyed, or to be diverted, altered, closed or destroyed in the course of the work contemplated by this subheading, Baltimore City shall have the power to agree with the owners of land, property or things to be taken or injuriously affected in the construction thereof, and, in default of agreement, to condemn the right of way under the provisions of this subheading, authorizing the condemnation of property, land or things for the purposes of this subheading, or may, at its election, make application to the State Highway Administration for the opening or alteration of such State road, in which latter event the proceedings shall be those prescribed by law for the opening or alteration of State roads, except that no land owner shall be assessed for any part of the cost thereof, the whole of such cost to be paid by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

In the event of disagreement between the said Engineers as to any matter handed down to them by the terms of <cite data-path="25|§25-45">this section</cite>, they shall call in as a third arbiter, an engineer skilled in the construction or maintenance of highways and bridges, to be selected by the Governor of Maryland, on the application of either of these Engineers, in the event that they are unable to agree on such third person, the decision of any two of the board thus selected to be binding on the parties, and to be final and conclusive, unless impeached for fraud as aforesaid.

All costs and expenses incurred in connection with any such arbitration proceedings shall be paid by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

The powers and duties of the Director of Public Works of Baltimore City under <cite data-path="25|§25-45">this section</cite> may, at any time, with the consent of the Mayor of Baltimore, be delegated by the Director to one of the Director’s assistant engineers, or such powers may be exercised and duties performed by some third party to be named by the municipal agency charged with the duty of carrying the work under this subheading into execution.

The powers conferred and the duties imposed by <cite data-path="25|§25-45">this section</cite> upon the Chief Engineer of the State Highway Administration may at any time, with the consent of the State Highway Administration, be delegated by the Chief Engineer to any assistant engineer.