Bristol Township Road

Citations

• 49 Pa. Super. 549
• 1912 Pa. Super. LEXIS 367

Syllabus

<p>Road law — Opening road — Vacating road — Act of June IS, 18S6, P. L. 551 — Improvements.</p> <p>1. Combining in one petition a prayer to open a road, and to vacate another that may be thus rendered useless, inconvenient or burdensome, is not improper practice if the statutory requirements relating to opening and vacating roads are observed in other particulars.</p> <p>2. The requirements of the Act of June 13, 1836, sec. 18, P. L. 551, that the road to be vacated shall be useless, inconvenient or burdensome, is in the disjunctive, and it is not necessary that all the elements should be present to justify a vacation. If any one of the three conditions is found to exist to the satisfaction of the court, a sufficient reason in this regard is established.</p> <p>3. A mere allegation in the petition that the road is useless, etc., is sufficient to warrant the appointment of viewers. It is not necessary to state the facts.</p> <p>4. A report of viewers which states that “there are no improvements along the line to be laid out ” is not defective in failing to set out the fact that a railroad was on the ground. A railroad on the ground is not such an improvement as to other landowners as requires mention in the report.</p> <p>Road law — Railroads—Opening road across railroad — Jurisdiction— Act of June 7,1901, P. L. 5S1.</p> <p>5. The fact that the draft accompanying the report of a board of viewers shows that “the new road opened was laid out over the tracks of a railroad company at grade ” does not oust the jurisdiction of the court, where it appears that the only party objecting was the owner of land on each side of the road to be opened; that the county commissioners could not construct a road at grade without the consent of the court, and that the railroad company filed a stipulation to pay all costs and damages and to construct an overhead or underneath crossing as may be required by the court of common pleas.</p>