IV. OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF GAS AND ELEC TRICITY. STREET LOCATIONS FOR GAS MAINS. for gas mains. 1855, 146, § 2. G. S. 61, § 16. 353, § 2. last cl. 1. SECTION 126. A gas company may, with the consent Street locations in writing of the mayor and aldermen or corresponding body of a city or the selectmen of a town, dig up and open the ground in any of the streets, lanes and highways thereof, so far as is necessary to accomplish the objects of said corporation; but such consent shall not affect the right or remedy to recover damages for an injury caused to persons or property by the acts of such corporation. It shall put all such streets, lanes and highways in as good repair as they were in when opened; and upon failure so to do within a reasonable time, shall be guilty of a nuisance. 1896, 544, § 1. R. L. 110, § 76. 12 Allen, 75. 188 Mass. 244. [2 Op. A. G. 416.] STREET LOCATIONS FOR ELECTRIC LINES. of lines. G. S. 64, § 2. 1889, 434. R. L. 121, § 17; 1911, 509, § 1. SECTION 127. A corporation which is subject to the Construction provisions of this act may, under the provisions of sec- 1849, 93, § 2. tions fifty-two to fifty-five, inclusive, of chapter twenty- P. S. 109, § 2. five and of chapter one hundred and twenty-two of the 1883, 221. Revised Laws and of chapter five hundred and nine of 1895, 350. the acts of the year nineteen hundred and eleven, con- 122, § 1. struct lines for the transmission of electricity upon, along, 97 Mass. 555. under and across the public ways and across and under 136 Mass. 75, any waters within the commonwealth, by the erection or 182 Mass. 400. construction of the poles, piers, abutments, conduits and 184 Mass. 152, other fixtures, except bridges, which may be necessary to 188 Mass. 253. sustain or protect the wires of its lines; but such corpora- 207 Mass. 343. tion shall not incommode the public use of public ways 88.1 or endanger or interrupt navigation. 485. 570. 202 Mass. 406. 1 Op. A. G. 80, [2 Op. A. G. 416, 423.] authorize 1869, 457, § 2. Revised Laws, Chapter 25, §§ 52, 53, 54, 55, 83. SECTION 52. The selectmen may, upon terms and conditions Selectmen may prescribed by them, and subject to the provisions of chapter one private lines. hundred and twenty-two, so far as applicable, authorize a person P. S. 27, § 45. to construct lines for private use upon, along and under the public ways of the town for the transmission, by electricity, of light, or of heat or power, except such as is used by street railway companies or for the transmission, by electricity or otherwise, of intelligence by telegraph or telephone. Upon the construction of such 1883, 221. 1889, 434. 182 Mass. 400. Penalty for Towns may regulate telegraph, etc., wires. 1880, 83, § 1. P. S. 27, § 47. 1883, 221. 1889, 398, 434. 1895, 350. 182 Mass. 400. Proceedings, if regulations are violated. 1880, 83, § 2. P. S. 27, § 48. 1891, 293. Road commissioners, powers, duties, etc. 1871, 158, § 2. 1873, 51. P. S. 27, § 75. line, the poles and structures thereof within the location of such ways shall become the property of the town, and the selectmen may regulate and control the same, may at any time require the persons using the same to make alterations in the location or construction thereof and may, after notice and a hearing, order the removal thereof. The town may at any time attach wires for its own use to such poles and structures, and the selectmen may permit other persons to attach wires for their private use thereto or to poles and structures constructed by the town, and may prescribe reasonable terms and conditions therefor. SECTION 53. Whoever unlawfully injures or destroys any wire, pole, structure or fixture of any such line shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. SECTION 54. The selectmen may, within their respective towns, permit telegraph and telephone lines to be laid under any way or square, and may establish reasonable regulations for the erection and maintenance of all lines for the transmission of intelligence by telegraph or telephone, by electricity or otherwise, or for the transmission by electricity of light, or of heat or power except such as is used by street railway companies, by every person having authority to place poles, wires, structures and other appliances for any purpose in or under public ways or places, including all lines owned or used by said towns. SECTION 55. The town shall forthwith in writing give notice in detail to the owner, constructor or person using any line therein which is constructed or maintained in violation of such regulations; and if thereafter such unlawful construction is continued or if said lines are not within a reasonable time so altered as to conform to said regulations, the supreme judicial court or the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to enjoin the further progress of said work, or to order such line to be removed or altered at the expense of the owners, constructors or persons using the same. If such line belongs to or is used by a town, like action may be taken upon complaint of a person injured, after such notice to the town as the court may order. SECTION 83. If road commissioners are chosen in a town, they shall exclusively have the powers, perform the duties and be subject to the liabilities and penalties of selectmen and surveyors of 1893, 423, § 23. highways relative to streets, ways, bridges, monuments at the termini and angles of streets, guide posts, sidewalks and shade trees, and, if sewer commissioners are not chosen, relative to sewers and drains. 145 Mass. 561, 564. 146 Mass. 43. 164 Mass. 263. 174 Mass. 451. 182 Mass. 199. Revised Laws, Chapter 26, § 6. of wires. SECTION 6. Regulations established by a city under the pro- Regulation visions of section fifty-four of chapter twenty-five shall be made 1880, 83, § 1. P. S. 28, § 4. by ordinance. Revised Laws, Chapter 48, § 85. RESERVED SPACES IN PUBLIC WAYS. SECTION 85. If the city council of a city or a town accepts Reserved spaces in public ways. the provisions of this section or has accepted the corresponding 1894, 324. provisions of earlier laws, the board or officers authorized to lay out streets, highways or town ways may, whether any such street or way is laid out under the provisions of law authorizing the assessment of betterments or otherwise, reserve spaces between the side lines thereof for the use of horseback riders, for bicycle paths or for street railways, except such as may be operated by steam, for drains, sewers and electric wires, for trees and grass, and for planting. Revised Laws, Chapter 122, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. CONSTRUCTION OF LINES UPON HIGHWAYS. of lines. 1849, 93, § 2. G. S. 64, § 2. 1889, 434. 97 Mass. 555. [SECTION 1. A company which is incorporated for the trans- Construction mission of intelligence by electricity, or by telephone, whether by electricity or otherwise, or for the transmission of electricity for lighting, heating or power, except lines for heat or power by a street railway company, may, under the provisions of the following sections, construct lines for such transmission upon and along the 136 Mass. 75, public ways and across any waters within the commonwealth, by 153 Mass. 200. the erection of the poles, piers, abutments and other fixtures, 184 Mass. 152. except bridges, which may be necessary to sustain the wires of its 202 Mass. 406. lines; but shall not incommode the public use of public ways nor 1911, 509. endanger or interrupt navigation.] 485. 182 Mass. 400. 188 Mass. 253. Substitute. Section 1. A company which is incorporated for the transmission Transmission of electricity. of intelligence by electricity or by telephone, whether by electricity or 1911, 509, § 1. otherwise, or for the transmission of electricity for lighting, heating or power, or for the construction and operation of a street railway or an electric railroad, may, under the provisions of the following sections, construct lines for such transmission upon, along, under and across the public ways and across and under any waters within the commonwealth, by the erection or construction of the poles, piers, abutments, conduits and other fixtures, except bridges, which may be necessary to sustain or protect the wires of its lines; but such company Location, etc., 1906, 117. Substitute. 1911, 509, § 2. shall not incommode the public use of public ways or endanger or interrupt navigation. [SECTION 2. The mayor and aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town through which the lines of a company are to pass shall give the company a writing specifying where the poles may be located, the kind of poles and the height at which, and the places where, the wires may run. After the erection of the lines, having first given the company or its agents opportunity to be heard, they may direct any alteration in the location or erection of the poles, piers or abutments and in the height of the wires. Such specifications and decisions shall be recorded in the records of the city or town.] Granting of locations for poles and wires, etc. 1911, 509, § 2. Increase in number of poles and wires, etc. Acts of 1911, Chapter 509, § 2. Section 2. A company desiring to construct a line for such transmission upon, along, under or across a public way shall in writing petition the mayor and aldermen of the city or the selectmen of the town in which it is proposed to construct such line for permission to erect or construct upon, along, under or across said way the wires, poles, piers, abutments or conduits necessary therefor. A public hearing shall be held on the petition, and written notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be mailed at least seven days prior thereto by the clerk of the city or by the selectmen of the town to all owners of real estate abutting upon that part of the way upon, along, across or under which the line is to be constructed, as such ownership is determined by the last preceding assessment for taxation. After a public hearing as aforesaid, the mayor and aldermen, or the selectmen may by order grant to the petitioner a location for such line, specifying therein where the poles, piers, abutments or conduits may be placed, and in respect to overhead lines may also specify the kind of poles, piers or abutments which may be used, the number of wires or cables which may be attached thereto, and the height to which the wires or cables may run. After the erection or construction of such line the mayor and aldermen or selectmen may, after giving the company or its agents an opportunity to be heard, or upon petition of the company without notice or hearing, by order permit an increase in the number of the wires or cables, and direct an alteration in the location of the poles, piers, abutments or conduits or in the height of the wires or cables. The mayor and aldermen or selectmen may, upon petition in writing by two or more companies subject to the provisions of this chapter, without notice or hearing, by order authorize any such company to attach its wires and fixtures to existing poles, piers or abutments of either or any of the other petitioners, or to maintain its wires or cables in the conduits of either or any of said other petitioners. The mayor and aldermen or selectmen may, upon petition in writing by two or more companies subject to the provisions of this chapter, and after notice to abutting landowners and a hearing as hereinbefore provided, by order grant to said companies joint or identical locations for the erection or construction of poles, piers, abutments or conduits to be owned and used in common by them. No order of the mayor and aldermen or selectmen shall be required for renewing, repairing or replacing wires, cables, poles, piers, abutments, conduits, or fixtures once erected or constructed under the provisions of law, or for making house connections or connections between duly located conduits and distributing poles. increase to be The order granting a location or an alteration thereof, or author- Order granting izing an increase in the number of wires or cables or attachments, such recorded, etc. as are hereinbefore described, shall be recorded by the clerk of the city or of the town in books kept exclusively for the purpose, and where notice has been given as hereinbefore provided the clerk of the city or the chairman or a majority of the selectmen shall certify on said record that the order was adopted after due notice and a public hearing as hereinbefore prescribed, and no such order shall be valid without such certificate. The company or companies in whose favor the order is made shall pay for such record the same fees as are allowed for the entering and recording of deeds by registers of deeds and shall be entitled to attested copies of said orders and certificates upon payment of the same fees as are allowed to registers of deeds for copies. may be The mayor and aldermen or selectmen may under the provisions Other wires of this section authorize the attachment of the wires and fixtures of a attached, etc. street railway or electric railroad company to the poles, piers and abutments of another owner, or the attachment of the wires and fixtures of another owner to the poles, piers and abutments of such company, and may grant joint or identical locations for the erection or construction of poles, piers or abutments to be owned and used in common by such company and another owner or other owners, and locations for the transmission lines and telephone, signal and feed wires of such company in public ways or parts thereof, other than those public ways or parts thereof in which the tracks of such company are laid, and locations for additional poles to support, or alterations of locations for existing poles supporting, trolley or span wires; and all locations granted to a street railway or electric railroad company hereunder shall be subject only to revocation as provided in section sixty-six of Part III of chapter four hundred and sixty-three of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and six; but nothing contained in this section save as hereinbefore expressly set forth shall be held to apply to the poles, wires and other appliances and equipment which a street railway or electric rail |