§ 16 — Location of route

§ 16. Location of route. Every railroad corporation, except a street\nsurface railroad corporation and an elevated railroad corporation,\nbefore constructing any part of its road in any county of this state, or\ninstituting any proceedings for the condemnation of real property\ntherein, shall make a map and profile of the route adopted by it in such\ncounty, certified by the president and engineer of the corporation, or a\nmajority of the directors, and file them in the office of the clerk of\nthe county in which the road is to be made. The corporation shall give\nwritten notice to all actual occupants of the lands over which the route\nof the road is so designated, and which has not been purchased by or\ngiven to it, of the time and place such map and profile were filed, and\nthat such route passes over the lands of such occupants. Any such\noccupant or the owner of the land aggrieved by the proposed location,\nmay, within fifteen days after receiving such notice, give ten days'\nwritten notice to such corporation and to the owners or occupants of\nlands to be affected by any proposed alteration, of the time and place\nof an application to a justice of the supreme court, in the judicial\ndistrict where the lands are situated, by petition duly verified, for\nthe appointment of commissioners to examine the route.\n The petition shall state the objections to the route designated, shall\ndesignate the route to which it is proposed to alter the same, and shall\nbe accompanied with a survey, map and profile of the route designated by\nthe corporation, and of the proposed alteration thereof, and copies\nthereof shall be served upon the corporation and such owners or\noccupants with the notice of the application. The justice may, upon the\nhearing of the application, appoint three disinterested persons, one of\nwhom must be a practical civil engineer, commissioners to examine the\nroute proposed by the corporation, and the route to which it is proposed\nto alter the same, and after hearing the parties, to affirm the route\noriginally designated, or adopt the proposed alteration thereof, as may\nbe consistent with the just rights of all parties and the public,\nincluding the owners or occupants of lands upon the proposed\nalterations; but no alteration of the route shall be made except by the\nconcurrence of the commissioner who is a practical civil engineer, nor\nwhich will cause greater damage or injury to lands or materially greater\nlength of road than the route designated by the corporation, nor which\nshall substantially change the general line adopted by the corporation.\n The commissioners shall, within thirty days after their appointment\nmake and certify their written determination, which with the petition,\nmap, survey and profile, and any testimony taken before them shall be\nimmediately filed in the office of the county clerk of the county.\nWithin twenty days after such filing, any party may, by written notice\nto the other, appeal to the appellate division of the supreme court from\nthe decision of the commissioners, which appeal shall be heard and\ndecided at the next term held in the department in which the lands of\nthe petitioners or any of them are situated, for which the same can be\nnoticed, according to the rules and practice of the court. On the\nhearing of such appeal, the court may affirm the route proposed by the\ncorporation or may adopt that proposed by the petitioner.\n The commissioners shall each be entitled to six dollars per day for\ntheir services, and to their reasonable and necessary expenses, to be\npaid by the persons who applied for their appointment. If the route of\nthe road, as designated by the corporation, is altered by the\ncommissioners, or by the order of the court, the corporation shall\nrefund to the petitioner the amount so paid, unless the decision of the\ncommissioners is reversed upon appeal taken by the corporation. No such\ncorporation shall institute any proceedings for the condemnation of real\nproperty in any county until after the expiration of fifteen days from\nthe service by it of the notice required by this section. Every such\ncorporation shall transmit to the commission the following maps,\nprofiles and drawings exhibiting the characteristics of its road, to\nwit:\n A map or maps showing the length and direction of each straight line;\nthe length and radius of each curve; the point of crossing of each town\nand county line, and the length of the line in each town and county\naccurately determined by measurements to be taken after the completion\nof the road.\n Whenever any part of the road is completed and used, such maps and\nprofiles of such completed part shall be filed with the commission\nwithin three months after the completion of any such portion and the\ncommencement of its operation; and when any additional portion of the\nroad shall be completed and used, other maps shall be filed within the\nsame period of time, showing the additional parts so completed. If the\nroute, as located upon the map and profile filed in the office of any\ncounty clerk, shall have been changed, it shall also cause a copy of the\nmap and profile filed in the office of the commission, so far as it may\nrelate to the location in such county, to be filed in the office of the\ncounty clerk.\n