When any highway passes over or under a railroad, if the convenience and necessity of the public require a change in such highway, the town, city or borough in which such highway is located may bring a petition to the Commissioner of Transportation in the manner prescribed in § 13b-270, and, after the notice prescribed by said section, said commissioner shall proceed to a hearing on such matter and may make such order as the commissioner deems necessary for the convenience and necessity of the public or the safe and suitable operation of the railroad. For the purposes of this section, said commissioner shall have and exercise all powers of said commissioner concerning the removal of grade crossings, and land may be taken. The party upon whom is imposed, by such order, the duty of making such changes in such highway may use the material and abutments of any existing bridge in the old highway in the construction of a bridge in the substituted or changed highway. The expense of any changes ordered as hereinbefore provided shall be apportioned, among the railroad company and the town, city or borough interested therein, in such manner as the commissioner deems equitable; but in no case shall an amount in excess of one-half of the expense of such alteration, including land damages or special damages, be assessed upon any such town, city or borough.

Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 13b-282

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • railroad company: shall be construed to mean and include all corporations, trustees, receivers or other persons, that lay out, construct, maintain or operate a railroad, unless such meaning would be repugnant to the context or to the manifest intention of the General Assembly. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1