Court Opinion

ID: 9684813
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:14:35.948453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:59.798873
License: Public Domain

HOMEYER, Judge
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent. In my opinion, this case is not controlled by our decision in the Hurley case referred to in the majority opinion. In that case plaintiffs sought damages for a partial deprivation of access resulting from erection of a barrier on a street which was extended and constructed to connect with an interstate highway built as a part of the National System of Interstate Highways. The authority for the State Highway Commission to act and cooperate in such construction emanates from Ch. 104, Laws of 1955, now SDC 1960 Supp. 28.0231 through 28.0236.
The State Trunk Highway System as we-now know it had its origin in Ch. 333, Laws of 1919 with amendments and enlargements limited only by the number of subsequent legislative sessions. Ch. 139, Laws of 1953, now SDC 1960 Supp. 28.0209 vested discretionary authority in the Commission to "extend said system to include any street or streets within the limits of any city if necessary to make a continuous route for any State Trunk Highway through the city * * In Hurley the cooperation of the city in such construction was only perfunctory. We quote from the opinion in that case: "* * * the work was in full control of, initiated and completed by the State Highway Commission. That it sought and obtained the consent of the city so as to maintain good relations between governmental subdivisions and departments and cooperation to exercise its police power to regulate traffic thereon is no reason to hold the city legally responsible." In the instant case, its contribution was real and substantial. In advance of construction (1958), the city on June 11, 1956, adopted a Resolution of Necessity for Condemnation describing tracts needed to implement the construction. On September 4, 1956, the city entered into an agreement with the state which provided:
(1) that the Highway Department would submit a project for the improvement and recommend its approval by the Commissioner of Public Roads with funds apportioned the state under the Federal Highway Act, subject to the condition that the city shall provide for its proper maintenance after completion, and
*540(2) the city requested the Highway Department to submit the project with their recommendation for approval, and agreed, if constructed by the Highway Department and Commissioner of Public Roads, it thereafter, at its own cost and expense, would, maintain the project in a manner satisfactory to them, and make ample provision each year for such maintenance. See SDC 1960 Supp. 28.0210 which charges cities with a population of over 2500 with the duty to maintain State Trunk Highways through, the city after construction. On November 22, 1957, the city certified that it had obtained all necessary right of way either by-purchase, condemnation, right of entry or dedication.
The city was an active participant in and the chief beneficiary of the construction. Its actions in conjunction with the state agency amounted to an approval and acceptance of the street improvement and it became responsible for damages incidental thereto. Henry Shenk Co. v. City of Erie, 352 Pa. 481, 43 A.2d 99; Wood v. Foster & Creighton Co., 191 Tenn. 478, 235 S.W.2d 1. In my opinion the basis for liability in this case is not materially different than when we held the county liable in Bogue v. Clay County, 75 S.D. 140, 60 N.W.2d 218.
I am authorized to say that ROBERTS, P. J., concurs in this dissent.