Chapter 82 — TOWN HIGHWAYS
29 sections in this chapter.
Wis. Stat. § 82.01 Definitions
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82.01 Definitions. In this chapter, the following words and phrases have the designated meanings unless specifically noted: (1) “Department” means the department of transportation. (2) “Freeholder” means a person who owns a fee simple or life estate interest in land, a person who…
Wis. Stat. § 82.03 Duties of town board
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82.03 Duties of town board. (1) OVERSIGHT OF HIGHWAYS, SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS. (a) The town board shall have the care and supervision of all highways under the town’s jurisdiction, including the highways specified in s. 83.06. The town board may appoint in writing a superinte…
Wis. Stat. § 82.05 Superintendent of highways
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82.05 Superintendent of highways. (1) The term of office of highway superintendents shall be one year from the date of their appointment. (2) The superintendent of highways shall supervise the construction and maintenance of all highways in the superintendent’s district that are …
Wis. Stat. § 82.08 Town bridges or culverts; construction and repair; county aid
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82.08 Town bridges or culverts; construction and repair; county aid. (1) PETITIONS. A town that has voted to construct or repair any bridge or culvert that is on, or that after the construction will be connected to, an existing highway maintained by the town may file a petition f…
Wis. Stat. § 82.09 County aid for dams used for bridges
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82.09 County aid for dams used for bridges. A town board may file a petition with the county board stating that the town board has voted to acquire the right to use a roadway on a dam. The petition shall contain a legal description and scale map of the dam and roadway, and shall …
Wis. Stat. § 82.10 Initiation of procedures
Wis. Stat. § 82.11 Meeting
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82.11 Meeting. (1) The town supervisors shall personally examine the highway or proposed highway that is the subject of an application or resolution under s. 82.10. At the time and place stated in the notice under s. 82.10, the town board shall hold a public hearing to decide, in…
Wis. Stat. § 82.12 Highway order
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82.12 Highway order. (1) A town board shall make a determination upon any application or resolution to lay out, alter, or discontinue any highway within 90 days after receipt of the application or introduction of a resolution. (2) If the board determines under sub. (1) to lay out…
Wis. Stat. § 82.13 Highways to school buildings
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82.13 Highways to school buildings. Upon being notified that a public school in a town lacks highway access, the town board shall lay out a highway to the public school, using the procedures in this subchapter. No application for the highway shall be necessary. Section 82.12 (3) …
Wis. Stat. § 82.14 Acquiring rights to land; damages from discontinuance
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82.14 Acquiring rights to land; damages from discontinuance. (1) Unless the acquisition can be made by mutual agreement, the town board shall utilize the procedures under s. 32.05 to acquire rights to land for the purpose of laying out or altering a town highway. (2) If lands acq…
Wis. Stat. § 82.15 Appeal of a highway order
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82.15 Appeal of a highway order. Any person aggrieved by a highway order, or a refusal to issue such an order, may seek judicial review under s. 68.13. If the highway is on the line between 2 counties, the appeal may be in the circuit court of either county. History: 2003 a. 214.…
Wis. Stat. § 82.16 Highway orders; presumptions
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82.16 Highway orders; presumptions. (1) Every order laying out, altering, or discontinuing a highway under this chapter, and any order restoring the record of a highway, shall be presumptive evidence of the facts therein stated and of the regularity of all the proceedings prior t…
Wis. Stat. § 82.17 Highway papers, where filed
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82.17 Highway papers, where filed. All applications, orders, awards, bonds, and other papers relating to the laying out, altering, or discontinuing of highways under this chapter shall be promptly filed in the office of the town, city, or village clerk where the highway is locate…
Wis. Stat. § 82.18 Width of highways
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82.18 Width of highways. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, highways laid out under this chapter shall be laid out at least 66 feet wide unless, in the town board’s discretion, that width is impractical. If the town board determines that a 66-foot width is impractical,…
Wis. Stat. § 82.19 Discontinuance of highways
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82.19 Discontinuance of highways. (1) An unrecorded highway, or any part of an unrecorded highway, that has become or is in the process of becoming a public highway by user in any town may be discontinued using the procedures under ss. 82.10 to 82.12. Any proceedings to discontin…
Wis. Stat. § 82.20 Removal of fences from highway; notice
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82.20 Removal of fences from highway; notice. (1) If the town board issues an order to lay out or alter a highway through enclosed, cultivated, or improved lands, the town board or highway superintendent shall give the owner or occupant of the lands through which the proposed hig…
Wis. Stat. § 82.21 Highways on and across town and municipal lines
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82.21 Highways on and across town and municipal lines. (1) INITIATING THE PROCEDURE. The procedure to lay out, alter, or discontinue a highway on the line between a town and another town, a city, or a village, or a highway extending from one town into an adjoining town, city, or …
Wis. Stat. § 82.23 Municipal line bridges
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82.23 Municipal line bridges. Unless otherwise provided by statute or agreement, every highway bridge on a city, village, or town boundary shall be repaired and maintained by any adjoining municipality in which the bridge is located. The cost of repairs and maintenance shall be p…
Wis. Stat. § 82.25 Highway taxes for limited-use road
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82.25 Highway taxes for limited-use road. Notwithstanding s. 60.10 (1) (a) and (2) (a), the town board may levy and collect a tax on property located in a recorded and filed plat that existed on January 1, 2003, situated in a town requiring the approval of such town board, and ad…
Wis. Stat. § 82.27 Landlocked property and property with insufficient highway access
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82.27 Landlocked property and property with insufficient highway access. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “advantages” means the greater of the following: (a) The increase in value of the landlocked property after the highway is laid out or the way or road is widened. (b) The adm…
Wis. Stat. § 82.28 Highways and bridges on state boundaries
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82.28 Highways and bridges on state boundaries. The board of any town or county that is bounded in part by a river or a highway that is also a state boundary line may enter into an agreement with any adjoining municipality or county in the other state for the maintenance, constru…
Wis. Stat. § 82.29 Highways abutted by state park lands; discontinuance or relocation
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82.29 Highways abutted by state park lands; discontinuance or relocation. Any part of a highway lying wholly within state park lands may be discontinued or relocated by the state agency having jurisdiction over the state park by filing written notice of the discontinuance or relo…
Wis. Stat. § 82.31 Validation of highways
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82.31 Validation of highways. (1) RECORDED HIGHWAYS. Any recorded highway that has been laid out under this chapter is a legal highway only to the extent that it has been opened and worked for 3 years. Any laid out highway that has not been fully May 22, 2026, are designated by N…
Wis. Stat. § 82.33 Lost records; how restored; effect
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82.33 Lost records; how restored; effect. (1) Whenever the record of the laying out of any highway has been lost or destroyed, the board of the town in which the highway is located, upon notice being served in accordance with s. 82.10 (4), may make a new record of the highway. Th…
Wis. Stat. § 82.35 Temporary highways and detours; damages
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82.35 Temporary highways and detours; damages. (1) The town board, upon its own motion, may lay out and open temporary highways through any lands in the following situations: (a) When any highway is practically impassable or dangerous to travel. (b) When the town board considers …
Wis. Stat. § 82.37 Tunnel under highway by landowner
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82.37 Tunnel under highway by landowner. The owner of land on both sides of a town highway may construct a tunnel under the highway, and may erect fences that are necessary for the use of the tunnel. The tunnel shall not interfere with or endanger travel on the highway. The owner…
Wis. Stat. § 82.50 Town road standards
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82.50 Town road standards. (1) The following minimum geometric design standards are established for improvements on town roads: May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 9 Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats. Annual Average 24-hour Traffic (ADT) (a) Local service, intermitt…
Wis. Stat. § 82.51 Rules for town road bridge standards
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82.51 Rules for town road bridge standards. The department shall establish by rule uniform minimum design standards for the improvement of town road bridges. History: 1981 c. 20; 1987 a. 137 s. 6; 2003 a. 214 s. 83; Stats. 2003 s. 82.51. NOTE: 2003 Wis. Act 214, which affected th…
Wis. Stat. § 82.52 Rules for town road standards
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82.52 Rules for town road standards. The department shall establish by rule uniform minimum geometric standards for the improvement of existing town roads. History: 1991 a. 39; 2003 a. 214 s. 184; Stats. 2003 s. 82.52. NOTE: 2003 Wis. Act 214, which affected this section, contain…