§ 11. Maps, plans, specifications and estimates. Whenever the
commissioner of transportation shall have determined upon the
construction or improvement of a state highway, or section thereof, he
shall make or cause to be made surveys, and suitable preliminary maps,
plans and specifications. The commissioner shall have the following
powers and duties in respect to such highways:

1. He shall cause the highway or section thereof so determined to be
improved to be mapped both in outline and profile.

2. He may provide for a deviation from the line of a highway already
existing, if thereby a shorter or more direct highway, or a lessened
gradient may be obtained without decreasing the usefulness of the
highway. If such deviation requires the consequential relocation of any
tracks and appurtenances of a railroad company, he may acquire adequate
right of way to provide for the relocation of the highway as well as the
railroad tracks, pursuant to section thirty of this chapter, and he may
enter into a written agreement with the owner of the lands from which
the tracks shall be relocated to exchange such lands for the lands
acquired for their relocation. The work of relocating the tracks may be
done by the owner, and the commissioner of transportation is hereby
empowered to enter into an agreement with the owner for the performance
of all or any part of the work at the expense of the state, and such
expense shall be deemed to be a part of the cost of the relocation of
the highway.

3. He may provide for the widening of an existing highway.

4. He shall cause to be prepared preliminary plans and specifications
for the construction or improvement of such highway or section thereof
providing for a telford, macadam or gravel roadway, or other suitable
construction, taking into consideration climate, soil and materials to
be had in the vicinity thereof, and the extent and nature of the traffic
likely to be upon such highway, specifying in his judgment the kind of
highway a wise economy demands.

5. He shall provide in such plans and specifications for necessary
culverts, drains, ditches, waterways, embankments, guard rails and
retaining walls, and he may also provide for cattle passes wherever he
may deem them to be necessary and suitable in the interest of public
safety and as a traffic precaution.

6. He may provide therein for the removal or planting of trees, and
seeding or sodding, within the boundaries of the highway, when necessary
for the preservation thereof.

7. He may provide therein for the removal of, or the trimming of any
trees within the boundaries of the highway necessary for the convenience
or safety of the public, or the construction or preservation of the
highway.

8. He shall provide therein for the erection of suitable guide boards.

9. He may provide for such other work as may be required to complete
the construction or improvement in a proper manner.

10. He shall cause an estimate to be made of the cost of the
construction of such highways or section thereof in accordance with such
plans and specifications. In making such estimate he shall cause to be
ascertained and specified with all practical accuracy the quantity of
embankment, excavation and masonry, the quantity of all materials to be
used and all items of work to be placed under contract.