§ 52. Permits for work within the state highway right of way. Except
in connection with the construction, reconstruction, maintenance or
improvement of a state highway, no person, firm, corporation,
municipality, or state department or agency shall construct or improve,
within the state highway right of way an entrance or connection to such
highway, or construct within the state highway right of way any works,
structure or obstruction, or any overhead or underground crossing
thereof, or lay or maintain therein underground wires or conduits or
drainage, sewer or water pipes, except in accordance with the terms and
conditions of a work permit issued by the commissioner of transportation
or his duly designated agent, notwithstanding any consent or franchise
granted by any town or county superintendent, or by any other municipal
authority. Any municipal corporation may enter upon any state highway
for the purpose of widening the pavement or for any other purpose
authorized by this section, but only after securing a permit as provided
herein. Notwithstanding the limitations in any general or special law,
every municipal corporation shall have and is hereby given authority to
deposit with the department of transportation, such a sum of money or a
security bond as may be required by the commissioner of transportation
as a condition precedent to the granting of the permit provided in this
section.

The commissioner of transportation shall establish regulations
governing the issuance of highway work permits, including the fees to be
charged therefor, a system of deposits of money or bonds guaranteeing
the performance of the work and requirements of insurance to protect the
interests of the state during performance of the work pursuant to a
highway work permit. With respect to driveway entrance permits, the
regulations shall take into consideration the prospective character of
the development, the traffic which will be generated by the facility
within the reasonably foreseeable future, the design and frequency of
access to the facility, the effect of the facility upon drainage as
related to existing drainage systems, the extent to which such facility
may impair the safety and traffic carrying capacity of the existing
state highway and any proposed improvement thereto within the reasonably
foreseeable future, and any standards governing access, non-access or
limited access which have been established by the department of
transportation.

Upon completion of the work within the state highway right of way,
authorized by the work permit, the person, firm, corporation,
municipality, or state department or agency, and his or its successors
in interest, shall be responsible for the maintenance and repair of such
work or portion of such work as set forth within the terms and
conditions of the work permit.

An advertising sign, display or device, or any part thereof, erected
or maintained in violation of this section shall be removed from the
state highway right of way by the owner or the party responsible for its
erection and maintenance. The commissioner of transportation shall make
a demand by mail, to the last known address of the owner, apparent owner
or party responsible for the erection and maintenance of such
advertising sign, display or device, for its removal and, if it is not
removed within thirty days from the date of the mailing of such demand,
the commissioner of transportation may remove any such advertising sign,
display or device, or any part thereof, from the state highway right of
way. Any such legally permitted, erected and maintained sign, display or
device may be maintained by its owner in accordance with the provisions
of this section upon the approval of the permit issuing office on the
same terms and conditions as may exist for the granting of such
approvals generally. Where such approvals are for permits to control
vegetation, the permit issuing office shall approve no more than two
hundred fifty permits per annum. The commissioner of transportation may
also order the approval of additional permits to control vegetation on
an individual basis upon demonstration of acute need.

The term "state highway right of way" shall, for the purposes of this
section, mean the entire width between the boundary line of all property
which has been purchased or appropriated by the state for state highway
purposes, all property over which the commissioner of transportation or
his predecessors has assumed jurisdiction for state highway purposes,
all property over which the commissioner of transportation has assumed
jurisdiction during the period of construction, reconstruction or
improvement and all property which has become part of the state highway
system through dedication or use.

Any person, firm or corporation violating this section shall be liable
to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars for each day of violation to be recovered by the
commissioner of transportation. All fees, fines or penalties collected
or recovered by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be
deposited by the comptroller into the special obligation reserve and
payment account of the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund
established pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law,
excepting monies deposited with the state on account of betterments
performed pursuant to subdivision twenty-seven or subdivision
thirty-five of section ten of this chapter.