Massachusetts. Highway Department

St 1919, c 350, ss 111-116 established the Dept. of Public Works, superseding the Massachusetts Highway Commission and the Commission on Waterways and Public Lands. The department was organized into a Division of Highways and a Division of Waterways and Public Lands. These divisions were consolidated pursuant to St 1927, c 297, which reorganized the department. A separate Division of Waterways was reestablished per St 1938, c 407. A Division of Public Beaches was established per St 1953, c 666, but it was abolished and its functions absorbed by the Division of Waterways per St 1958, c 640, ss 1-6 (from which they were then transferred to the Division of Forests and Parks in the Dept. of Natural Resources per St 1968, c 501, ss 1, 5-6)

Per St 1959, c 416, the Mass Transportation Commission was established within the department and abolished per St 1964, c 636, s 12. St 1963, c 821 again reorganized the department under the supervision and control of the Public Works Commission, adding divisions of administrative services, highway engineering, highway construction, and highway maintenance. St 1964, c 563, s 1 added a Bureau of Transportation Planning and Development.

St 1969, c 704, s 19 placed the department within the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction except for the Registry of Motor Vehicles (established per St 1946, c 234), removed from the department and placed in the Executive Office of Public Safety (ss 18, 20); the registry's Division of Motorboats (established per St 1963, c 821), placed in the Executive Office of Public Safety (s 18), renamed Division of Motor and Recreational Vehicles per St 1971, c 103, ss 1-2, and transferred from the Dept. of Public Works to the Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Recreational Vehicles per St 1974, c 806, s 1 and St 1975, c 706, s 17; and the Outdoor Advertising Board and Outdoor Advertising Division (established per St 1963, c 821), placed in the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (s 15) and transferred from the Dept. of Public Works to the Dept. of Environmental Quality Engineering per St 1974, c 806, s 1.

The Division of Waterways was transferred to the Dept. of Environmental Quality Engineering per St 1974, c 806, s 1 and St 1975, c 706, s 14. The Bureau of Solid Waste Disposal (established per St 1969, c 834, s 1) was transferred to the Dept. of Environmental Management per St 1974, c 806, s 1.

St 1991, c 552, ss 6-7 (effective 1992) renamed the department as the Dept. of Highways (commonly called Massachusetts Highway Department) and the Public Works Commission as the Highways Commission.

The functions of the Massachusetts Highway Department, the development and maintenance of all state highways, are currently described in MGLA c 16 and c 81.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agencies described above can be found by searching the following access points for the time period stated: 1919-1991--Massachusetts. Dept. of Public Works; 1992-present--Massachusetts Highway Department. Additional access points may be provided under: 1963-1991--Massachusetts. Public Works Commission; 1992-present--Massachusetts. Highways Commission.