Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIV Chapter 82
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 82, § 21 (2026)

Authority to lay out ways

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 21. The selectmen or road commissioners of a town or city council of a city may lay out, relocate or alter town ways, for the use of the town or city, and private ways for the use of one or more of the inhabitants thereof; or they may order specific repairs to be made upon such ways; and a town, at a meeting, or the city council of a city, may discontinue a town way or a private way.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1979–2025 · leading case: Newburyport Redevelopment Auth. v. Commonwealth, 401 N.E.2d 118 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980).
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Newburyport Redevelopment Auth. v. Commonwealth, 401 N.E.2d 118 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980). · cites it 5× “This argument is without merit because the alleged ways, to the extent that they existed, were not highways, but town ways whose discontinuance was governed by *223 G. L. c. 82, § 21, which contains no notice requirements.”
Casagrande v. Town Clerk of Harvard, 387 N.E.2d 571 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 3× “[6] The Casagrandes claim that Sawyer Lane is a public way although it was laid out by the selectmen of Harvard and accepted by the town meeting as a private way pursuant to Rev.”
Carmel v. Baillargeon, 487 N.E.2d 867 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). “G. L. c. 82, § 21. See Schuffels v. Bell, ante 76, 77 (1985), and, by analogy, Bliss v.”
Moncy v. Plan. Bd., 741 N.E.2d 82 (Mass. App. Ct. 2001). “’ G. L. c. 82, §§ 21, 23”). See also United States v.”
Zaskey v. Town of Whately, 813 N.E.2d 860 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). “G. L. c. 82, § 21. Mahan v. Rockport, 287 Mass.”
Erickson v. Clancy Realty Trust, 43 N.E.3d 322 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). “See G. L. c. 82, § 21. These conclusions, however, do not eliminate every possibility of discontinuation of the road as a whole.”
Casagrande v. Town Clerk of Harvard, 387 N.E.2d 571 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 3× “6 The Casagrandes claim that Sawyer Lane is a public way although it was laid out by the selectmen of Harvard and accepted by the town meeting as a private way pursuant to Rev.”
Town of Concord v. Neil E. Rasmussen, 246 N.E.3d 837 (Mass. App. Ct. 2024). · cites it 3× “[5] See G. L. c. 82, § 21. See also Mahan v. Rockport, 287 Mass.”
Town of Concord v. Neil E. Rasmussen, 264 N.E.3d 747 (Mass. 2025). · cites it 2× “…the abutters', reading of § 32A is compatible with the broader statutory scheme, particularly the difference between G. L. c. 82, § 21 (§ 21) and § 32A. In contrast to an adjudication under § 32A, a legal discontinuance of a town way or private way by town vote under § 21…”
Mulvey v. Bd. of Selectmen of the Town of Bourne, 10 Mass. L. Rptr. 116 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999). · cites it 3× “G.L.c. 82, §§21, 22. 5 The selectmen of a town may lawfully enter into agreements with owners of abutting property regarding the alteration of a public way without formal proceedings on the record.”
Hanig v. Town of Sudbury, No. MISC 18-000404 (Mass. Land Ct. July 9, 2021). “This decision will address the Hanigs' contentions in that order. As a starting point, it is settled Massachusetts law that a road may become public in one of three ways: (1) a laying out by a public authority in the manner prescribed by G.”
Town of Randolph v. Town of Stoughton, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 73 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1997). “Count VI alleges that the Board acted arbitrarily and in excess of its authority by discontinuing a public way without complying with the procedures set forth in G.L.c. 82, §21, G.L.c. 30B, §16 and G.L.c.”
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