Mich. Comp. Laws » Michigan Compiled Laws / Chapter 221 / Act 283 of 1909
Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 221.20 (2026)

Public highway; definition, width.

✓ current as of July 2026
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PUBLIC HIGHWAYS AND PRIVATE ROADS


Act 283 of 1909


221.20 Public highway; definition, width.

Sec. 20.

    All highways regularly established in pursuance of existing laws, all roads that shall have been used as such for 10 years or more, whether any record or other proof exists that they were ever established as highways or not, and all roads which have been or which may hereafter be laid out and not recorded, and which shall have been used 8 years or more, shall be deemed public highways, subject to be altered or discontinued according to the provisions of this act. All highways that are or that may become such by time and use, shall be 4 rods in width, and where they are situated on section or quarter section lines, such lines shall be the center of such roads, and the land belonging to such roads shall be 2 rods in width on each side of such lines.

History: 1909, Act 283, Eff. Sept. 1, 1909 ;-- CL 1915, 4307 ;-- CL 1929, 3936 ;-- CL 1948, 221.20

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 60 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1951–2026 · leading case: Villadsen v. Mason Cnty. Road Comm'n, 706 N.W.2d 897 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).
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Villadsen v. Mason Cnty. Road Comm'n, 706 N.W.2d 897 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 6× “Plaintiffs appeal as of right an order in which the trial court held that a particular section of Darr Road that is located in Sherman Township in Mason County and that abuts plaintiffs’ property is a highway by user under MCL 221.20. We affirm. At issue in this case is…”
City of Kentwood v. Sommerdyke Est., 581 N.W.2d 670 (Mich. 1998). · cites it 5× “The highway-by-user statute, MCL 221.20; MSA 9.21 provides: *650 All highways regularly established in pursuance of existing laws, all roads that shall have been used as such for 10 years or more, whether any record or other proof exists that they were ever established as…”
Eyde Bros. Dev. Co. v. Eaton Cnty. Drain Comm'r, 398 N.W.2d 297 (Mich. 1986). · cites it 2× “[MCL 221.20; MSA 9.21.] This Court’s opinion in the case of Bumpus v Miller, 4 Mich 159, 164 (1856), is an early application of the predecessor of § 20: The statute provides that public highways shall be four rods wide: .”
Comstock v. Wheelock, 234 N.W.2d 448 (Mich. Ct. App. 1975). · cites it 5× “The first appears to be based on a theory of prescriptive easement and the second is based on the theory that the property had been used and dedicated as *197 a public highway under the "highway by user” statute, MCLA 221.20; MSA 9.21. Although the suit was initiated by Michael…”
Kent Cnty. Road Comm'n v. Hunting, 428 N.W.2d 353 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 2× “The acquisition of highways by user is governed by MCL 221.20; MSA 9.21: All highways regularly established in pursuance of existing laws, all roads that shall have been used as such for ten years or more, whether any record or other proof exists that they were ever established…”
Beulah Hoagland Appleton Qualified Pers. Residence Trust v. Emmet Cnty. Road Comm'n, 600 N.W.2d 698 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999). “Bain, supra. Defendants concede that they could not definitively establish that they had acquired ownership of the property pursuant to any of these accepted methods.”
Stevens v. Drekich, 443 N.W.2d 401 (Mich. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 2× “Plaintiffs concede the location of the tree within a right-of-way, but argue that defendants retain sufficient reversionary and incidental property rights to the berm to render them responsible under the principles of premises liability.”
Eager v. State High. Comm'r, 136 N.W.2d 16 (Mich. 1965). · cites it 2× “Defendant says, with some discrepancies in his brief as to statutory citations, that this case is premised upon PA 1909, No 283, ch 1, § 20, the general highway law, entitled “laying out * * * highways”, being CL 1948, §221.20 (Stat Ann 1958 Rev § 9.21). This section re-enacts…”
Gunn v. Delhi Twp., 154 N.W.2d 598 (Mich. Ct. App. 1968). · cites it 3× “Defendant claims the road has been impliedly dedjr *282 eáted to the public through use by the public and maintenance by the public authorities for the period specified in CL 1948, § 221.”
Pearl v. Torch Lake Twp., 248 N.W.2d 242 (Mich. Ct. App. 1976). · cites it 2× “Therefore, we determine that the establishment of the said lane or road as a public highway was dependent upon appellees proving facts which satisfy the statutory provisions of MCLA 221.20; MSA 9.21, as a highway by user.”
Beasley v. Grand Trunk W. R.R., 282 N.W.2d 401 (Mich. Ct. App. 1979). “MCL 221.20; MSA 9.21 defines a public highway as: "All highways regularly established in pursuance of existing laws, all roads that shall have been used as such for 10 years or more, whether any record or other proof exists that they were ever established as highways or not, and…”
Governale v. City of Owosso, 229 N.W.2d 918 (Mich. Ct. App. 1975). · cites it 2× “See MCLA 221.20; MSA 9.21. The city was mistaken.”
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