Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 60. HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION · CHAPTER 1. HIGHWAY CODE · Part 1. General Provisions
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103 (2026)

General Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
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  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 60
  3. CHAPTER 1
  4. Part 1
  5. 60-1-103 General definitions

TITLE 60. HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION

CHAPTER 1. HIGHWAY CODE

Part 1. General Provisions

General Definitions

60-1-103. General definitions. Subject to additional definitions contained in this title that are applicable to specific chapters or sections and unless the context otherwise requires, in this title the following definitions apply:

(1) "Abandonment" or "vacation" means cessation of the use of a right-of-way or easement or of activity on a right-of-way or easement with no intention to reclaim or use the right-of-way or easement again.

(2) "Bridge" means any bridge constructed by the department, together with all appurtenances, additions, alterations, improvements, and replacements and the approaches to the bridge, lands used in connection with the bridge, and improvements incidental or integral to the bridge.

(3) "Commission" means the transportation commission provided for in 2-15-2502.

(4) "Commission-designated highway systems" means the following as defined in this section:

(a) national highway system;

(b) primary highway system;

(c) secondary highway system; and

(d) urban highway system.

(5) "Condemnation" means taking by exercise of the right of eminent domain, as provided in Title 70, chapter 30, and chapter 4 of this title.

(6) "Construction" means supervising, inspecting, actual building, and all expenses incidental to the construction or reconstruction of a highway, including locating, surveying, mapping, and costs of right-of-way or other interests in land and elimination of hazards at railway grade crossings.

(7) "Control of access" means the condition in which the right of owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons to access, light, air, or view in connection with a highway is fully or partially controlled by public authority.

(8) "County road" means any public highway opened, established, constructed, maintained, abandoned, or discontinued by a county in accordance with Title 7, chapter 14.

(9) "Department" means the department of transportation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 25.

(10) "Director" means the director of transportation, a position provided for in 2-15-2501.

(11) "Easement" means a right acquired by public authority to use or control property for a designated purpose.

(12) "Eminent domain" means the right of the state to take private property for public use.

(13) "Federal-aid highway funds" means those funds available for expenditure by the department pursuant to Title 23, U.S.C., or other federally available funds for highways.

(14) "Fee simple" means an absolute estate or ownership in property, including unlimited power of alienation.

(15) "Financial district" means a transportation commission district established in 2-15-2502.

(16) "Highway" includes rights-of-way or other interests in land, embankments, retaining walls, culverts, sluices, drainage structures, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, signs, guardrails, and protective structures.

(17) "Highway", "road", and "street", whether the terms appear together or separately or are preceded by the adjective "public", are general terms denoting a public way for purposes of vehicular travel and include the entire area within the right-of-way.

(18) "Highway authority" means the entity at any level of government authorized by law to construct and maintain highways.

(19) "Interstate highway" means a highway that is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower system of interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, U.S.C., and is a subcomponent of the national highway system.

(20) "Maintenance" means the preservation of the entire highway, including surface, shoulders, roadsides, structures, and traffic control devices that are necessary for the safe and efficient use of the highway.

(21) "National highway system" means that system of public highways designated by the commission and approved by the secretary of transportation, as provided in Title 23, U.S.C., including interstate highways.

(22) "Primary highway system" means those highways that have been functionally classified, in accordance with federal requirements, as either principal or minor arterials and designated by the commission as being on the primary highway system.

(23) "Public highways" means all streets, roads, highways, bridges, and related structures:

(a) built and maintained with appropriated funds of the United States or the state or any political subdivision of the state;

(b) dedicated to public use;

(c) acquired by eminent domain, as provided in Title 70, chapter 30, and chapter 4 of this title; or

(d) acquired by adverse use by the public, with jurisdiction having been assumed by the state or any political subdivision of the state.

(24) "Right-of-way" is a general term denoting land, property, or any interest in land or property, usually in a strip, acquired for or devoted to highway purposes.

(25) "Scenic-historic byway" means a public road or segment of a public road that has been designated as a scenic-historic byway by the commission, as provided in 60-2-601.

(26) "Secondary highway system" means those highways that are outside department-designated urban boundaries and that have been functionally classified, in accordance with federal requirements, as either minor arterials or major collectors and designated by the commission, in cooperation with the boards of county commissioners, as being on the secondary highway system.

(27) "State highways" means the highways throughout the state that are not located on a commission-designated highway system but that are on the state maintenance system.

(28) "Urban highway system" means the highways and streets that are in and near incorporated cities with populations of over 5,000 and within urban boundaries established by the department and that are functionally classified, in accordance with federal requirements, as either arterials or major collectors and designated by the commission, in cooperation with local government authorities, as being on the urban highway system.

History: En. Sec. 2-101, Ch. 197, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 69, Ch. 316, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 32-2203(part); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 23, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 512, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 75, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 546, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 34, Ch. 125, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 299, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 17, L. 2025.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1988–2026 · leading case: Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014).
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Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). · cites it 60× ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
Kristi W. Dorn, Pers. Rep. Est Larry M. Dorn v. Burlington N. Santa Fe R.R. Co., 397 F.3d 1183 (9th Cir. 2005). · cites it 2× “But, at the same time, the court never hinted that it was construing any part of Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103 , which is controlling here.”
Langemo v. Montana Rail Link, Inc., 2001 MT 273 (Mont. 2001). · cites it 3× “Because the whistle statute also uses the terms “highway” and “road”, the District Court concluded that the definition of “road” found in § 60-1-103 applied to § 69-14-562(7). The result, according to the District Court, is that any prior interpretation of § 69-14-562(7) was…”
DeVoe v. State, 935 P.2d 256 (Mont. 1997). · cites it 3× “Under § 60-1-103(18), MCA, a “highway” is statutorily defined to include rights-of-way and other interests in land, as well as highway-related structures and signs.”
Adams v. Dept. of Highways of Mont., 753 P.2d 846 (Mont. 1988). · cites it 2× “The County cooperates with the State in highway projects but there is no legal authority or responsibility in regards to state highway projects that is vested in the County. The State has the ultimate authority and responsibility for any state highway pursuant to § 60-1-102, MCA.”
Dick Irvin Inc. v. State, 2013 MT 272 (Mont. 2013). · cites it 3× “” Section 60-1-103(21), MCA (2003). ‘Preservation” is ‘keeping safe from harm; avoiding injury, destruction or decay.”
Kageco v. DOT, 2023 MT 71 (Mont. 2023). · cites it 3× “” Section 60-1-103(24), MCA. 2 centerline and does not enter MDT’s right-of-way.”
Montana Dep't of Admin. v. Ekanger, 943 P.2d 994 (Mont. 1997). · cites it 6× “Section 60-1-103(23), MCA. The court also relied on the definition of "right of way" in Black's Law Dictionary 1326 (6th ed.”
Stovern (D. Mont. 2025). · cites it 2× “) A public road means one that is (1) publicly “built and maintained with appropriated funds of the United States;” (2) “dedicated to public use;” (3) “acquired by eminent domain,” or (4) “acquired by adverse use by the public, with jurisdiction having been assumed by the state…”
Lazy J Ranches Ltd. P'ship v. United States of Am. & United States Forest Serv. (D. Mont. 2026). · cites it 2× “) USFS relies on Montana Code Annotated Section 60-1-103(17), which defines “highway” as including “rights-of-way or other interests in land, embankments, retaining walls, culverts, sluices, drainage structures, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, signs, guardrails,…”
Doran v. Burlington N. (9th Cir. 2005). · cites it 3× “If the state never declared the road public, never assumed jurisdiction over it, and never maintained it, there is no public road to abandon.”
Avista Corp. Inc. v. Sanders Cnty. (9th Cir. 2008). “Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103 (defining public highways as “all streets, roads .”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(12): 1 case
Adams v. Dept. of Highways of Mont., 753 P.2d 846 (Mont. 1988). “The County cooperates with the State in highway projects but there is no legal authority or responsibility in regards to state highway projects that is vested in the County. The State has the ultimate authority and responsibility for any state highway pursuant to § 60-1-102, MCA.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(17): 1 case
Lazy J Ranches Ltd. P'ship v. United States of Am. & United States Forest Serv. (D. Mont. 2026). “) USFS relies on Montana Code Annotated Section 60-1-103(17), which defines “highway” as including “rights-of-way or other interests in land, embankments, retaining walls, culverts, sluices, drainage structures, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, signs, guardrails,…”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(18): 1 case
DeVoe v. State, 935 P.2d 256 (Mont. 1997). “Under § 60-1-103(18), MCA, a “highway” is statutorily defined to include rights-of-way and other interests in land, as well as highway-related structures and signs.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(19): 3 cases
Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
Langemo v. Montana Rail Link, Inc., 2001 MT 273 (Mont. 2001). “Because the whistle statute also uses the terms “highway” and “road”, the District Court concluded that the definition of “road” found in § 60-1-103 applied to § 69-14-562(7). The result, according to the District Court, is that any prior interpretation of § 69-14-562(7) was…”
DeVoe v. State, 935 P.2d 256 (Mont. 1997). “Under § 60-1-103(18), MCA, a “highway” is statutorily defined to include rights-of-way and other interests in land, as well as highway-related structures and signs.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(2): 1 case
Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(21): 1 case
Dick Irvin Inc. v. State, 2013 MT 272 (Mont. 2013). “” Section 60-1-103(21), MCA (2003). ‘Preservation” is ‘keeping safe from harm; avoiding injury, destruction or decay.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(22): 1 case
Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(22)(d): 2 cases
Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
Kristi W. Dorn, Pers. Rep. Est Larry M. Dorn v. Burlington N. Santa Fe R.R. Co., 397 F.3d 1183 (9th Cir. 2005). “But, at the same time, the court never hinted that it was construing any part of Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103 , which is controlling here.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(23): 1 case
Montana Dep't of Admin. v. Ekanger, 943 P.2d 994 (Mont. 1997). “Section 60-1-103(23), MCA. The court also relied on the definition of "right of way" in Black's Law Dictionary 1326 (6th ed.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(24): 1 case
Kageco v. DOT, 2023 MT 71 (Mont. 2023). “” Section 60-1-103(24), MCA. 2 centerline and does not enter MDT’s right-of-way.”
Mont. Code Ann. § 60-1-103(7): 1 case
Pub. Lands Access Ass'n v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 2014 MT 10 (Mont. 2014). ““[T]he terms of the grant” applies in the case of an express easement, while “the nature of the enjoyment by which it 5 It should be noted that “highway” and “road” are not the same as “county road.” “Highway” and “road” are “general terms denoting a public way for purposes of…”
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