Chicago, Milwaukee St Paul Railway Company v. City of Minneapolis

• Decision Date: 24 February 1914
• Docket Number: No. 150,150
• Citation: 34 S.Ct. 400,232 U.S. 430,58 L.Ed. 671
• Parties: CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, & ST. PAUL RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

232 U.S. 430

34 S.Ct. 400

58 L.Ed. 671

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, & ST. PAUL RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS.

No. 150.

Argued December 19, 1913.

Decided February 24, 1914.

Messrs. F. W. Root and Burton Hanson for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from Pages 431 intentionally omitted] Mr. Chelsea J. Rockwood for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 433-436 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a writ of error to review a judgment of the supreme court of the state of Minnesota, which affirmed a judgment entered in a controversy submitted upon an agreed statement of facts. The statement, in substance, shows:

Within the limits of the city of Minneapolis are Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar lake, lying in close proximity to each other, and used by the public for pleasure boating and other recreations. The city, having acquired for park and parkway purposes the shores of Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles, and a portion of the shores of Cedar lake, together with large tracts of land in the vicinity, is engaged in constructing two canals which will connect the lakes and will greatly enhance their usefulness to the public. Between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles is a strip of land, 600 feet wide in its narrowest part, through which one of these canals is to be opened. Along this strip and near its center lies the right of way—100 feet in width of the appellant, the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railway Company, which is used by it in the operation of its road. The city, in order to provide for the canal and walks on either side, seeks to condemn an easement in a piece of land 100 feet wide across the right of way. The two lakes are now connected by a small water course which crosses the right of way about 59 feet from the center of the proposed canal, and is carried under the railway tracks by a pipe about 3 feet in diameter. The construction of the canal will render the water course and pipe useless and permit the closing of this channel. At the point where the land is to be taken by the city, the railway tracks are upon an artificial embankment about 18 feet above the established level of the water in the lakes. The city's improvement will require the construction of a bridge to carry the tracks across the canal and walks. The agreed value of the mere land proposed to be taken, irrespective of the cost of the bridge, is the sum of $10; and the estimated cost of building a bridge in accordance with plans prepared by the city and accepted by the railway company is the sum of $18,513. It is agreed that an adequate bridge for railway purposes, built according to the plans usually adopted by the railway company, would cost only $15,969. The difference in cost, or $2,544, is due to ornamental features, and this amount it is agreed that, in any event, the city shall pay. For the purposes of this proceeding, the railway company conceded the authority of the city to take the described land under the power of eminent domain; and it was agreed accordingly that the city should take the land and construct the canal and walks, and that the railway company should build the bridge after the city's plans; but no claim for damages or compensation to which the railway company was entitled under the law by reason of the taking was waived.

The controversy submitted was as to the amount which the company should receive. It was contended by the company that it should be paid (1) the sum of $10 as the agreed value of the land taken, (2) the entire cost of the bridge, and (3) such further sum as would be sufficient to maintain the bridge. It was also insisted that to divest it of its property without such payment would be a violation both of the state Constitution and of § 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Federal Constitution. In the court of first instance it was held that the company was entitled to recover only the sum of $2,554, being the value of the land and the cost of the ornamental features of the bridge; and this judgment was affirmed by the supreme court of the state. 115 Minn. 460, 48 L.R.A.(N.S.) ——, 133 N. W. 169, Ann. Cas. 1912D, 1029.

The question thus presented is whether the refusal to allow compensation for the cost of constructing and maintaining the necessary railroad bridge across the gap in the right of way, made by the building of the canal, amounts to a deprivation of property without due process of law.

It is well settled that railroad corporations may be required, at their own expense, not only to abolish existing grade crossings, but also to build and maintain suitable bridges or viaducts to carry highways, newly laid out, over their tracks, or to carry their tracks over such highways. New York & N. E. R. Co. v. Bristol, 151 U. S. 556, 567, 38 L. ed. 269, 272, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 437; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 252, 255, 41 L. ed. 979, 990, 991, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 581; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Nebraska, 170 U. S. 57, 42 L. ed. 948, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 513; Northern P. R. Co. v. Minnesota, 208 U. S. 583, 597, 52 L. ed. 630, 636, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 341; St. Paul, M. & M. R. Co. v. Minnesota, 214 U. S. 497, 53 L. ed. 1060, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 698; Cincinnati, I. & W. R. Co. v. Connersville, 218 U. S. 336, 343, 344, 54 L. ed. 1060, 1064, 1065, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 93, 20 Ann. Cas. 1206. See also Detroit, Ft. W. & B. I. R. Co. v. Osborn, 189 U. S. 383, 47 L. ed. 860, 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 540; New Orleans Gaslight Co. v. Drainage Commission, 197 U. S. 453, 462, 49 L. ed. 831, 835, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 471; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Illinois, 200 U. S. 561, 592, 593, 50 L. ed. 596, 609, 610, 26 Sup. Ct. Rep. 341, 4 Ann. Cas. 1175; Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Goldsboro, decided this day [232 U. S. 548, 58 L. ed. ——, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 364]. The rule, as established in the state of Minnesota, was thus declared in the case of State ex rel. Minneapolis v. St. Paul, M. & M. R. Co. 98 Minn. 380, 28 L.R.A.(N.S.) 298, 120 Am. St. Rep. 581, 108 N. W. 261, 8 Ann. Cas. 1047 (see 115 Minn. p. 466): 'A railroad company receives its charter and franchise subject to the implied right of the state to establish and open such streets and highways over and across its right of way as public convenience and necessity...