Opinion No. Oag 23-88, (1988)

CARROLL D. BESADNY, Secretary Department of Natural Resources

You have requested my opinion as to whether the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a duty to repair and maintain certain highway bridges pursuant to section 190.08, Stats. That statute provides:

Every corporation constructing, owning or operating a railroad shall restore every watercourse, street, highway, road or canal across, along or upon which such railroad may be constructed to its former state or to such condition that its usefulness shall not be materially impaired and thereafter maintain the same in such condition…