ALLEGANY COUNTY. 201

1904, ch. 262, sec. 216H.

551. Whenever any owner of any property in Allegany County shall
have paved, laid out or graded any avenue or road for the public con-
venience and is willing to dedicate the same to public uses by good and
sufficient deed, duly recorded, the Board of Road Directors is authorized
to accept the same, if in the opinion of said Board the same be convenient
for public use, and upon acceptance, the said avenue or road so dedicated
shall be kept in good order and repair by said Road Directors; provided,
however, that previous to such acceptance, said road shall be not less than
thirty feet in width and duly and properly graded in the judgment of the
Roads Engineer. All such deeds shall grant such avenues or roads to the
Road Directors of Allegany County, and shall be recorded among the Land
Records of said county.

1904, ch. 262, sec. 216-1.

552. Whenever any road shall have been in public use for twenty
years, though the same may not have been condemned or granted as a
public highway, the Road Directors, if they deem public convenience so
requires, may declare said road to be a public highway, and shall have
full power to relocate and straighten the same, in their discretion, and shall
publish notices to that effect once a week in one or more newspapers pub-
lished in Allegany County; provided that said road shall not be less than
thirty feet in width, and such road so declared to be a public highway shall
be kept in good order and repair as other public roads.

1904, ch. 262, sec. 216J.

553. Whenever any doubt exists as to the proper location or width of a
road, the Road Directors may cause the same to be surveyed and make
such alterations as the public convenience may require, subject to the'rights
of any person under the provisions contained in this Act for the opening
of new roads.

1904, ch. 262, sec. 216K.

554. All applications for opening, altering or closing roads shall be by
petition to the Road Directors, and whenever any person or persons shall
intend to petition said directors for opening, altering or closing any road,
he or they shall give twenty days' notice thereof in one or more newspapers
published in Allegany County, setting forth as near as may be the length
and location of said road and the reason he or they have for opening, alter-
ing or closing the same; and counter petitions may be presented to the
Road Directors at any time within fifteen days after the expiration of the
twenty days' notice above provided for; and when any petitions are so pre-
sented, the said Road Directors shall appoint a day when the petitioners
and counter petitioners shall be heard, and shall consider the same and such
testimony as may be adduced before them, and shall determine the case
in such manner as in their opinion shall be right and proper. Whenever