Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 84, Section 23 establishes that a city has no duty for maintaining a dedicated way that is not a public way. Not every road opened and dedicated to public use is a public way. We explain the differences between a dedicated and a public way in a separate article.
This article does not apply to a way that is discontinued as a public way (Boyce v. Templeton, 335 Mass. 1, 1956).
Section 23:
A way opened and dedicated to the public use, which has not become a public way, shall not, except as provided in the two following sections, be chargeable upon a town as a highway or town way unless laid out and established in the manner prescribed by statute.