Section 653e - Powers and duties of commissionThe commission shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) It shall maintain a principal office at such place as shall be designated by the commission.(b) The commission may contract and be contracted with in its own name.(c) The commission may sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded: Provided, however, That any and all actions at law or in equity against the commission shall be brought only in the proper courts at the county of Dauphin.(d) The commission shall have an official seal.(e) The commission shall make necessary rules and regulations for its own government and shall have power and authority to acquire, own, use, hire, lease, operate and dispose of personal property, real property and interests in real property, and to make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this act, and to employ engineering, traffic, architectural and construction experts and inspectors and attorneys and such other employes as may in its judgment be necessary and fix their compensation: Provided, however, That all contracts and agreements relating to the construction of the turnpike and connecting roads, tunnels and bridges shall be approved by the Department of Highways, and the turnpike and connecting roads, tunnels and bridges shall be constructed under the supervision of the Department of Highways.(f) The turnpike when completed and opened to traffic shall be maintained and repaired by, and under the control of, the commission through the Department of Highways of the Commonwealth, and all charges and costs for such maintenance and repairs actually expended by said Department of Highways shall be paid to it by the commission, upon certification thereof, out of tolls. Such turnpike shall also be policed and operated by such force of police, toll takers and other operating employes as the commission may in its discretion employ.(g) The commission shall have authority at its own cost to provide grade separations with respect to all public roads and State highways intersected by the turnpike and to change and adjust the lines and grades thereof so as to accommodate the same to the design of such grade separation: Provided, however, That the damages incurred in changing and adjusting the lines and grades of such public roads and State highways shall be ascertained and paid by the commission in the same manner as is provided for by this act in regard to the location and construction of the turnpike. The plan of such changes of the lines and grades of public roads shall be subject to the approval of the supervisors of the proper township and in the case of State highways subject to the approval of the Department of Highways.(h) If the commission shall find it necessary to change the site of any portion of any State highway or public road, it shall cause the same to be reconstructed and restored forthwith, at the commission's own proper expense, on the most favorable location and in as satisfactory a manner as the original road: Provided, That the damages incurred in changing the location of any such road or State highway shall be ascertained and paid by the commission in the same manner as is provided for by this act in regard to the location and construction of the turnpike. The plan of such reconstruction and restoration shall be subject to the approval of the supervisors of the proper township and in the case of a State highway subject to the approval of the Department of Highways.(i) The commission shall have authority to petition the Court of Quarter Sessions of the county wherein is situate any public road or part thereof affected by the location therein of the turnpike for the vacation, relocation or supply of the same, or any part thereof, with the same force and effect as is now given by existing laws to the inhabitants of any township of such county, and the proceedings upon such petition, whether it be for the appointment of viewers or otherwise, shall be the same as provided by existing law for similar proceedings upon such petitions.(j) The commission shall otherwise have all of the powers and perform all of the duties prescribed by the act, approved the twenty-first day of May, 1937, Pamphlet Laws, 774. (k) All public or private property damaged or destroyed in carrying out the powers granted by this act shall be restored or repaired and placed in their original condition, as nearly as practicable, or adequate compensation made therefor out of funds provided under the authority of this act.1940, Extra Sess., May 16, P.L. (1941) 949, § 6.