Walker v. Eleby

In Walker v. Eleby, 577 Pa. 104, 842 A.2d 389 (2004), a plaintiff brought an action under the sidewalk exception to immunity set forth in 42 Pa. C.S. 8542(b)(7), and the issue was whether the City was liable for injuries on sidewalks abutting state highways, not for injuries that occurred on state highways. In answering that question, while our Supreme Court did state in Walker that "the City owned the streets," what it was referring to was the public right-of-way which the City owed in trust for public use for public purposes. Public purposes include the right to travel as well as additional uses for other public purposes, such as utilities.