(1) The initial
selection of the county road system shall be done in the following manner:
(a) The board of county commissioners of each county shall cause a map to
be prepared showing each road in the county primary and secondary system and
designating each primary road by appropriate number, and said board shall cause
notice of intention to adopt said map as the official map of such system to be given,
which notice shall specify the time and place at which all interested persons will be
heard. Such notice of intention shall be published once a week for at least two
successive weeks preceding the date of such hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county.
(b) After such hearing, the board of county commissioners shall adopt such
map, with any changes or revisions deemed by it to be advisable, as the official map
of the road system of the county.
(1.5) The board of county commissioners of any county with a population of
two hundred fifty thousand or more may designate as a primary road any four-lane
controlled-access county highway, the construction of which commences in 2016,
that is located within the unincorporated area of the county and that intersects with
an interstate highway or a United States numbered highway. If a city or an
incorporated town subsequently annexes any portion of a highway that has been
designated as a primary road, the respective jurisdiction, control, and duty of the
county and of the city or incorporated town with respect to the highway is as
follows:
(a) The city or incorporated town shall exercise full responsibility for and
control over the highway beyond and including the curbs and, if no curb is installed,
beyond the traveled way, its contiguous shoulders, and appurtenances.
(b) The county has the authority to grant or deny access to the highway and
to roughed-in roads, as defined in section 42-1-102 (85.5), and to establish weight
restrictions for vehicles traveling on the highway as authorized by section 42-4-106
(1), (2), and (3)(b).
(c) The county has the authority to prohibit the suspension of signs, banners,
or decorations above the portion of the highway between the curbs or, if the
highway does not have curbs, between the portion of the highway used for
vehicular travel up to a vertical height of twenty feet above the surface of the
highway.
(d) The city or incorporated town shall maintain all of its underground
facilities under the highway at its own expense and has the right to construct such
underground facilities as may be necessary under the highway.
(e) The city or incorporated town has the right to grant the privilege to open
the surface of the highway, but all resulting damages shall promptly be repaired
either by the city or incorporated town itself or at its direction.
(f) The city or incorporated town shall provide street illumination at its own
expense and shall clean the highway, including storm sewer inlets and catch
basins.
(g) The county has the right to utilize all storm sewers on the highway
without cost; and if new storm sewer facilities are necessary in construction of the
highway by the county, the county and the municipality shall bear the cost of the
facilities as mutually agreed upon by the board of county commissioners of the
county and the local governing body of the city or incorporated town.
(h) The city or incorporated town shall regulate and enforce all traffic and
parking restrictions on the portion of the highway that is located within the city or
incorporated town.
(i) The county shall erect, control, and maintain at county expense all route
markers and directional signs, except street signs, on the portion of the highway
located within the city or incorporated town.
(j) The county shall install, operate, maintain, and control at county expense
all traffic control signals, signs, and traffic control devices on the portion of the
highway located within the city or incorporated town. No local authority shall erect
or maintain any stop sign or traffic control signal at any location that requires the
traffic on the highway to stop before entering or crossing any intersecting highway
unless the local authority first obtains approval in writing from the county. For the
purposes of this paragraph (j), traffic control device includes, but is not limited to,
striping, lane-marking, and channelization.
(k) Either the city or incorporated town or the county shall acquire rights-of-way for the highway as mutually agreed upon. Costs of acquiring the rights-of-way
may be the sole expense of the county or the city or incorporated town, or shared
by both, as mutually agreed upon. Title to all rights-of-way acquired vest in the city
or incorporated town, or in the county, according to the agreement under which the
rights-of-way were secured.
(l) The county is authorized to acquire rights-of-way for the highway by
purchase, gift, or condemnation. Any condemnation proceeding shall be conducted
in the manner provided by law for condemnation proceedings to acquire lands
required for county highways. Nothing in this subsection (1.5) abrogates the right of
a home rule city to acquire lands for purposes and in the manner set forth in the
charter of the city.
(m) The county may enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a city or
incorporated town located within the county to add to the highway specified roads
or streets annexed by the city or incorporated town before the designation of the
highway as a primary road. Such an agreement must define the respective
jurisdiction, control, and duty of the county and the city or incorporated town with
respect to the highway and may modify the division of such jurisdiction, control, and
duty from the division specified in paragraphs (a) to (l) of this subsection (1.5).
(2) All roads not on the county primary system and for which the boards of
county commissioners assume responsibility shall be the county secondary system.
(3) Nothing in this section shall limit the power of any board of county
commissioners to subsequently include or exclude any road from the county
primary system in the same manner provided for the selection of the initial road
system as provided in this section. Where a portion of a state highway is abandoned
and it appears that such abandoned portion is necessary for use as a public
highway, then such abandoned portion shall become a part of the county system
upon the adoption of a resolution to that effect by the board of county
commissioners of the county wherein such abandoned portion is located within
ninety days after such abandonment.