WEST virginia legislature

2019 regular session

Engrossed

Senate Bill 676

By Senators Maynard, Mann, Cline, Roberts, Rucker, and Smith

[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources; Reported on February 25, 2019]

A BILL to amend and reenact §17-2A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto new sections, designated §20-1-12a and §20-1-18d; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §20-17-1, §20-17-2, §20-17-3, §20-17-4, and §20-17-5, all relating to off-road vehicle recreation; creating an Off-Road Vehicle Recreation Fund for development and maintenance of public roads suitable for off-road vehicle recreation; revising digital road map requirements; requiring an inventory and mapping of state forest roads; describing allowable uses of the Off-Road Vehicle Recreation Fund; defining terms; requiring the development of a comprehensive recreation plan and plans for the construction and maintenance of suitable roads; establishing a program of grants and cooperative agreements to develop and maintain suitable roads and access thereto; mandating review of expenditures; providing for appeals of grant or agreement decisions; and requiring the proposal of legislative rules.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.

§17-2A-11. Road maps; digital road map.

(a) The commissioner shall prepare and currently maintain a master road and highway map which will show all of the state roads and highways located, created, and classified as provided by law; the mileage of roads and highways; the status of improvements; and travel conditions when practical. The commissioner may make economical reproductions of the map for official use and public information purposes, including a digital road map. The goal is for the maps to be computerized and searchable by the public to map routes for travel throughout the state. 

(b) The In addition to any other representations deemed useful by the commissioner, the digital road map shall indicate whether public roads are unpaved and unimproved, unpaved and improved, unlined and paved, or lined and paved be capable of displaying or indicating the type of roads or highways using the following classifications: (1) Primitive or unimproved roads; (2) graded, drained, soil-, gravel-, or stone-surfaced roads; (3) paved, but unpainted roads; (4) roads with a center line or more than two lanes; and (5) interstate highways. The digital road map shall further indicate the types of vehicles that may use each road, including full-size vehicles and off-highway vehicles, such as all-terrain vehicles, utility-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and off-road vehicles.