H. B. 4003
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation.]
A BILL to amend chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article two-c, relating to
the establishment of a program to acquire and maintain roads
and bridges which are not maintained by any governmental
entity; development of the program; process and criteria for
including a road or bridge in the program and upgrading of
acquired roads and bridges.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article two-c, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 2C. ORPHAN ROAD AND BRIDGE ACQUISITION PROGRAM.
§17-2C-1. Establishment of an orphan road and bridge acquisition
and maintenance program in all counties.
Authority is hereby granted to the West Virginia division of
highways to establish a program to acquire roads and bridges
which the public has a right to use and which are not maintained
by any governmental entity. These roads and bridges which are
not maintained by a governmental entity are herein designated as
orphan roads and bridges. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares it to be important for the economic and social
development of the state that a program for the acquisition and
maintenance of orphan roads and bridges be undertaken by the
state. In particular, the Legislature finds and declares that
basic maintenance should be performed on orphan roads and bridges
to promote the well-being of the public.
§17-2C-2. Development of program; right-of-way.
The West Virginia division of highways shall develop an
orphan road and bridge acquisition and maintenance program. In
order for a road or bridge to qualify for inclusion into the
state system, all necessary rights-of-way shall be either
dedicated or donated to the division of highways. In the event
that all property owners do not agree to dedicate or donate the
necessary rights-of-way, then any individual, group, business or
governmental entity can donate to the state road fund a sum sufficient to cover the expense of acquiring the right-of-way
that has not been dedicated or donated.
§17-2C-3. Inclusion in the system.
Application for inclusion of a road or bridge into the
maintenance system shall be made by petition to the commissioner
of highways. The application shall not be approved unless the
necessary right-of-way is either dedicated or donated to the
division of highways or other provisions are made to acquire the
right-of-way as provided in section two of this article. The
decision on whether a specific road or bridge should be added to
the state maintenance system is within the absolute discretion of
the commissioner of highways. The commissioner shall consider:
(1) The availability of resources for maintaining the road or
bridge; (2) the number of persons served by the road or bridge;
(3) the current and anticipated use of the road or bridge; (4)
the condition of the road or bridge; (5) the availability and
suitability of alternate routes; (6) the existing design and
layout of the road or bridge; and (7) the number of roads and
bridges accepted into the maintenance system.
§17C-2-4. Upgrading of roads and bridges in maintenance system.
Roads and bridges accepted into the maintenance system under
the provisions of this article are admitted only for the purposes
of maintenance. No upgrading of said roads and bridges is to be undertaken unless otherwise determined by the commissioner of
highways.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a state
program for acquisition and maintenance of orphan roads and
bridges. It provides for a program, requires right-of-way
acquisition, inclusion of roads and bridges into system and
upgrading of roads and bridges into system.
This is a new article; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
On page one by striking everything following the enacting
clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
That section seventeen, article two-a, chapter seventeen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
§17-2A-17. Acquisition of property for state road purposes;
"state road purposes" defined.
In addition to all other powers given and assigned to the
commissioner in this chapter, the commissioner may acquire, either temporarily or permanently, in the name of the state road
commission all real or personal property, public or private, or
any interests or rights therein, including any easement, riparian
right, or right of access, deemed by the commissioner to be
necessary for present or presently foreseeable future state road
purposes by gift, lease, grant, bequest, devise, agreement,
purchase, exchange, right of eminent domain, or other lawful
means
, including the use of any moneys donated to the state road
fund specifically for the purposes of acquiring a right-of-way
which has not been dedicated or donated. Such real property may
be acquired in fee simple or in any lesser estate or interest
therein, except in the case of a public road the right-of-way
only shall be acquired. Acquisition of such personal property
shall be subject to the provisions of sections thirteen and
fifteen of this article. The acquisition of any and all such
real and personal property is hereby declared to be a cost of
highway construction. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to
restrict or relinquish any right the state or any agency thereof
now or hereafter possesses or may exercise by virtue of the
police power or other lawful authority.
The commissioner shall
make an annual report to the legislature, with the first report
due on the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine, regarding the acquisition of orphan roads or bridges which occurred during the preceding fiscal year including the
costs of acquisition of the orphan roads and bridges, including
the cost or costs of any right of way or right of ways, the
location or locations of each such acquisition, and the
anticipated maintenance costs for each such acquisition:
Provided, That for the report due the fifth day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, the commissioner shall include
in the report to the Legislature all orphan roads and bridges
acquired to date.
As used in this article, "state road purposes" shall include
provision for, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(a) Constructing, establishing, laying out, widening,
enlarging, extending, straightening, reconstructing, relocating,
grading, altering, improving, and maintaining state roads;
(b) Rights-of-way for state roads, including those needed
for such roads within municipalities, such rights-of-way to be as
wide as deemed necessary by the commissioner;
(c) Adequate drainage of state roads;
(d) Controlled-access facilities, as defined in section
thirty-nine, article four of this chapter, including existing and
vested rights of access, air, view and light, whether privately
or publicly owned, and local service roads to controlled-access
facilities;
(e) Broadcasting stations, weighing stations, shops,
equipment sheds, office buildings, storage buildings and yards,
snow fences, road maintenance or construction sites;
(f) Road-building material storage sites, quarry sites,
gravel pits, sites for the acquisition or manufacture of road-
building materials including borrow pits, stock pile sites,
waste- material sites and access roads to any such sites or
places;
(g) The culture and support of trees which benefit any state
road by aiding in the maintenance and preservation of the road;
(h) Landscape and roadside development, and maintenance
thereof, within any state road right-of-way, and the acquisition
and maintenance of lands and interests in lands for the
restoration, preservation and enhancement of places of scenic
beauty, and other objects of attraction or scenic value adjacent
to or near any state road, and the acquisition, development and
maintenance of publicly owned and controlled rest and recreation
areas and sanitary and other facilities reasonably necessary for
the accommodation of the traveling public, within, adjacent to or
near the right-of-way of any road within the state road system;
(I) Development and maintenance of parking places, auto
camps, camp sites, roadside parks, historic roadside markers and
sites, forest or timbered areas or other places of attraction and scenic value which are adjacent to or near any state road and
which in the judgment of the commissioner are necessary for the
convenience of the public and will contribute to the general
welfare and pleasure of the motoring public or road users;
(j) Maintenance of an unobstructed view of any portion of
any state road in order to provide for the safety of the
traveling public;
(k) Erection and maintenance of markers, warning signs and
traffic signals;
(l) Construction and maintenance on state roads of sidewalks
and highway illumination;
(m) Elimination or prevention of hazardous or undesirable
points of entry to state roads from adjacent property;
(n) Acquisition of property, or any interest or right
therein, for the purpose of exchanging it for other property, or
any interest or right therein, which the commission is authorized
to acquire by the other provisions of this section:
Provided,
That such substitute property, or any interest or right therein,
may be acquired by the commissioner by condemnation only if the
following conditions are satisfied: (1) Money compensation would
be substantially inadequate for the property, or interest or
right therein, which the commissioner is authorized to acquire by
the other provisions of this section, and (2) the commission has entered into a written agreement to exchange the substitute
property, or the right or interest therein, for the property, or
right or interest therein, which is needed for state road
purposes, regardless of whether the person who has agreed to
accept the exchange has the right to condemn the substitute
property, or the right or interest therein;
(o) Acquisition of real property, not needed as such for a
state road, for the purpose of moving and relocating thereon a
building or other structure or appurtenance which is situated on
a lot or tract of land all or a portion of which is needed for a
state road and which, after relocation, will be suitable for the
purpose for which it was used prior to its being relocated:
Provided, That such additional real property may be acquired by
the commissioner by condemnation only if the following conditions
are satisfied: (1) The building or other structure or
appurtenance is of substantial value; (2) the real property on
which it is to be relocated is not substantially improved and is
adjacent to or near the location from which it is to be removed;
(3) the owner of the real property needed for the state road has
entered into a written agreement with the commission to accept in
exchange the additional property with the relocated building or
structure or appurtenance thereon; (4) substantial savings in
expenditure of state road funds will result from condemning the additional property and relocating the building or structure or
appurtenance rather than condemning the lot or tract, or the
portion thereof, on which the building or other structure or
appurtenance may be located; and (5) the real property with the
relocated building or structure or appurtenance thereon will be
relatively equal in value to the real property needed for the
state road.
ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE TITLE AMENDMENT
"A Bill to amend and reenact section seventeen, article two- a, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to allowing the
commissioner of highways to expend moneys donated to the state
road fund for the specific purpose of acquiring and maintaining
roads and bridges which are not maintained by any governmental
entity for that purpose; and requiring an annual report to the
Legislature."
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