GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

S                                                                                                                                                    D

SENATE DRS95000-MA-249A  (2/26)

Short Title:        Transfer Secondary Roads to Counties.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senators Rucho, and Clodfelter.
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to remove the secondary roads from the state highway system and to transfer the RESPONSIBILITY for construction and MAINTENANCE of secondary roads to counties.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑11.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑11.1.  Local consultation on transportation projects.

Prior to any action of the Board on a transportation project, the Department shall inform all municipalities and counties affected by a planned transportation project and request each affected municipality or county to submit within 45 days a written resolution expressing their views on the project. A municipality or county may designate a Transportation Advisory Committee to submit its response to the Department's request for a resolution. Upon receipt of a written resolution from all affected municipalities and counties or their designees, or the expiration of the 45‑day period, whichever occurs first, the Board may take action. The Department and the Board shall consider, but shall not be bound by, the views of the affected municipalities and counties on each transportation project. The failure of a county or municipality to express its views within the time provided shall not prevent the Department or the Board from taking action. The Department shall not be required to send notice under this section if it has already received a written resolution from the affected county or municipality on the planned transportation project. "Action of the Board", as used in this section, means approval by the Board of: the Transportation Improvement Program and amendments to the Transportation Improvement Program; the Secondary Roads Paving Program and amendments to the Secondary Roads Paving Program;Program and individual applications for access and public service road projects, contingency projects, small urban projects, and spot safety projects that exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). The 45‑day notification provision may be waived upon a finding by the Secretary of Transportation that emergency action is required. Such findings must be reported to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 136‑18 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑18.  Powers of Department of Transportation.

The said Department of Transportation is vested with the following powers:

(1)        The general supervision over all matters relating to the construction of the State highways, letting of contracts therefor, and the selection of materials to be used in the construction of State highways under the authority of this Chapter.

(2)        To take over and assume exclusive control for the benefit of the State of any existing county or township roads, and to locate and acquire rights‑of‑way for any new roads that may be necessary for a State highway system, and subject to the provisions of G.S. 136‑19.5(a) and (b) also locate and acquire such additional rights‑of‑way as may be necessary for the present or future relocation or initial location, above or below ground, of telephone, telegraph, broadband communications, electric and other lines, as well as gas, water, sewerage, oil and other pipelines, to be operated by public utilities as defined in G.S. 62‑3(23) and which are regulated under Chapter 62 of the General Statutes, or by municipalities, counties, any entity created by one or more political subdivisions for the purpose of supplying any such utility services, electric membership corporations, telephone membership corporations, or any combination thereof, with full power to widen, relocate, change or alter the grade or location thereof and to change or relocate any existing roads that the Department of Transportation may now own or may acquire; to acquire by gift, purchase, or otherwise, any road or highway, or tract of land or other property whatsoever that may be necessary for a State highway system and adjacent utility rights‑of‑way: Provided, all changes or alterations authorized by this subdivision shall be subject to the provisions of G.S. 136‑54 to 136‑63, to the extent that said sections are applicable: Provided, that nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to authorize or permit the Department of Transportation to allow or pay anything to any county, township, city or town, or to any board of commissioners or governing body thereof, for any existing road or part of any road heretofore constructed by any such county, township, city or town, unless a contract has already been entered into with the Department of Transportation.

(3)        To provide for such road materials as may be necessary to carry on the work of the Department of Transportation, either by gift, purchase, or condemnation: Provided, that when any person, firm or corporation owning a deposit of sand, gravel or other material, necessary, for the construction of the system of State highways provided herein, has entered into a contract to furnish the Department of Transportation any of such material, at a price to be fixed by said Department of Transportation, thereafter the Department of Transportation shall have the right to condemn the necessary right‑of‑way under the provisions of Article 9 of Chapter 136, to connect said deposit with any part of the system of State highways or public carrier, provided that easements to material deposits, condemned under this Article shall not become a public road and the condemned easement shall be returned to the owner as soon as the deposits are exhausted or abandoned by the Department of Transportation.

(4)        To enforce by mandamus or other proper legal remedies all legal rights or causes of action of the Department of Transportation with other public bodies, corporations, or persons.

(5)        To make rules, regulations and ordinances for the use of, and to police traffic on, the State highways, and to prevent their abuse by individuals, corporations and public corporations, by trucks, tractors, trailers or other heavy or destructive vehicles or machinery, or by any other means whatsoever, and to provide ample means for the enforcement of same; and the violation of any of the rules, regulations or ordinances so prescribed by the Department of Transportation shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor: Provided, no rules, regulations or ordinances shall be made that will conflict with any statute now in force or any ordinance of incorporated cities or towns, except the Department of Transportation may regulate parking upon any street which forms a link in the State highway system, if said street be maintained with State highway funds.

(6)        To establish a traffic census to secure information about the relative use, cost, value, importance, and necessity of roads forming a part of the State highway system, which information shall be a part of the public records of the State, and upon which information the Department of Transportation shall, after due deliberation and in accordance with these established facts, proceed to order the construction of the particular highway or highways.

(7)        To assume full and exclusive responsibility for the maintenance of all primary roads other than streets in towns and cities, forming a part of the State highway system from date of acquiring said roads. The Department of Transportation shall have authority to maintain all streets constructed by the Department of Transportation in towns of less than 3,000 population by the last census, and such other streets as may be constructed in towns and cities at the expense of the Department of Transportation, whenever in the opinion of the Department of Transportation it is necessary and proper so to do.

(8)        To give suitable names to State highways and change the names as determined by the Board of Transportation of any highways that shall become a part of the State system of highways.

(9)        To employ appropriate means for properly selecting, planting and protecting trees, shrubs, vines, grasses or legumes in the highway right‑of‑way in the promotion of erosion control, landscaping and general protection of said highways; to acquire by gift or otherwise land for and to construct, operate and maintain roadside parks, picnic areas, picnic tables, scenic overlooks and other appropriate turnouts for the safety and convenience of highway users; and to cooperate with municipal or county authorities, federal agencies, civic bodies and individuals in the furtherance of those objectives. None of the roadside parks, picnic areas, picnic tables, scenic overlooks or other turnouts, or any part of the highway right‑of‑way shall be used for commercial purposes except (i) for materials displayed in welcome centers in accordance with G.S. 136‑89.56, and (ii) for vending machines permitted by the Department of Transportation and placed by the Division of Services for the Blind, Department of Health and Human Services, as the State licensing agency designated pursuant to Section 2(a)(5) of the Randolph‑Sheppard Act (20 USC 107a(a)(5)). The Department of Transportation shall regulate the placing of the vending machines in highway rest areas and shall regulate the articles to be dispensed. Every other use or attempted use of any of these areas for commercial purposes shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor and each day's use shall constitute a separate offense.

(10)      To make proper and reasonable rules, regulations and ordinances for the placing or erection of telephone, telegraph, electric and other lines, above or below ground, signboards, fences, gas, water, sewerage, oil, or other pipelines, and other similar obstructions that may, in the opinion of the Department of Transportation, contribute to the hazard upon any of the said highways or in any way interfere with the same, and to make reasonable rules and regulations for the proper control thereof. And whenever the order of the said Department of Transportation shall require the removal of, or changes in, the location of telephone, telegraph, electric or other lines, signboards, fences, gas, water, sewerage, oil, or other pipelines, or other similar obstructions, the owners thereof shall at their own expense, except as provided in G.S. 136‑19.5(c), move or change the same to conform to the order of said Department of Transportation. Any violation of such rules and regulations or noncompliance with such orders shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor.

(11)      To regulate, abandon and close to use, grade crossings on any road designated as part of the State highway system, and whenever a public highway has been designated as part of the State highway system and the Department of Transportation, in order to avoid a grade crossing or crossings with a railroad or railroads, continues or constructs the said road on one side of the railroad or railroads, the Department of Transportation shall have power to abandon and close to use such grade crossings; and whenever an underpass or overhead bridge is substituted for a grade crossing, the Department of Transportation shall have power to close to use and abandon such grade crossing and any other crossing adjacent thereto.

(12)      The Department of Transportation shall have such powers as are necessary to comply fully with the provisions of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102‑240, 105 Stat. 1914 (1991), as amended, and all other federal aid acts and programs the Department is authorized to administer. The said Department of Transportation is hereby authorized to enter into all contracts and agreements with the United States government relating to survey, construction, improvement and maintenance of roads, urban area traffic operations studies and improvement projects on the streets on the State highway system and on the municipal system in urban areas, under the provisions of the present or future congressional enactments, to submit such scheme or program of construction or improvement and maintenance as may be required by the Secretary of Transportation or otherwise provided by federal acts, and to do all other things necessary to carry out fully the cooperation contemplated and provided for by present or future aid acts of Congress for the construction or improvement and maintenance of federal aid of State highways. The good faith and credit of the State are further hereby pledged to make available funds necessary to meet the requirements of the acts of Congress, present or future, appropriating money to construct and improve rural post roads and apportioned to this State during each of the years for which federal funds are now or may hereafter be apportioned by the said act or acts, to maintain the roads constructed or improved with the aid of funds so appropriated and to make adequate provisions for carrying out such construction and maintenance. The good faith and credit of the State are further pledged to maintain such roads now built with federal aid and hereafter to be built and to make adequate provisions for carrying out such maintenance. Upon request of the Department of Transportation and in order to enable it to meet the requirements of acts of Congress with respect to federal aid funds apportioned to the State of North Carolina, the State Treasurer is hereby authorized, with the approval of the Governor and Council of State, to issue short term notes from time to time, and in anticipation of State highway revenue, and to be payable out of State highway revenue for such sums as may be necessary to enable the Department of Transportation to meet the requirements of said federal aid appropriations, but in no event shall the outstanding notes under the provisions of this section amount to more than two million dollars ($2,000,000).

(12a)    The Department of Transportation shall have such powers as are necessary to establish, administer, and receive federal funds for a transportation infrastructure banking program as authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, Pub. L. 102‑240, as amended, and the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104‑59, as amended. The Department of Transportation is authorized to apply for, receive, administer, and comply with all conditions and requirements related to federal financial assistance necessary to fund the infrastructure banking program. The infrastructure banking program established by the Department of Transportation may utilize federal and available State funds for the purpose of providing loans or other financial assistance to governmental units, including toll authorities, to finance the costs of transportation projects authorized by the above federal aid acts. Such loans or other financial assistance shall be subject to repayment and conditioned upon the establishment of such security and the payment of such fees and interest rates as the Department of Transportation may deem necessary. The Department of Transportation is authorized to apply a municipality's share of funds allocated under G.S. 136‑41.1 or G.S. 136‑44.20 as necessary to ensure repayment of funds advanced under the infrastructure banking program. The Department of Transportation shall establish jointly, with the State Treasurer, a separate infrastructure banking account with necessary fiscal controls and accounting procedures. Funds credited to this account shall not revert, and interest and other investment income shall accrue to the account and may be used to provide loans and other financial assistance as provided under this subdivision. The Department of Transportation may establish such rules and policies as are necessary to establish and administer the infrastructure banking program. The infrastructure banking program authorized under this subdivision shall not modify the regional distribution formula for the distribution of funds established by G.S. 136‑17.2A. Governmental units may apply for loans and execute debt instruments payable to the State in order to obtain loans or other financial assistance provided for in this subdivision. The Department of Transportation shall require that applicants shall pledge as security for such obligations revenues derived from operation of the benefited facilities or systems, other sources of revenue, or their faith and credit, or any combination thereof. The faith and credit of such governmental units shall not be pledged or be deemed to have been pledged unless the requirements of Article 4, Chapter 159 of the General Statutes have been met. The State Treasurer, with the assistance of the Local Government Commission, shall develop and adopt appropriate debt instruments for use under this subdivision. The Local Government Commission shall develop and adopt appropriate procedures for the delivery of debt instruments to the State without any public bidding therefor. The Local Government Commission shall review and approve proposed loans to applicants pursuant to this subdivision under the provisions of Articles 4 and 5, Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, as if the issuance of bonds was proposed, so far as those provisions are applicable. Loans authorized by this subdivision shall be outstanding debt for the purpose of Article 10, Chapter 159 of the General Statutes.

(12b)    To issue "GARVEE" bonds (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles) or other eligible debt‑financing instruments to finance federal‑aid highway projects using federal funds to pay a portion of principal, interest, and related bond issuance costs, as authorized by 23 U.S.C. § 122, as amended (the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104‑59). These bonds shall be issued by the State Treasurer on behalf of the Department and shall be issued pursuant to an order adopted by the Council of State under G.S. 159‑88. The State Treasurer shall develop and adopt appropriate debt instruments, consistent with the terms of the State and Local Government Revenue Bond Act, Article 5 of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, for use under this subdivision. Prior to issuance of any "GARVEE" or other eligible debt instrument using federal funds to pay a portion of principal, interest, and related bond issuance costs, the State Treasurer shall determine (i) that the total outstanding principal of such debt does not exceed the total amount of federal transportation funds authorized to the State in the prior federal fiscal year; or (ii) that the maximum annual principal and interest of such debt does not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the expected average annual federal revenue shown for the seven‑year period in the most recently adopted Transportation Improvement Program. Notes issued under the provisions of this subdivision may not be deemed to constitute a debt or liability of the State or of any political subdivision thereof, or a pledge of the full faith and credit of the State or of any political subdivision thereof, but shall be payable solely from the funds and revenues pledged therefor. All the notes shall contain on their face a statement to the effect that the State of North Carolina shall not be obligated to pay the principal or the interest on the notes, except from the federal transportation fund revenues as shall be provided by the documents governing the revenue note issuance, and that neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State of North Carolina or of any of its political subdivisions is pledged to the payment of the principal or interest on the notes. The issuance of notes under this Part shall not directly or indirectly or contingently obligate the State or any of its political subdivisions to levy or to pledge any form of taxation whatever or to make any appropriation for their payment.

(13)      The Department of Transportation may construct and maintain all walkways and driveways within the Mansion Square in the City of Raleigh and the Western Residence of the Governor in the City of Asheville including the approaches connecting with the city streets, and any funds expended therefor shall be a charge against general maintenance.

(14)      The Department of Transportation shall have authority to provide roads for the connection of airports in the State with the public highway system, and to mark the highways and erect signals along the same for the guidance and protection of aircraft.

(15)      The Department of Transportation shall have authority to provide facilities for the use of waterborne traffic and recreational uses by establishing connections between the highway system and the navigable and nonnavigable waters of the State by means of connecting roads and piers. Such facilities for recreational purposes shall be funded from funds available for safety or enhancement purposes.

(16)      The Department of Transportation, pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Transportation, shall have authority, under the power of eminent domain and under the same procedure as provided for the acquirement of rights‑of‑way, to acquire title in fee simple to parcels of land for the purpose of exchanging the same for other real property to be used for the establishment of rights‑of‑way or for the widening of existing rights‑of‑way or the clearing of obstructions that, in the opinion of the Department of Transportation, constitute dangerous hazards at intersections. Real property may be acquired for such purposes only when the owner of the property needed by the Department of Transportation has agreed in writing to accept the property so acquired in exchange for that to be used by the Department of Transportation, and when, in the opinion of the Department of Transportation, an economy in the expenditure of public funds and the improvement and convenience and safety of the highway can be effected thereby.

(17)      The Department of Transportation is hereby authorized and required to maintain and keep in repair, sufficient to accommodate the public school buses, roads leading from the state‑maintained public roads to all public schools and public school buildings to which children are transported on public school buses to and from their homes. Said Department of Transportation is further authorized to construct, pave, and maintain school bus driveways and sufficient parking facilities for the school buses at those schools. The Department of Transportation is further authorized to construct, pave, and maintain all other driveways and entrances to the public schools leading from State‑maintained public roads not required in the preceding portion of this subdivision.

(18)      To cooperate with appropriate agencies of the United States in acquiring rights‑of‑way for and in the construction and maintenance of flight strips or emergency landing fields for aircraft adjacent to State highways.

(19)      To prohibit the erection of any informational, regulatory, or warning signs within the right‑of‑way of any highway project built within the corporate limits of any municipality in the State where the funds for such construction are derived in whole or in part from federal appropriations expended by the Department of Transportation, unless such signs have first been approved by the Department of Transportation.

(20)      The Department of Transportation is hereby authorized to maintain and keep in repair a suitable way of ingress and egress to all public or church cemeteries or burial grounds in the State notwithstanding the fact that said road is not a part of the state‑maintained system of roads. For the purpose of this subdivision a public or church cemetery or burial ground shall be defined as a cemetery or burial ground in which there are buried or permitted to be buried deceased persons of the community in which said cemetery or burial ground is located, but shall not mean a privately owned cemetery operated for profit or family burial plots.

(21)      The Department of Transportation is hereby authorized and directed to remove all dead animals from the traveled portion and rights‑of‑way of all primary and secondary roads and to dispose of such animals by burial or otherwise. In cases where there is evidence of ownership upon the body of any dead dog,dog or cat, the Department of Transportation shall take reasonable steps to notify the owner thereof by mail or other means.

(22)      No airport or aircraft landing area shall be constructed or altered where such construction or alteration when undertaken or completed may reasonably affect motor vehicle operation and safety on adjoining public roads except in accordance with a written permit from the Department of Transportation or its duly authorized officers. The Department of Transportation is authorized and empowered to regulate airport and aircraft landing area construction and alteration in order to preserve safe clearances between highways and airways and the Department of Transportation is authorized and empowered to make rules, regulations, and ordinances for the preservation of safe clearances between highways and airways. The Department of Transportation shall be responsible for determining safe clearances and shall fix standards for said determination which shall not exceed the standards adopted for similar purposes by the United States Bureau of Public Roads under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1958. Any person, firm, corporation or airport authority constructing or altering an airport or aircraft landing area without obtaining a written permit as herein provided, or not in compliance with the terms of such permit, or violating the provisions of the rules, regulations or ordinances promulgated under the authority of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor; provided, that this subdivision shall not apply to publicly owned and operated airports and aircraft landing areas receiving federal funds and subject to regulation by the Federal Aviation Authority.

(23)      When in the opinion of the Department of Transportation an economy in the expenditure of public funds can be effected thereby, the Department of Transportation shall have authority to enter into agreements with adjoining states regarding the planning, location, engineering, right‑of‑way acquisition and construction of roads and bridges connecting the North Carolina State highway system with public roads in adjoining states, and the Department of Transportation shall have authority to do planning, surveying, locating, engineering, right‑of‑way acquisition and construction on short segments of roads and bridges in adjoining states with the cost of said work to be reimbursed by the adjoining state, and may also enter into agreements with adjoining states providing for the performance of and reimbursement to the adjoining state of the cost of such work done within the State of North Carolina by the adjoining state: Provided, that the Department of Transportation shall retain the right to approve any contract for work to be done in this State by an adjoining state for which the adjoining state is to be reimbursed.

(24)      The Department of Transportation is further authorized to pave driveways leading from state‑maintained roads to rural fire district firehouses which are approved by the North Carolina Fire Insurance Rating Bureau and to facilities of rescue squads furnishing ambulance services which are approved by the North Carolina State Association of Rescue Squads, Inc.

(25)      The Department of Transportation is hereby authorized and directed to design, construct, repair, and maintain paved streets and roads upon the campus of each of the State's institutions of higher education, at state‑owned hospitals for the treatment of tuberculosis, state‑owned orthopedic hospitals, juvenile correction centers, mental health hospitals and retarded centers, schools for the deaf, and schools for the blind, when such construction, maintenance, or repairs have been authorized by the General Assembly in the appropriations bills enacted by the General Assembly. Cost for such construction, maintenance, and repairs shall be borne by the Highway Fund. Upon the General Assembly authorizing the construction, repair, or maintenance of a paved road or drive upon any of the above‑mentioned institutions, the Department of Transportation shall give such project priority to insure that it shall be accomplished as soon as feasible, at the minimum cost to the State, and in any event during the biennium for which the authorization shall have been given by the General Assembly.

(26)      The Department of Transportation, at the request of a representative from a board of county commissioners, is hereby authorized to acquire by condemnation new or additional right‑of‑way to construct, pave or otherwise improve a designated State‑maintained secondary road upon presentation by said board to the Department of Transportation of a duly verified copy of the minutes of its meeting showing approval of such request by a majority of its members and by the further presentation of a petition requesting such improvement executed by the abutting owners whose frontage on said secondary State‑maintained road shall equal or exceed seventy‑five percent (75%) of the linear front footage along the secondary State‑maintained road sought to be improved. This subdivision shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Department of Transportation to exercise the power of eminent domain.

(27)      The Department of Transportation is authorized to establish policies and promulgate rules providing for voluntary local government, property owner or highway user participation in the costs of maintenance or improvement of roads which would not otherwise be necessary or would not otherwise be performed by the Department of Transportation and which will result in a benefit to the property owner or highway user. By way of illustration and not as a limitation, such costs include those incurred in connection with drainage improvements or maintenance, driveway connections, dust control on unpaved roads, surfacing or paving of roads and the acquisition of rights‑of‑way. Local government, property owner and highway user participation can be in the form of materials, money, or land (for right‑of‑way) as deemed appropriate by the Department of Transportation. The authority of this section shall not be used to authorize, construct or maintain toll roads or bridges.

(28)      The Department of Transportation may obtain land, either by gift, lease or purchase which shall be used for the construction and maintenance of ridesharing parking lots. The Department may design, construct, repair, and maintain ridesharing parking facilities.

(29)      The Department of Transportation may establish policies and adopt rules about the size, location, direction of traffic flow, and the construction of driveway connections into any street or highway which is a part of the State Highway Systemhighway system. The Department of Transportation may require the construction and public dedication of acceleration and deceleration lanes, and traffic storage lanes and medians by others for the driveway connections into any United States route,route or North Carolina route, and on any secondary road route with an average daily traffic volume of 4,000 vehicles per day or more.

(29a)    To coordinate with all public and private entities planning schools to provide written recommendations and evaluations of driveway access and traffic operational and safety impacts on the State highway system resulting from the development of the proposed sites. All public and private entities shall, upon acquiring land for a new school or prior to beginning construction of a new school, relocating a school, or expanding an existing school, request from the Department a written evaluation and written recommendations to ensure that all proposed access points comply with the criteria in the current North Carolina Department of Transportation "Policy on Street and Driveway Access". The Department shall provide the written evaluation and recommendations within a reasonable time, which shall not exceed 60 days. This subdivision shall not be construed to require the public or private entities planning schools to meet the recommendations made by the Department, except those highway improvements that are required for safe ingress and egress to the State highway system.

(30)      Consistent with G.S. 130A‑309.14(a1), the Department of Transportation shall review and revise its bid procedures and specifications set forth in Chapter 136 of the General Statutes to encourage the purchase or use of reusable, refillable, repairable, more durable, and less toxic supplies and products. The Department of Transportation shall require the purchase or use of such supplies and products in the construction and maintenance of highways and bridges to the extent that the use is practicable and cost‑effective. The Department shall prepare an annual report on October 1 of each year to the Environmental Review Commission as required under G.S. 130A‑309.14(a1).

(31)      The Department of Transportation is authorized to designate portions of highways as scenic highways, and combinations of portions of highways as scenic byways, for portions of those highways that possess unusual, exceptional, or distinctive scenic, recreational, historical, educational, scientific, geological, natural, wildlife, cultural or ethnic features. The Department shall remove, upon application, from any existing or future scenic highway or scenic byway designation, highway sections that:

a.         Have no scenic value,

b.         Have been designated or would be so designated solely to preserve system continuity, and

c.         Are adjacent to property on which is located one or more permanent structures devoted to a commercial or industrial activity and on which a commercial or industrial activity is actually conducted, in an unzoned area or an area zoned commercial or industrial pursuant to a State or local zoning ordinance or regulation, except for commercial activity related to tourism or recreation.

The Department shall adopt rules and regulations setting forth the criteria and procedures for the designation of scenic highways and scenic byways under this subsection.

Those portions of highways designated as scenic by the Department prior to July 1, 1993, are considered to be designated as scenic highways and scenic byways under this subsection but the Department shall remove from this designation portions of those highway sections that meet the criteria set forth in this subsection, if requested.

(32)      The Department of Transportation may perform dredging services, on a cost reimbursement basis, for a unit of local government if the unit cannot obtain the services from a private company at a reasonable cost. A unit of local government is considered to be unable to obtain dredging services at a reasonable cost if it solicits bids for the dredging services in accordance with Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes and does not receive a bid, considered by the Department of Transportation Engineering Staff, to be reasonable.

(33)      The Department of Transportation is empowered and directed, from time to time, to carefully examine into and inspect the condition of each railroad, its equipment and facilities, in regard to the safety and convenience of the public and the railroad employees. If the Department finds any equipment or facilities to be unsafe, it shall at once notify the railroad company and require the company to repair the equipment or facilities.

(34)      The Department of Transportation may conduct, in a manner consistent with federal law, a program of accident prevention and public safety covering all railroads and may investigate the cause of any railroad accident. In order to facilitate this program, any railroad involved in an accident that must be reported to the Federal Railroad Administration shall also notify the Department of Transportation of the occurrence of the accident.

(35)      To establish rural planning organizations, as provided in Article 17 of this Chapter.

(36)      To oversee the safety of fixed guideway transit systems in the State not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, pursuant to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (49 U.S.C. § 5330). The Department shall adopt rules in conformance with 49 U.S.C. § 5330 concerning its oversight of the safety of fixed guideway transit systems.

(37)      To permit private use of and encroachment upon the right‑of‑way of a State highway or road for the purpose of construction and maintenance of a privately owned bridge for pedestrians or motor vehicles, if the bridge shall not unreasonably interfere with or obstruct the public use of the right‑of‑way. Any agreement for an encroachment authorized by this subdivision shall be approved by the Board of Transportation, upon a finding that the encroachment is necessary and appropriate, in the sole discretion of the Board. Locations, plans, and specifications for any pedestrian or vehicular bridge authorized by the Board for construction pursuant to this subdivision shall be approved by the Department of Transportation. For any bridge subject to this subdivision, the Department shall retain the right to reject any plans, specifications, or materials used or proposed to be used, inspect and approve all materials to be used, inspect the construction, maintenance, or repair, and require the replacement, reconstruction, repair, or demolition of any partially or wholly completed bridge that, in the sole discretion of the Department, is unsafe or substandard in design or construction. An encroachment agreement authorized by this subdivision may include a requirement to purchase and maintain liability insurance in an amount determined by the Department of Transportation. The Department shall ensure that any bridge constructed pursuant to this subdivision is regularly inspected for safety. The owner shall have the bridge inspected every two years by a qualified private engineering firm based on National Bridge Inspection Standards and shall provide the Department copies of the Bridge Inspection Reports where they shall be kept on file. Any bridge authorized and constructed pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to all other rules and conditions of the Department of Transportation for encroachments.

(38)      To enter into agreements with municipalities, counties, governmental entities, or nonprofit corporations to receive funds for the purpose of advancing the construction schedule of a project identified in the Transportation Improvement Program. If these funds are subject to repayment by the Department, prior to receipt of funds, reimbursement of all funds received by the Department shall be shown in the existing Transportation Improvement Program and shall be reimbursed within seven years of receipt.

(39)      To enter into partnership agreements with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, private entities, and authorized political subdivisions to finance, by tolls, contracts, and other financing methods authorized by law, the cost of acquiring, constructing, equipping, maintaining, and operating transportation infrastructure in this State, with priority given to highways, roads, streets, and bridges, and to plan, design, develop, acquire, construct, equip, maintain, and operate highways, roads, streets, bridges, and existing rail, as well as properties adjoining existing rail lines in this State. An agreement entered into under this subdivision requires the concurrence of the Board of Transportation. The Department shall report to the Chairs of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, the Chairs of the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and the Chairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Department of Transportation, at the same time it notifies the Board of Transportation of any proposed agreement under this subdivision. Any contracts for construction of highways, roads, streets, and bridges which are awarded pursuant to an agreement entered into under this section shall comply with the competitive bidding requirements of Article 2 of this Chapter.

(40)      To expand public access to coastal waters in its road project planning and construction programs. The Department shall work with the Wildlife Resources Commission, other State agencies, and other government entities to address public access to coastal waters along the roadways, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure owned or maintained by the Department. The Department shall adhere to all applicable design standards and guidelines in implementation of this enhanced access. The Department shall report on its progress in expanding public access to coastal waters to the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture and to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Commission no later than March 1 of each year."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 136‑30.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑30.1.  Center line and pavement edge line markings.

(a)        The Department of Transportation shall mark with center lines and edge lines all interstate and primary roads and all paved secondary roads having an average traffic volume of 100 vehicles per day or more, and which are traffic service roads forming a connecting link in the State highway system.roads. The Department of Transportation shall not be required to mark with center and edge lines local subdivision roads, loop roads, dead‑end roads of less than one mile in length or roads the major purpose of which is to serve the abutting property, nor shall the Department of Transportation be required to mark with edge lines those roads on which curbing has been installed or which are less than 16 feet in width.

(b)        Whenever the Department of Transportation shall construct a new paved road, relocate an existing paved road, resurface an existing paved road, or pave an existing road which under the provisions of subsection (a) hereof is required to be marked with lines, the Department of Transportation shall, within 30 days from the completion of the construction, resurfacing or paving, mark the said road with the lines required in subsection (a) hereof.

(c)        Repealed by Session Laws 1991, c. 530, s. 2."

SECTION 4.  G.S. 136‑44.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.1.  Statewide road system; policies.

The Department of Transportation shall develop and maintain a statewide primary system of roads and highways commensurate with the needs of the State as a whole and it shall not sacrifice the general statewide interest to the purely local desires of any particular area. The Board of Transportation shall formulate general policies and plans for a statewide primary system of highways. The Board shall formulate policies governing the construction, improvement and maintenance of primary roads and highways of the State with due regard to farm‑to‑market roads and school bus routes."

SECTION 5. G.S. 136‑44.2 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.2.  Budget and appropriations.

The Director of the Budget shall include in the "Current Operations Appropriations Bill" an enumeration of the purposes or objects of the proposed expenditures for each of the construction and maintenance programs for that budget period for the State primary, county‑maintained secondary, and State parks road systems. The State primary system shall include all portions of the State highway system located both inside and outside municipal corporate limits that are designated by N.C., U.S. or Interstate numbers. The State county‑maintained secondary system shall include all of the State highway system located both inside and outside municipal corporate limits that is not a part of the State primary system. The State parks system shall include all State parks roads and parking lots that are not also part of the State highway system.

All construction and maintenance programs for which appropriations are requested shall be enumerated separately in the budget. Programs that are entirely State funded shall be listed separately from those programs involving the use of federal‑aid funds. Proposed appropriations of State matching funds for each of the federal‑aid construction programs shall be enumerated separately as well as the federal‑aid funds anticipated for each program in order that the total construction requirements for each program may be provided for in the budget. Also, proposed State matching funds for the highway planning and research program shall be included separately along with the anticipated federal‑aid funds for that purpose.

Other program categories for which appropriations are requested, such as, but not limited to, maintenance, channelization and traffic control, bridge maintenance, public service and access road construction, and ferry operations shall be enumerated in the budget.

The Department of Transportation shall have all powers necessary to comply fully with provisions of present and future federal‑aid acts. No federally eligible construction project may be funded entirely with State funds unless the Department of Transportation has first reported to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. For purposes of this section, "federally eligible construction project" means any construction project except secondary road projects developed pursuant to G.S. 136‑44.7 and 136‑44.8 eligible for federal funds under any federal‑aid act, whether or not federal funds are actually available.projects.

The "Current Operations Appropriations Bill" shall also contain the proposed appropriations of State funds for use in each county for maintenance and construction of secondary roads, to be allocated in accordance with G.S. 136‑44.5 and 136‑44.6. State funds appropriated for secondary roads shall not be transferred to the respective counties nor and used except for the construction construction, improvement, and maintenance of secondary roads in the county for which they are allocated pursuant to G.S. 136‑44.5 and 136‑44.6.

If the unreserved credit balance in the Highway Fund on the last day of a fiscal year is greater than the amount estimated for that date in the Current Operations Appropriations Act for the following fiscal year, the excess shall be used in accordance with this paragraph. The Director of the Budget may allocate part or all of the excess among reserves for access and public roads, for unforeseen events requiring prompt action, or for other urgent needs. The amount not allocated to any of these reserves by the Director of the Budget shall be credited to a reserve for maintenance. The Board of Transportation shall report monthly to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and the Fiscal Research Division on the use of funds in the maintenance reserve.

The Department of Transportation may provide for costs incurred or accrued for traffic control measures to be taken by the Department at major events which involve a high degree of traffic concentration on State highways, and which cannot be funded from regular budgeted items. This authorization applies only to events which are expected to generate 30,000 vehicles or more per day. The Department of Transportation shall provide for this funding by allocating and reserving up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) before any other allocations from the appropriations for State maintenance for primary, secondary, and urban road systems are made, based upon the same proportion as is appropriated to each system."

SECTION 6.  G.S. 136‑44.2A reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.2A.  Secondary road improvement program.

There shall be annually allocated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation for secondary road construction, improvement, and maintenance improvement programs developed pursuant to G.S. 136‑44.7 and 136‑44.8,a sum equal to that allocation made from the Highway Fund under G.S. 136‑41.1(a). In addition, as provided in G.S. 136‑176(b)(4) and G.S. 20‑85(b), revenue is annually allocated from the Highway Trust Fund for secondary road construction. Of the funds allocated from the Highway Fund, the sum of sixty‑eight million six hundred seventy thousand dollars ($68,670,000) shall be allocated among the counties in accordance with G.S. 136‑44.5(b). All funds allocated from the Highway Fund for secondary road improvements in excess of that amount shall be allocated among the counties in accordance with G.S. 136‑44.5(c). All funds allocated from the Highway Trust Fund for secondary road improvement programs shall be allocated in accordance with G.S. 136‑182."

SECTION 7.  G.S. 136‑44.2C reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.2C.  Special appropriations for State construction.

Special appropriations for the construction of State highways may be used for the planning, design, right‑of‑way acquisition, and construction of highway projects for the State Highway System and Federal Aid System, including secondary roads,System contained in the Transportation Improvement Program prepared pursuant to G.S. 143B‑350(f)(4). Funding from the special appropriations used for secondary road projects in the Transportation Improvement Program is not subject to the allocation formula and restrictions of G.S. 136‑44.2, 136‑44.2A, or 136‑44.5."

SECTION 8.  G.S. 136‑44.3 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.3.  Maintenance program.

The Department shall establish performance standards for the maintenance and operation of the State highway system. In each even‑numbered year, the Department of Transportation shall survey the condition of the State highway system and shall prepare a report of the findings of the survey. The report shall provide both quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the condition of the system and shall provide estimates of the following:

(1)        The annual cost to meet and sustain the established performance standards for the primary and secondary highway system, to include: (i) routine maintenance and operations, (ii) system preservation, and (iii) pavement and bridge rehabilitation.

(2)        Projected system condition and corresponding optimal funding requirements for a seven‑year plan to sustain established performance standards.

On the basis of the report and from funds available, the Department of Transportation shall develop a statewide annual maintenance program for the State highway system, which shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Transportation and is consistent with performance standards.

The report on the condition of the State highway system and maintenance funding needs shall be presented to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee by December 31 of each even‑numbered year, and copies shall be made available to any member of the General Assembly upon request."

SECTION 9. G.S. 136‑44.5 is repealed.

SECTION 10.  G.S. 136‑44.6 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.6.  Uniformly applicable formula for the allocation of secondary roads maintenance funds.

The Department of Transportation shall develop a uniformly applicable formula for the allocation of secondary roads construction, improvement, and maintenance funds for use in each county. The formula shall take into consideration the number of paved and unpaved miles of state‑ maintained secondary roads in each county in proportion to all secondary roads in the State and such other factors as experience may dictate. Funds allocated to the counties for maintenance pursuant to this section shall be paid in cash to the counties on April 1 of each year. Counties may choose which improvement or maintenance projects to prioritize and fund. Fund distributions to counties under this section shall begin on April 1, 2011."

SECTION 11.  G.S. 136‑44.7 is repealed.

SECTION 12.  G.S. 136‑44.7A reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.7A.  Submission of secondary roads construction programs to State agencies.

When the Department of Transportationa county proposes to pave an unpaved secondary road that crosses land controlled by a State agency, the Department of Transportation shall obtain the approval of that State agency before paving that secondary road."

SECTION 13.  G.S. 136‑44.8 is repealed.

SECTION 14.  G.S. 136‑44.9 is repealed.

SECTION 15.  G.S. 136‑44.10 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑44.10.  Additions to secondary road system.

The Board of Transportation shall adopt uniform statewide or regional standards and criteria which the Department of Transportationcommissioners of each county shall follow for additions to the secondary road system. These standards and criteria shall be promulgated and copies made available for free distribution."

SECTION 16.  G.S. 136‑45 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑45.  General purpose of law; control, repair and maintenance of highways.

The general purpose of the laws creating the Department of Transportation is that said Department of Transportation shall take over, establish, construct, and maintain a statewide system of hard‑surfaced and other dependable primary highways running to all county seats, and to all principal towns, State parks, and principal State institutions, and linking up with state highways of adjoining states and with national highways into national forest reserves by the most practical routes, with special view of development of agriculture, commercial and natural resources of the State.State, and, except as otherwise provided by law, for the further purpose of permitting the State to assume control of the State highways, repair, construct, and reconstruct and maintain said highways at the expense of the entire State, and to relieve the counties and cities and towns of the State of this burden."

SECTION 17.  Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is repealed.

SECTION 18.  G.S. 136‑62 is repealed.

SECTION 19.  G.S. 136‑63 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑63.  Change or abandonment of roads.

(a) The board of county commissioners of any county may, on its own motion or on petition of a group of citizens, request the Board of Transportation to change or abandon any road in the secondary system when the best interest of the people of the county will be served thereby. The Board of Transportation shall thereupon make inquiry into the proposed change or abandonment, and if in its opinion the public interest demands it, shall make such change or abandonment. If the change or abandonment shall affect a road connecting with any street of a city or town, the change or abandonment shall not be made until the street‑governing body of the city or town shall have been duly notified and given opportunity to be heard on the question. Any request by a board of county commissioners or street‑governing body of a city refused by the Board of Transportation may be presented again upon the expiration of 12 months.

(b)        In keeping with its overall zoning scheme and long‑range plans regarding the extraterritorial jurisdiction area, a municipality may keep open and assume responsibility for maintenance of a road within one mile of its corporate limits once it is abandoned from the State highway system."

SECTION 20.  G.S. 136‑64 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑64.  Filing of complaints with Department of Transportation; hearing and appeal.

In the event of failure to maintain the roads of the State highway system or any county road system in good condition, the board of county commissioners of such county may file complaint with the Department of Transportation. When any such complaint is filed, the Department of Transportation shall at once investigate the same, and if the same be well founded, the said Department of Transportation shall at once order the repair and maintenance of the roads complained of and investigate the negligence of the persons in charge of the roads so complained of, and if upon investigation the person in charge of the road complained of be at fault, he may be discharged from the service of the Department of Transportation. The board of commissioners of any county, who shall feel aggrieved at the action of the Department of Transportation upon complaint filed, may appeal from the decision of the Department of Transportation to the Governor, and it shall be the duty of the Governor to adjust the differences between the board of county commissioners and the Department of Transportation."

SECTION 21.  G.S. 136‑64.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑64.1. Applications for intermittent closing of roads within watershed improvement project by Department of Transportation; notice; regulation by Department; delegation of authority; markers.

(a)        Upon proper application by the board of commissioners of a drainage district established under the provisions of Chapter 156 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, by the board of trustees of a watershed improvement district established under the provisions of Article 2 of Chapter 139 of the General Statutes, by the board of county commissioners of any county operating a county watershed improvement program under the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 139 of the General Statutes, by the board of commissioners of any watershed improvement commission appointed by a board of county commissioners or by the board of supervisors of any soil and water conservation district designated by a board of county commissioners to exercise authority in carrying out a county watershed improvement program, the Department of Transportation, for roads coming under its jurisdictional control, is hereby authorized to permit the intermittent closing of any secondary primary road within the boundaries of any watershed improvement project operated by the applicants, whenever in the judgment of the Department of Transportation it is necessary to do so, and when the secondary primary road will be intermittently subject to inundation by floodwaters retained by an approved watershed improvement project.

(b)        Before any permit may be issued for the temporary inundation and closing of such a road, an application for such permit shall be made to the Department of Transportation by the public body having jurisdiction over the watershed improvement project. The application shall specify the secondary primary road involved, the anticipated frequency and duration of intermittent flooding of the secondary primary road involved, and shall request that a permit be granted to the applicant public body to allow the intermittent closing of the road.

(c)        Upon receipt of such an application the Department of Transportation shall give public notice of the proposed action by publication once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties within which the proposed intermittent closing of road or roads would occur; and such notices shall contain a description of the places of beginning and the places of ending of such intermittent closing. In addition, the Department of Transportation shall give notice to all public utilities or common carriers having facilities located within the rights‑of‑way of any roads being closed by mailing copies of such notices to the appropriate offices of the public utility or common carrier having jurisdiction over the affected facilities of the public utility or common carrier. Not sooner than 14 days after publication and mailing of notices, the Department of Transportation or the municipality may issue its permit with respect to such road.

(d)        The Department of Transportation shall have the discretion to deny any application submitted pursuant to this section, or it may grant a permit on any condition it deems warranted. The Department, however, shall consider the use of alternate routes available during flooding of the roads, and any inconvenience to the public or temporary loss of access to business, homes and property. The Department shall have the authority to promulgate regulations for the issuance of permits under this section and it may delegate the authority for the consideration, issuance or denial of such permits to the State Highway Administrator. Any applicant granted a permit pursuant to this section shall cause suitable markers to be installed on the secondary primary road to advise the general public of the intermittent closing of the road or roads involved. Such markers shall be located and approved by the State Highway Administrator."

SECTION 22. G.S. 136‑66.2(f) is repealed.

SECTION 23.  G.S. 136‑67 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑67.  Neighborhood public roads.

All those portions of the public road system of the State which have not been taken over and placed under maintenance or which have been abandoned by the Department of Transportation,Transportation or a county, but which remain open and in general use as a necessary means of ingress to and egress from the dwelling house of one or more families, and all those roads that have been laid out, constructed, or reconstructed with unemployment relief funds under the supervision of the Department of Health and Human Services, and all other roads or streets or portions of roads or streets whatsoever outside of the boundaries of any incorporated city or town in the State which serve a public use and as a means of ingress or egress for one or more families, regardless of whether the same have ever been a portion of any State or county road system, are hereby declared to be neighborhood public roads and they shall be subject to all of the provisions of G.S. 136‑68, 136‑69 and 136‑70 with respect to the alteration, extension, or discontinuance thereof, and any interested party is authorized to institute such proceeding, and in lieu of personal service with respect to this class of roads, notice by publication once a week in any newspaper published in said county, or in the event there is no such newspaper, by posting at the courthouse door and three other public places, shall be deemed sufficient: Provided, that this definition of neighborhood public roads shall not be construed to embrace any street, road or driveway that serves an essentially private use, and all those portions and segments of old roads, formerly a part of the public road system, which have not been taken over and placed under maintenance and which have been abandoned by the Department of Transportation or a county and which do not serve as a necessary means of ingress to and egress from an occupied dwelling house are hereby specifically excluded from the definition of neighborhood public roads, and the owner of the land, burdened with such portions and segments of such old roads, is hereby invested with the easement or right‑of‑way for such old roads heretofore existing.

Upon request of the board of county commissioners of any county, the Department of Transportation is permitted, but is not required, to place such neighborhood public roads as above defined in a passable condition without incorporating the same into the State or county system, and without becoming obligated in any manner for the permanent maintenance thereof.

This section shall not authorize the reopening on abandoned roads of any railroad grade crossing that has been closed by order of the Department of Transportation in connection with the building of an overhead bridge or underpass to take the place of such grade crossing."

SECTION 24.  G.S. 136‑89.53 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑89.53.  New and existing facilities; grade crossing eliminations.

The Department of Transportation may designate and establish controlled‑access highways as new and additional facilities or may designate and establish an existing street or highway as included within a controlled‑access facility. When an existing street or highway shall be designated as and included within a controlled‑ access facility the owners of land abutting such existing street or highway shall be entitled to compensation for the taking of or injury to their easements of access. The Department of Transportation shall have authority to provide for the elimination of intersections at grade of controlled‑access facilities with existing State highways and county roads, and city and town streets, by grade separation or frontage road, or by closing off such roads and streets, or other public ways at the right‑of‑way boundary line of such controlled‑ access facility; and after the establishment of any controlled‑access facility, no highway or street which is not part of said facility shall intersect the same at grade. No street or [of] of any city or town  and no State highway, county road, or other public way shall be opened into or connected with any such controlled‑access facility without the consent and previous approval of the Department of Transportation. Such consent and approval shall be given only if the public interest shall be served thereby."

SECTION 25.  G.S. 136‑89.55 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑89.55.  Local service roads.

In connection with the development of any controlled‑access facility the Department of Transportation is authorized to plan, designate, establish, use, regulate, alter, improve, maintain, and vacate local service or frontage roads and streets or to designate as local service or frontage roads and streets any existing road or street, and to exercise jurisdiction over service or frontage roads in the same manner as is authorized over controlled‑access facilities under the terms of this Article, if in its opinion such local service  or  or frontage roads and streets are necessary or desirable; provided, however that after a local service or frontage road has been established, the same shall not be vacated or abandoned in such a manner as to reduce access to the facility without the consent of the abutting property owners or the payment of just compensation, so long as the controlled‑access facility is maintained as such facility, and the Department of Transportation shall not have any authority to control or restrict the right of access of abutting property owners from their property to such local service or frontage roads or streets without the property owners' consent or the payment of just compensation, except such authority as the Department of Transportation has with respect to primary and secondary roads under the police power. Such local service or frontage roads or streets shall be of appropriate design, and shall be separated from the controlled‑access facility proper by means of all devices designated as necessary or desirable."

SECTION 26.  G.S. 136‑66.1(1) reads as rewritten:

"(1)      The State Highway System. – The State highway system inside the corporate limits of municipalities shall consist of a primary road system of major streets and highways necessary to move volumes of traffic efficiently and effectively from points beyond the corporate limits of the municipalities through the municipalities and to major business, industrial, governmental and institutional destinations located inside the municipalities. The Department of Transportation shall be responsible for the maintenance, repair, improvement, widening, construction and reconstruction of this system. These streets and highways within corporate limits are of primary benefit to the State in developing a statewide coordinated system of primary and secondary streets and highways. Each highway division shall develop an annual work plan for maintenance and contract resurfacing, within their respective divisions, consistent with the needs, inasmuch as possible, as identified in the report developed in accordance with G.S. 136‑44.3. In developing the annual work plan, the highway division shall give consideration to any special needs or information provided by the municipalities within their respective divisions. The plan shall be made available to the municipalities within the respective divisions upon request."

SECTION 27.  G.S. 136‑98(c) reads as rewritten:

"(c)       A county is authorized to participate in the cost of rights‑of‑way, construction, reconstruction, improvement, or maintenance of a road on the State primary highway system under agreement with the Department of Transportation. County participation in improvements to the State primary highway system is voluntary. The Department shall not transfer any of its responsibilities to counties without specific statutory authority."

SECTION 28.  G.S. 136‑102.6 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑102.6.  Compliance of subdivision streets with minimum standards of the Board of Transportation required of developers.

(a)        The owner of a tract or parcel of land which is subdivided from and after October 1, 1975, into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for sale or building development for residential purposes, where such subdivision includes a new street or the changing of an existing street, shall record a map or plat of the subdivision with the register of deeds of the county in which the land is located. The map or plat shall be recorded prior to any conveyance of a portion of said land, by reference to said map or plat.

(b)        The right‑of‑way of any new street or change in an existing street shall be delineated upon the map or plat with particularity and such streets shall be designated to be either public or private. Any street designated on the plat or map as public shall be conclusively presumed to be an offer of dedication to the public of such street.

(c)        The right‑of‑way and design of streets designated as public shall be in accordance with the minimum right‑of‑way and construction standards established by the Board of Transportation for acceptance on the State primary highway system.system and the county secondary highway system. If a municipal or county subdivision control ordinance is in effect in the area proposed for subdivision, the map or plat required by this section shall not be recorded by the register of deeds until after it has received final plat approval by the municipality or county, and until after it has received a certificate of approval by the Division of Highways or a board of county commissioners as herein provided as to those streets regulated in subsection (g). The certificate of approval may be issued by a district engineer of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation.Transportation or a board of county commissioners, or the board's designee.

(d)        The right‑of‑way and construction plans for such public streets in residential subdivisions, including plans for street drainage, shall be submitted to the Division of Highways or to the board of county commissioners, or to the county board's designee, for review and approval, prior to the recording of the subdivision plat in the office of the register of deeds. The plat or map required by this section shall not be recorded by the register of deeds without a certification pursuant to G.S. 47‑30.2 and, if determined to be necessary by the Review Officer, or a board of county commissioners, or the board's designee, a certificate of approval by the Division of Highways Highways, or the board of county commissioners, or the board's designee, of the plans for the public street as being in accordance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation or of the board of county commissioners for acceptance of the subdivision street on the State highway system for maintenance. The Review Officer or board of county commissioners, or the board's designee, shall not certify a map or plat subject to this section unless the new streets or changes in existing streets are designated either public or private. The certificate of approval shall not be deemed an acceptance of the dedication of the streets on the subdivision plat or map. Final acceptance by the Division of Highways Highways or the board of county commissioners of the public streets and placing them on the State primary highway system or the county secondary highway system for maintenance shall be conclusive proof that the streets have been constructed according to the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation.Transportation or the board of county commissioners.

(e)        No person or firm shall place or erect any utility in, over, or upon the existing or proposed right‑of‑way of any street in a subdivision to which this section applies, except in accordance with the Division of Highway's policies and procedures for accommodating utilities on highway rights‑of‑way, or the board of county commissioners, until the Division of Highways or the board of county commissioners has given written approval of the location of such utilities. Written approval may be in the form of exchange of correspondence until such times as it is requested to add the street or streets to the State primary highway system or the county secondary highway system, at which time an encroachment agreement furnished by the Division of Highways or the board of county commissioners must be executed between the owner of the utility and the Division of Highways.Highways or the board of county commissioners. The right of any utility placed or located on a proposed or existing subdivision public street right‑of‑way shall be subordinate to the street right‑of‑way, and the utility shall be subject to regulation by the Department of Transportation.Transportation or the board of county commissioners. Utilities are defined as electric power, telephone, television, telegraph, water, sewage, gas, oil, petroleum products, steam, chemicals, drainage, irrigation, and similar lines. Any utility installed in a subdivision street not in accordance with the Division of Highways accommodation policy, or the board of county commissioners accommodation policy, and without prior approval by the Division of Highways, or the board of county commissioners, shall be removed or relocated at no expense to the Division of Highways.Highways or the board of county commissioners.

(f)         Prior to entering any agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer, the developer and seller shall prepare and sign, and the buyer of the subject real estate shall receive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a separate instrument known as the subdivision streets disclosure statement (hereinafter referred to as disclosure statement). Said disclosure statement shall fully and completely disclose the status (whether public or private) of the street upon which the house or lot fronts. If the street is designated by the developer and seller as a public street, the developer and seller shall certify that the right‑of‑way and design of the street has been approved by the Division of Highways, or the board of county commissioners, and that the street has been or will be constructed by the developer and seller in accordance with the standards for subdivision streets adopted by the Board of Transportation Transportation, or the board of county commissioners, for acceptance on the highway system. If the street is designated by the developer and seller as a private street, the developer and seller shall include in the disclosure statement an explanation of the consequences and responsibility as to maintenance of a private street, and shall fully and accurately disclose the party or parties upon whom responsibility for construction and maintenance of such street or streets shall rest, and shall further disclose that the street or streets will not be constructed to minimum standards, sufficient to allow their inclusion on the State primary highway system or the county secondary highway system for maintenance. The disclosure statement shall contain a duplicate original which shall be given to the buyer. Written acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure statement by the buyer shall be conclusive proof of the delivery thereof.

(g)        The provisions of this section shall apply to all subdivisions located outside municipal corporate limits. As to subdivisions inside municipalities, this section shall apply to all proposed streets or changes in existing streets on the State primary highway system as shown on the comprehensive plan for the future development of the street system made pursuant to G.S. 136‑66.2, and in effect at the date of approval of the map or plat.

(h)        The provisions of this section shall not apply to any subdivision that consists only of lots located on Lakes Hickory, Norman, Mountain Island and Wylie which are lakes formed by the Catawba River which lots are leased upon October 1, 1975. No roads in any such subdivision shall be added to the State county‑maintained road system without first having been brought up to standards established by the Board of Transportationboard of county commissioners for inclusion of roads in the system, without expense to the State.county. Prior to entering any agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer of a lot in any such subdivision, the seller shall prepare and sign, and the buyer shall receive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a statement fully and completely disclosing the status of and the responsibility for construction and maintenance of the road upon which such lot is located.

(i)         The purpose of this section is to insure that new subdivision streets described herein to be dedicated to the public will comply with the State standards for placing subdivision streets on the State primary highway system or the county secondary highway system for maintenance, or that full and accurate disclosure of the responsibility for construction and maintenance of private streets be made. This section shall be construed and applied in a manner which shall not inhibit the ability of public utilities to satisfy service requirements of subdivisions to which this section applies.

(j)         The Division of Highways and district engineers of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation shall issue a certificate of approval for any subdivision affected by a transportation corridor official map established by the Board of Transportation only if the subdivision conforms to Article 2E of this Chapter or conforms to any variance issued in accordance with that Article.

(k)        A willful violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor."

SECTION 29.  G.S. 136‑176(b) reads as rewritten:

"(b)      Funds in the Trust Fund are annually appropriated to the Department of Transportation to be allocated and used as provided in this subsection. A sum, not to exceed four and eight‑tenths percent (4.8%) of the amount of revenue deposited in the Trust Fund under subdivisions (a)(1), (2), and (3) of this section may be used each fiscal year by the Department for expenses to administer the Trust Fund. Operation and project development costs of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority are eligible administrative expenses under this subsection. Any funds allocated to the Authority pursuant to this subsection shall be repaid by the Authority from its toll revenue as soon as possible, subject to any restrictions included in the agreements entered into by the Authority in connection with the issuance of the Authority's revenue bonds. Beginning one year after the Authority begins collecting tolls on a completed Turnpike Project, interest shall accrue on any unpaid balance owed to the Highway Trust Fund at a rate equal to the State Treasurer's average annual yield on its investment of Highway Trust Fund funds pursuant to G.S. 147‑6.1. Interest earned on the unpaid balance shall be deposited in the Highway Trust Fund upon repayment. The sum necessary to pay debt service on highway bonds and notes that are issued under the State Highway Bond Act of 1996 and whose proceeds are applied to secondary road construction shall be set aside for that purpose. The sum up to the amount anticipated to be necessary to meet the State matching funds requirements to receive federal‑aid highway trust funds for the next fiscal year may be set aside for that purpose. The rest of the funds in the Trust Fund shall be allocated and used as follows:

(1)        Sixty‑one and ninety‑five hundredths percent (61.95%)Sixty‑eight and forty‑five hundredths percent (68.45%) to plan, design, and construct projects on segments or corridors of the Intrastate System as described in G.S. 136‑178 and to pay debt service on highway bonds and notes that are issued under the State Highway Bond Act of 1996 and whose proceeds are applied to these projects.

(2)        Twenty‑five and five hundredths percent (25.05%) to plan, design, and construct the urban loops described in G.S. 136‑180 and to pay debt service on highway bonds and notes that are issued under the State Highway Bond Act of 1996 and whose proceeds are applied to these urban loops.

(3)        Six and one‑half percent (6.5%) to supplement the appropriation to cities for city streets under G.S. 136‑181.

(4) Six and one‑half percent (6.5%) for secondary road construction as provided in G.S. 136‑182 and to pay debt service on highway bonds and notes that are issued under the State Highway Bond Act of 1996 and whose proceeds are applied to secondary road construction.

The Department must administer funds allocated under subdivisions (1), (2), and (4) of this subsection in a manner that ensures that sufficient funds are available to make the debt service payments on bonds issued under the State Highway Bond Act of 1996 as they become due."

SECTION 30.  G.S. 136‑182 is repealed.

SECTION 31.  G.S. 136‑184(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       The Department of Transportation shall develop, and update annually, a report containing a completion schedule for all projects to be funded from the Trust Fund. The report shall include a separate schedule for the Intrastate System projects, the urban loop projects,projects. and the paving of unpaved State‑maintained secondary roads that have a traffic vehicular equivalent of at least 50 vehicles a day. The annual update shall indicate the projects, or portions thereof, that were completed during the preceding fiscal year, any changes in the original completion schedules, and the reasons for the changes. The Department shall submit the report and the annual updates to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee."

SECTION 32.  G.S. 143‑116.8(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Except as otherwise provided in this section, all the provisions of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes relating to the use of highways and public vehicular areas of the State and the operation of vehicles thereon are made applicable to the State parks and forests road system. For the purposes of this section, the term "State parks and forests road system" shall mean the streets, alleys, roads, public vehicular areas and driveways of the State parks, State forests, State recreation areas, State lakes, and all other lands administered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. This term shall not be construed, however, to include streets that are a part of the State primary highway system or the county secondary highway system. Any person violating any of the provisions of Chapter 20 hereby made applicable in the State parks and forests road system shall, upon conviction, be punished in accordance with Chapter 20. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as in any way interfering with the ownership and control of the State parks and forests road system by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources."

SECTION 33.  G.S. 153A‑205 is repealed.

SECTION 34.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2011.