GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	1 

SENATE BILL 964

Short Title:  City Participation–Road Building.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Gulley.

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Referred to:  Transportation.

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April 15, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MODIFY THE STATUTE GOVERNING MUNICIPAL PARTICIPATION IN IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 136-66.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136-66.3.  Municipal participation in improvements to the State highway system.
		(b)	The municipalities may, but shall not be required to, participate in the right-of-way and construction cost of "highway improvements.
(c)	A municipality may acquire land by dedication and acceptance, purchase, or eminent domain, and make improvements to portions of the State highway system lying within or outside the municipal corporate limits utilizing local funds that have been authorized for that purpose.  The governing body of the municipality may call a special referendum at any time to allow this use of funds.  The improvements authorized by this subsection shall be the responsibility of the municipality and shall not be a consideration for any other project by the Department of Transportation.  All improvements to the State highway system shall be done in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Department of Transportation and shall be set forth in an agreement entered into between the municipality and the Department.  The Board of Transportation shall not give consideration to or credit for such locally financed improvements in the Transportation Improvement Program under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4).
(d)	When in the review and approval by a municipality of plans for the development of property abutting the State highway system it is determined by the municipality that improvements to the State highway system are necessary to provide for the safe and orderly movement of traffic, the municipality is authorized to construct, or have constructed, said improvements to the State highway system in vicinity of the development.  For purposes of this section, improvements include but are not limited to additional travel lanes, turn lanes, curb and gutter, and drainage facilities.  All improvements to the State highway system shall be constructed in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Department of Transportation and be approved by the Department of Transportation.
(e)	A municipality may pursuant to an agreement with the Department of Transportation reimburse the Department of Transportation for the cost of all improvements, including additional right-of-way, for a street or highway improvement project approved by the Board of Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) that are in addition to those improvements that the Department of Transportation would normally include in the project.

					Any participation shall be set forth in an agreement between the municipality and the Department of Transportation.  Upon request of the municipality, the Department of Transportation shall allow the municipality a period of not less than three years from the date construction of the project is initiated to reimburse the Department their agreed upon share of the costs of rights-of-way necessary for the project.  The Department of Transportation shall not charge a municipality during the initial three years.  The Department shall report in writing, on a monthly basis, to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on all agreements entered into between municipalities and the Department of Transportation.  The report shall state in summary form the contents of such agreements.
(g)	In the acquisition of rights-of-way for any State highway system street or highway in or around a municipality, the municipality shall be vested with the same authority to acquire such rights-of-way as is granted to the Department of Transportation in this Chapter.  In the acquisition of such rights-of-way, municipalities may use the procedures provided in Article 9 of this Chapter, and wherever the words "Department of Transportation"appear in Article 9 they shall be deemed to include "municipality"or "municipal governing body,"and wherever the words "Administrator,""Administrator of Highways,""Administrator of the Department of Transportation,"or "Chairman of the Department of Transportation"appear in Article 9 they shall be deemed to include "municipal clerk".  It is the intention of this subsection that the powers herein granted to municipalities for the purpose of acquiring rights-of-way shall be in addition to and supplementary to those powers granted in any local act or in any other general statute, and in any case in which the provisions of this subsection or Article 9 of this Chapter are in conflict with the provisions of any local act or any other provision of any general statute, then the governing body of the municipality may in its discretion proceed in accordance with the provisions of such local act or other general statute, or, as an alternative method of procedure, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection and Article 9 of this Chapter.
(h)	In the absence of an agreement, the Department of Transportation shall retain authority to pay the full cost of acquiring rights-of-way where the proposed project is deemed important to a coordinated State highway system.
(i)	Either the municipality or the Department of Transportation may at any time propose changes in the agreement setting forth their respective responsibilities by giving notice to the other party, but no change shall be effective until it is adopted by both the municipal governing body and the Department of Transportation.
(j)	Any municipality that agrees to contribute any part of the cost of improvements to any State highway system street or highway shall be a proper party in any proceeding in court relating to the acquisition of such rights-of-way."
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.