Title XX, Transportation

When the construction or alteration of any state highway requires the taking of land or rights therein in which a public utility has a property interest by agreement with the public utility owning such interest, the department of transportation may acquire by layout under the lay…

The layout authority may add to the land area of any highway planning corridor, provided, however, that written notice shall be given to each owner of land or other property affected by the amendment, and no determination of whether there is occasion for the designation shall be …

I. The governor, with advice of the council, may determine upon hearing whether there is occasion for the laying out or alteration of a class I or class II highway or a highway within the state included in the national system of interstate highways as proposed by the commissioner…

The highway planning corridor shall terminate: I. Upon the filing of a return of highway layout and the acquisition of the property necessary for the highway for which the planning corridor was created; or II. Upon a declaration by the layout authority that the corridor, or any p…

I. The governor, with advice of the council, may appoint a commission of 3 persons who, upon hearing, shall determine whether there is occasion for the laying out or alteration of a class I or class II highway or a highway within the state included in the national system of inter…

Notice of the corridor termination shall be given by first class mail to all owners of land or other property or their successors in interest, and governmental units to whom notice was sent under RSA 230-A:3.

Owners shall include tenants for life or years, remaindermen, reversioners, or holders of undischarged mortgages of record whose mortgages are dated not earlier than 20 years prior to date of filing such petition.

The persons appointed to the commission shall be sworn to act faithfully and impartially in the performance of their duties and the certificate of their oath shall be returned to the secretary of state.

Penalties and remedies for violations of this chapter shall be the same as for violations of title LXIV, as stated in RSA 676:15 and 676:17; and, if any development occurs on any land within a designated highway planning corridor, without a corridor permit, the layout authority s…

The powers granted by this chapter may be exercised by a municipality either independently of, or concurrently with, the creation of an official map pursuant to RSA 674:9-15. The designation of a highway planning corridor by a municipal layout authority shall require the approval…

The governor with the advice of the council, or the commission appointed by the governor with advice of the council, at least 14 days previous to a public hearing as provided in RSA 230:19, shall cause notice in writing of the time and place of hearing appointed by them, together…

I. When the owner resides or lives within the state, notice shall be given to him in person or left at his abode or sent to him by certified mail. II. When the owner does not reside or live within the state notice may be given to the person, if any, who has the care or possession…

The powers described in this chapter may be exercised jointly by the state and any municipality, or by 2 or more municipalities, utilizing RSA 53-A or any other lawful means of agreement.

The governor and council, or the commission, at the time and place appointed for hearing shall make a personal examination of the proposed location, and of any highway for which the proposed highway is designed to be a substitute, shall hear all parties interested who may attend,…

Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the necessity to comply with the provisions of any other applicable federal, state or local law regulation.

A layout authority may determine upon hearing whether there is occasion for the designation of one or more highway planning corridors. For class I or II highways, the location shall be proposed by the commissioner of the department of transportation. In making such determination …

The department of transportation shall assume full control and pay the costs of construction, reconstruction and maintenance of all highways within the state included in the national system of interstate highways.

In the making of all awards the commission shall keep a complete record of all evidence considered by it in arriving at its awards and shall submit same to the governor and council with its report to them. The expense of such record shall be a charge against the highway fund.

Whenever the commission is of the opinion that savings to the state will thereby be effected, it may purchase an entire tract of land or other property upon agreement with the owner, and, with the consent of the governor and council, may sell therefrom whatever land or other prop…

Notice of the hearing, together with a description of the proposed corridor, shall be given to the same parties with respect to such corridor, and in the same manner, as in the case of a highway layout hearing, pursuant to RSA 230:17-18 or 231:9-10, as the case may be, including …

The department of transportation shall assume full control and pay the costs of reconstruction and maintenance of all class II highways which have been improved to the satisfaction of the commissioner of transportation.

The commission may include in their assessment of damages to the abutting owners, damages for the maintenance or planting, from time to time, within the limits of such highway, of such shade and ornamental trees and shrubbery as may be necessary in the opinion of the commissioner…

I. In consultation with the commissioner of the department of transportation, the director of plant and property management shall, when feasible, authorize the installation of vending machines dispensing non-alcoholic beverages and food items in the facilities located in rest are…

The state shall pay for all land and other property taken or acquired by the commission, and, with the approval of the governor, with advice of the council, for the services and expenses of the commissioners and costs of litigation incurred by the commission in the taking of such…

Whenever proceedings have been completed under the provisions of this chapter for the taking of land or other property for class I or class II highways the commissioner of transportation shall cause to be recorded in the office of the register of deeds for the respective county w…

All other class II highways shall be maintained by the city or town in which they are located, and may be improved to the satisfaction of the commissioner of transportation with the use of state aid funds.

The layout authority, at the time and place appointed for hearing, shall make a personal examination of the proposed corridors, shall hear all parties interested who may attend, and may adjourn as it sees cause.

For the purposes of this subdivision, a limited access facility is defined as a highway especially designed for through traffic, and over, from, or to which owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons have no right or easement or only a limited right or easement of acce…

For the purpose of this subdivision, the executive director of the fish and game department shall have authority over all class III-a highways.

The governor, with the advice of the council, on the governor's own motion or a special committee of 3 persons appointed by the governor and council for the purpose, may determine, upon hearing, whether there is occasion for the laying out or alteration of a limited access facili…

The commissioner of transportation is authorized to so design any limited access facility and to so regulate, restrict, or prohibit access as to best serve the traffic for which such facility is intended. He is authorized to divide and separate any limited access facility into se…

The commissioner of transportation may designate and establish limited access highways as new and additional facilities or may designate and establish any existing road, street or highway within the state as included within a limited access facility. He shall have authority to pr…

The commissioner of transportation is authorized to plan, designate, establish, use, regulate, alter, improve, maintain or discontinue any road, street or highway or portion thereof, or to designate as local service roads and streets any existing road, street or highway, and to e…

I. The location of essential motorist services, including food, fuel, lodging, camping, and attractions, on connecting service roads within 3 miles of the intersection with the limited access highway, within 5 miles for a campground, within 20 miles for an attraction, or within o…

Whenever the commissioner of transportation authorizes the replacement of an existing highway sign or the installation of a new highway sign which designates that a city or town lies ahead, that sign shall also state the distance in miles from the sign to the city or town limits …

Any owner of land or other property aggrieved by a finding of the layout authority on the matter of occasion for the layout of a highway planning corridor or alteration thereof, may appeal to the superior court, for the county in which such land or other property is situated, by …

Selectmen, subject to a vote of the town, or the mayor and board of aldermen of cities, may convey to the state all right, title, and interest of the town or city in or to any class I, class II, or class III highway, if such conveyance is desired by the state on account of any hi…

Any limited access facility, service road, or alteration thereof shall be constructed with state or federal funds or both; and any limited access facility shall be maintained with state or federal funds or both.

Any service roads constructed by the state in conjunction with but not a part of a limited access facility shall be classified by the commissioner of transportation as a class IV, V or VI highway. After any such classification the provisions of RSA 230:52 and 53 shall not apply a…

I. No commercial enterprise or activities shall be authorized or conducted by the commissioner of transportation or any other agency of the state within or on the property acquired for or designated as a limited access facility. II. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 230:52, I…

The commissioner of transportation may regulate, restrict, or prohibit the use of such limited access facilities by trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles, may regulate or prohibit the use of such facilities by all other types of vehicles, and may regulate or prohibit other …

Any person violating the provisions of the regulations posted under RSA 230:53 shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person. Any person shall be liable for all damage occasioned thereby.

Whenever the commissioner of transportation shall alter or relocate any portion of any class I or class II highway, and finds that there is no further occasion to use such portion for class I or class II highway purposes for property acquired by the state in 1945 or earlier, the …

The selectmen of such town within 60 days after receiving such notice regarding property acquired by the state in 1945 or earlier, shall determine, after notice to the owners of land or abutting owners given in the same manner as provided for in the laying out of highways by sele…

Upon the filing of notice with the commissioner of transportation that such occasion exists, or, in the event that the selectmen fail to take any action or notify the commissioner of transportation in writing of their determination within 60 days after the receipt of notice from …

Regarding property acquired by the state in 1945 or earlier, upon the filing of notice with the commissioner of transportation that such occasion does not exist, the commissioner shall post notice in 2 public places in such town that such portion of highway is thereupon discontin…