Title XX, Transportation

For projects exceeding $5,000,000, the department of transportation shall include in its engineering and design how to mitigate effects on entry, access, or parking.

The commissioner of transportation may sell to other departments and institutions of the state and to subdivisions of the state, materials and supplies purchased for use by the department in connection with their normal operations. He is authorized to assess a fair and equitable …

The commissioner and his agents may enter private lands to make surveys and establish boundaries of highways.

When there is a complaint that privately owned water supplies have been destroyed or rendered unfit for use as water supplies because of construction or maintenance operations on the state highway systems, the commissioner shall investigate and determine the extent, if any, of st…

Whenever in the opinion of the commissioner the boundary lines, limits, or location of any class I or class II highway, or any part thereof, shall have become lost, uncertain, or doubtful, he may reestablish the same as, in his opinion, they were originally established. He shall …

Whenever the commissioner shall alter or relocate any portion of any class I or class II highway and finds that there is further occasion to use such portion for highway purposes, he may reassign such portion to another classification; and upon reassignment of any such portion to…

The commissioner may close, regulate or restrict traffic over any section of any class I, class II or class III highway or bridge thereon when the public welfare or necessity so requires, or in order to perform work on any such highway or bridge by posting notices at each end of …

The commissioner is authorized and directed to erect on any class I, class II or interstate highway under his jurisdiction, reflective directional signs designating the route or exit to the nearest general hospital. Such signs shall be erected in those locations as the commission…

The commissioner with the approval of the governor and council may contract with the officials of any adjoining state or political subdivision thereof for the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of any bridge crossing the boundary line between New Hampshire and such adj…

I. Each state transportation project shall be built under contracts awarded to the lowest responsible bidder through competitive bidding. The following are excluded from this competitive bidding requirement: (a) Normal highway and bridge maintenance and improvements. This include…

Any bonds issued under authority of this chapter may be issued pursuant to lines of credit or other banking arrangements under such terms and conditions not inconsistent with this chapter, and under such agreements with the purchasers or makers thereof, as the treasurer may deter…

No project subject to the competitive bidding requirements of RSA 228:4 shall be awarded to any independent contractor except: I. If the commissioner decides that the bid of the lowest bidder should be accepted, he or she shall prepare a contract of acceptance of the lowest bid w…

I. Prior to any work being done by an individual contractor on any state transportation project carried out under this subdivision, such contractor, including all subcontractors and independent contractors, working on a highway, bridge, or other construction, reconstruction, alte…

I. The department of transportation is authorized to employ a permanent full time maintenance crew for the Piscataqua river bridge between the city of Portsmouth and the town of Kittery, Maine. The personnel of said crew shall be responsible for the maintenance of said bridge pur…

The commissioner shall annually report to the governor and council the work done and expenditures incurred by his department for the fiscal year ending June 30.

The commissioner may authorize the destruction of papers or records not having a permanent or historical value at the end of 7 years from the making thereof; provided, however, that the rules and regulations of the director of the division of archives and records management, as p…

Copies of records, papers and plans in the office of the commissioner, when certified by the commissioner or assistant commissioner under oath to be true copies, shall be evidence in like manner as the originals.

Upon the application of any county, city, town, or unincorporated place, the commissioner may furnish to it, free of charge, the services of an engineer for the purpose of consultation and advice on matters pertaining to highways.

Upon request of a city, town or unincorporated place, the commissioner shall provide any necessary road inspection services to assist cities, towns and unincorporated places to develop long-range plans relative to highway construction and maintenance. Such services may include, b…

Any highway welcome sign erected at the state border by the department of transportation shall prominently display the state motto: "Live Free or Die."

The department of transportation shall consider wildlife corridors and habitat strongholds as defined in RSA 207:1 in road mitigation projects and where feasible as determined by the department, including stream crossings, with expansion of capacity and redesign of culverts for p…

The commissioner may provide for the holding of meetings of town and city highway agents at convenient points within the state, at which advice and instruction shall be given relative to the care and maintenance of local highways; and any town or city highway agent attending such…

It shall be the duty of the commissioner to provide some competent representative who shall periodically confer and advise with the highway agent or agents of each town and city within the state as to the best methods of care and maintenance of local highways within the respectiv…

The commissioner may, on request of any city or town, perform work of maintenance and repair, including the furnishing of labor and materials, on any town or city road, bridge or any other property used in connection with highways, or on the request of any state department or ins…

Any pledge of revenues or other property made by the state under this chapter shall be valid and binding and shall be deemed continuously perfected for the purposes of RSA 382-A and other laws from the time when the pledge is made; the revenues, moneys, rights, and proceeds so pl…

The performance of contracts for all state transportation projects shall be inspected to assure compliance with the plans and specifications. The department shall require inspection service by one of the following methods: (a) by the registered architect or professional engineer …

Whenever the commissioner is of the opinion that the cost of repairs to a highway, structure or facility should be reimbursed, in whole or in part, by a person, company or corporation, he may, in the first instance, charge the cost of the repairs to the special account establishe…

With the approval of the governor and council the commissioner of transportation is hereby authorized to classify as a class I highway any existing or proposed public highway which is needed to provide essential highway transportation services from a military reservation or defen…

The commissioner of transportation is authorized to accept federal funds for the construction, improvement or maintenance of highways classified in RSA 228:51.

When a military reservation or defense industry or activity is closed or it is determined that the highways classified in RSA 228:51 are no longer necessary the commissioner of transportation is authorized with the approval of governor and council to revert any such highway to it…

As used in this subdivision, the following terms shall have the following meanings: I. "Agent for the state" shall mean the commissioner of transportation as agent for the state as that term is used in the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973, and any amendments thereto or ot…

I. Whenever the department shall be of the opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that any part of a common carrier of passengers or freight within the state reasonably requires alteration or reconstruction, or that the rules, practices, equipment, ap…

Notwithstanding any provisions of the law to the contrary, the commissioner, as sole agent for the state, and with the approval of the governor and council, is authorized to acquire, by purchase or condemnation, or otherwise, such portion or portions of the rail property of any r…

The commissioner as sole agent for the state, with the approval of the governor and council, is authorized to sell, transfer or lease all or any part of the rail properties, and other property acquired under the provisions of this subdivision, to any responsible person, firm or c…

I. Notwithstanding RSA 228:57, portions of real estate owned by the state and managed by the bureau of rail and transit in the department of transportation that are on the shores of public waters, as defined by RSA 271:20, may be leased for private, noncommercial use by owners of…

After acquiring said railroad lines within the state of New Hampshire, the commissioner, with approval of governor and council, is authorized to assist any responsible person, firm or corporation to secure as promptly as possible after such events, from the interstate commerce co…

If the commissioner is unable to acquire the rail properties of any railroad, or any part thereof, by purchase or otherwise, he or she may proceed to condemn all or any such portion of such property. In all such condemnation proceedings, the legislative determination herein made …

Any owner of a bond issued under the provisions of this chapter and any trustee under a trust or security agreement or resolution securing the same, except to the extent the rights given in this section may be restricted by such agreement or resolution, may bring suit upon the bo…

The department is further authorized to: I. Cooperate with the department of administrative services in long range capital planning to meet the needs of the state, as may be requested by the governor and council and subject to their approval. II. Assist any using agency or instit…

The commissioner is hereby authorized to take whatever steps are necessary in order to determine the absolute fee simple title ownership of all such rail properties of any railroad within the state of New Hampshire. Such determination is to include the status of such rail propert…

I. No railroad right-of-way in this state shall be used for any purpose that would unreasonably limit the ability to restore rail service over the right-of-way at minimum cost if such service were to be required in the future. II. If the commissioner is unable to acquire a railro…

I. All rail properties within the state offered for sale by any railway corporation after July 1, 1990, shall be offered for sale in writing to the commissioner in the first instance. In no event shall a railroad corporation offer to sell or otherwise dispose of rail properties t…

I. The commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements, with owners of railroad rights-of-way on which railroad service has been abandoned, for preservation intact of railroad right-of-way corridors. Any such agreement shall provide: (a) That a specifically identified railroa…

The commissioner is authorized to cooperate with other states in connection with the purchase of any rail properties within the state of New Hampshire. The commissioner is also authorized to acquire trackage rights in other states and rail properties lying in other states in orde…

The commissioner shall have the power and authority to develop and promulgate plans for the development and continuation of railroad systems within the state of New Hampshire. The commissioner shall have the duty and responsibility for establishing a state plan as referred to in …

The transportation commissioner may recommend one or more of the employees of the division to the commissioner of safety for appointment as railroad police officers pursuant to RSA 106-N:2. All employees recommended for appointment shall meet the qualifications for commission set…