Title 31, HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES

If no right - of - way is needed for the building of a subway or overhead crossing on a state or county highway, the governing body having jurisdiction over the highway shall determine when it is necessary to eliminate the crossing. Source: SDC 1939, § 28.1103 (1); SL 1984, ch 21…

The Department of Transportation shall keep the various lines of highways comprising the state trunk highway system, including the connecting streets in municipalities, distinctly marked with some standard design placed on convenient objects along the routes. The design shall be …

The department may classify, designate, and mark both intrastate and interstate highways lying within the boundaries of this state and provide a uniform system of marking and signing the highways under the jurisdiction of this state. The system of marking and signing shall correl…

The Transportation Commission shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 and consistent with the manual on uniform traffic control devices governing standards for supplemental guide signs on the interstate highway system. The rules shall set forth qualifying facility criteri…

The Transportation Commission shall give priority consideration to highway safety factors before approval of any application for a supplemental guide sign. Secondary consideration shall only be given to criteria relating to the traffic generating capacity of the facility or insti…

In establishing standards pursuant to § 31-28-10.1 the Transportation Commission may not restrict the availability of these supplemental guide signs to four - year degree granting institutions, nor may it establish enrollment criteria that restricts the eligibility of smaller edu…

On any street or road constructed with federal aid, the location, form, character of informational regulatory warning signs, curb and pavement, or other markings and traffic signals, shall conform to uniform national signing standards. Source: SL 1945, ch 121 ; SDC Supp 1960, § 2…

Each board of county commissioners shall erect and maintain substantial guideposts at convenient intervals along all public highways under its jurisdiction not within the boundaries of any municipality, which guideposts shall show in plain letters thereon the directions and dista…

Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may cause appropriate signs to be erected and maintained, designating residence and business districts, highway and steam or interurban railway grade crossing, and such other signs as may be deemed necessary to carry out the pro…

No unauthorized person may erect or maintain upon any highway, any warning or direction sign, marker, signal, or light in imitation of any official sign, marker, signal, or light erected under the provisions of this chapter. No person may erect or maintain upon any highway any tr…

The department and boards of county commissioners may designate certain state and county highways, or portions thereof, as preferential or arterial highways. The traffic upon any highway so designated shall have the right-of-way. Failure to comply with the provisions of this sect…

Except within the limits of a municipality, the department and county commissioners may designate any hazardous intersection as a stop intersection, and designate any railroad crossing as a stop crossing. The intersections and railroad crossings shall be designated by placing a s…

No person may place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway any unauthorized sign, signal, marking, or device which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles an official traffic control device or railroad sign or signal, which attempts to direct the movement …

If, in the marking or numbering of any state trunk highway, there is a division of the highway into two branches, there shall be erected along each of the highways at the initial point of separation a directional sign indicating the general direction or course of the respective h…

No person may place or maintain nor may any public authority permit upon any highway or public right-of-way any traffic sign or signal bearing any commercial or political campaign advertising. A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1963, ch 274 , §§ 4 (2…

The provisions of § 31-28-19 and 31-28-20 do not prohibit the erection upon private property adjacent to highways of signs giving useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken for official signs. Source: SL 1963, ch 274 , § 4 (3); SL 2010, ch 145 , § 145.

Every sign, signal, marking, or device prohibited by §§ 31-28-19 and 31-28-20 is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, and the Department of Transportation or local authorities within their respective jurisdictions shall remove the sign, signal, marking, or device or cause it …

No person may, without lawful authority, attempt or actually alter, deface, injure, knock down, remove, or in any manner molest or interfere with any official highway marker, sign, guide board, traffic-control device, interstate highway gate, or any railroad sign or signal, barri…

In addition to any damages and penalties provided by § 31-28-23 , any person who is convicted of the offense of intentionally tampering, removing, or interfering with any official highway marker, sign, or control device pursuant to § 31-28-23 is subject to a civil penalty, to be …

Nothing in §§ 31-28-19 to 31-28-23.1 , inclusive, limits the existing authority of South Dakota law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties involving traffic light control. Source: SL 1963, ch 274 , § 7; SL 2010, ch 145 , § 146; SL 2021, ch 128 , § 5.

No person may possess any sign, guide board, mileage post, signal, or marker erected by the state or by any governmental subdivision unless obtained in a legal manner. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1977, ch 245 ; SL 1984, ch 207 , § 76.

Nothing in this chapter limits the practice and activity of a professional licensed pursuant to chapter 36-18A , performing his or her professional duties. Source: SL 2001, ch 160 , § 4; SL 2010, ch 145 , § 147.

No routes may be marked within or through the state until an exact description of the routes selected for marking have been filed with the Department of Transportation and the route and marking have been approved by the department. Any routes previously marked between any two adj…

The Department of Transportation shall specify and may cause to be erected the standard traffic control devices and markings it considers necessary along the trunk highway system. The devices and markings shall be of uniform design throughout the state. Source: SL 1919, ch 333 , …

The public board or officer whose duty it is to repair or maintain any public highway shall erect and maintain at points in conformity with standard uniform traffic control practices on each side of any sharp turn, blind crossing, or other point of danger on such highway, except …

The public board or officer whose duty it is to repair or maintain any public highway shall erect and maintain at points in conformity with standard uniform traffic control practices on each side of the place at which a highway crosses an operational railway track or right-of-way…

For the purpose of § 31-28-7 , legally abandoned track is any section of railway track on which formal legal abandonment proceedings have been completed. For the purpose of §§ 31-28-7 , 31-28-7.2 , and 32-29-5 , nonoperational track is any section of railway track on which there …

If a nonoperational track becomes operational, the operator of that railroad shall, not less than thirty days prior to operating on the track, cause public notice to be given thereof, by publication in each newspaper published in each county in which the operator intends to opera…

It shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor to erect or display any sign endangering the public or other guide or warning signs upon the trunk highway system except in case of emergency or when approved by the Department of Transportation. Source: SL 1919, ch 333 , § 53; SL 1923, ch 284 , …

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person to erect or construct along the streets or highways adjoining any cemetery, or within three hundred feet of any cemetery, any billboard, advertising sign, or unsightly object without first obtaining the written consent of the proper offi…

The Department of Transportation may acquire and improve strips of land necessary for acquisition of publicly owned and controlled rest areas and sanitary and other facilities within or adjacent to the highway right-of-way reasonably necessary to accommodate the traveling public.…

The interest in any land authorized to be acquired and maintained under § 31-29-12 may be the fee simple or any lesser interest, as determined by the department. The acquisition may be by gift, purchase, exchange, or by condemnation pursuant to the procedures provided by either §…

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person, corporation, or association, to place or maintain, or cause to be placed or maintained, any advertising sign, device, display, building, or structure on any of the public highways of the state. Except within municipalities, it is a Clas…

In order to provide information to the traveling public, the Department of Tourism may maintain maps and permit informational directories and advertising pamphlets to be made available at safety rest areas, and may establish information centers at safety rest areas for the purpos…

No sign, display, or device may be required to be removed unless at the time of removal there are sufficient funds appropriated and available to pay the affected parties just compensation after due allowance for any contribution that may be available from the federal government, …

The Legislature, recognizing the public investment in highways and in justification of these expenditures, particularly the cost of maintenance which is borne wholly by state funds, finds and declares that it is the policy of this state that the erection and maintenance of outdoo…

Terms used in this chapter mean: (1) "Abandoned sign," a sign or sign structure that is blank, obliterated or displays obsolete advertising material for a period in excess of twelve continuous months; (2) "Advertising area," the area of the sign face including border and trim, bu…

No outdoor advertising may be erected within six hundred sixty feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled way or beyond six hundred sixty feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way visible from the main-traveled way, located outside an urban…

Any advertising sign, display, or device which violates the provisions of this chapter is hereby declared to be unlawful. The Department of Transportation shall give thirty days' written notice by certified mail, to the owner thereof to remove any prohibited sign, display, or dev…

Any abandoned sign as defined by § 31-29-62 is unlawful and is subject to the provisions of chapter 31-29 . The twelve - month period for determining if a sign is abandoned commences upon the department's notification of violation to the sign owner. Source: SL 1991, ch 235 , § 2.

For the purposes of this chapter, an "available for lease" or other similar message is not considered advertising material. Any public service message is considered advertising material if it is a bona fide public service announcement which encompasses not less than twenty - five…

The following are not on - premise signs: (1) A sale or lease sign which also advertises any product or service not located upon or unrelated to the business of selling or leasing the land on which the sign is located; or (2) A sign located upon any land which is not an integral …

On interstate highways or limited access primary highways outside municipalities, no outdoor advertising device may be located adjacent to or within five hundred feet of an interchange, intersection at grade or safety rest area. Such five hundred feet shall be measured along such…

The standards and criteria for size of outdoor advertising authorized to be erected and maintained in zoned or unzoned commercial or industrial areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems are: (1) The maximum area of any one sign facing any one direction shall be…

The standards and criteria for lighting of outdoor advertising authorized to be erected and maintained in zoned or unzoned commercial or industrial areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems are: (1) No revolving or rotating beam of light simulating an official …

The standards and criteria for spacing of outdoor advertising authorized to be erected and maintained in zoned or unzoned commercial or industrial areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems are: (1) Within municipalities signs shall conform to any applicable bui…