Title 54, Highways, Bridges And Ferries

(a) Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, when there are two (2) or more competing applications for inclusion on a particular TODS sign assembly the department shall award installation on the TODS sign assembly to the business from which the department firs…

(a) State highway projects funded totally from state appropriations shall be subject to public hearings only in the following instances:(1) The commissioner determines that the public interest would be served if a public hearing was held; or(2) The commissioner determines that th…

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a guide sign must be erected on or along an interstate highway or at an interchange for an exposition center:(1) That has at least seventy thousand square feet (70,000 sq. ft.), but no more than ninety thousand square feet (90,000 sq. …

The commissioner shall adequately eradicate or control, or both, by chemical or other means, noxious weeds growing on state highway rights-of-way whenever areas adjacent to the rights-of-way are determined by the commissioner of agriculture, in accordance with § 43-1-106, to be r…

(a) (1) Residents of the state who derive a significant portion of their annual income by farming may petition the department for permission to cut and bale hay along the rights-of-way of interstate highways located within the state, and other controlled access highway facilities…

(a) No agency or entity of state, county, or municipal government in the state shall purchase any materials used for highway or roadway construction, resurfacing, or maintenance from any foreign government, or any company wholly owned and controlled by a foreign government, regar…

(a) (1) (A) The department is authorized to remove, store, sell and dispose of personal property encroachments on the rights-of-way of highways under its jurisdiction at the expense of the owner.(B) If the encroachment presents an immediate danger to the traveling public, the dep…

It is the intent of the department to make reasonable efforts to eliminate conditions on highway rights-of-way that are hazardous to an adjoining landowner's health, welfare and safety.

(a) Notwithstanding other law to the contrary, for contracts for the mowing of rights-of-way and litter collection, or either of them, bids may be accompanied by letters of credit in the amount of five percent (5%) of the bid, in lieu of proper bonds, to guarantee execution of th…

(a) The commissioner may enter into a contract with a qualified county to perform maintenance activities upon the rights-of-way of state highways located outside municipalities and metropolitan governments. (b) The department of transportation shall reimburse the county on an act…

(a) Cities, counties and metropolitan governments are authorized, within their respective jurisdictions, to make improvements to existing highways on the system of state highways, or to construct additions to the system, with the approval of the commissioner. The work may be acco…

The commissioner of transportation shall report quarterly to the state building commission on the status of road projects as approved by the general assembly as part of the department of transportation's budget or otherwise. The status report shall include a current list of proje…

(1) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, proposed payment shall be approved by the commissioner of finance and administration and the comptroller of the treasury: (1) If the property is proposed for acquisition for right-of-way under the authority of this chapter; (2) I…

The department shall consider whether highway rights-of-way are suitable for retention in order to restore, preserve, or improve the scenic beauty and environmental quality adjacent to the highway, prior to declaring the rights-of-way surplus and conveying them for uses other tha…

The commissioner may designate and appropriately mark on appropriate state highways, or portions of state highways, routes for the use of bicycles.

(a) The department of transportation is directed to include the language “The Volunteer State” on all highway signs welcoming visitors to the state. The language shall be added to the signs whenever the signs are replaced or modified for another purpose. (b) Notwithstanding any r…

Any segment or structure named on State Route 840, the “Tennessee National Guard Parkway” as designated by chapter 35 of the Public Acts of 2005, shall be dedicated as a memorial to a fallen Tennessee national guardsman.

(a) (1) In this subsection (a), “driver under the influence” means a driver who was under the influence of any intoxicant, marijuana, narcotic drug, or drug producing stimulating effects on the central nervous system, or the alcohol concentration in such person's blood or breath …

(a) The department of transportation shall develop and implement a policy regarding the removal of personal property used for camping, as defined in § 55-8-212, from:(1) The shoulder, berm, or right-of-way of highways under its jurisdiction; or(2) Under a bridge or overpass, or w…

(a) The department shall construct, reconstruct and improve streets and maintain the streets in municipalities over which traffic on state highways is routed; or enter into contracts with the municipalities in the state regarding the construction, reconstruction and improvement o…

The streets constructed, reconstructed, improved and maintained by the state shall be of a width and type that the department deems proper, but the width so constructed, reconstructed, improved and maintained shall not be less than eighteen feet (18′); and, in the case of resurfa…

Where a municipality is organized for the care of its own streets, the construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance may be done by the municipality, which shall be reimbursed by the state; provided, that all expenditures shall be subject to the approval of the depart…

Where a municipality is not organized to care for its own streets and roads, the construction or maintenance shall be done by the state, either by contract or state forces.

The department shall have sole jurisdiction over the selection of the streets through which traffic shall be routed.

The department is authorized to maintain the rights-of-way, pavement, and structures of streets over which interstate highway traffic is routed within municipalities and designated by the commissioner as part of the interstate and defense system of highways as defined by the Fede…

(1) In the event any municipality fails or refuses to enter into an agreement within thirty (30) days after the agreement has been submitted by the commissioner to the governing body of the municipal corporation, or fails or refuses to abide by or perform an agreement concerning …

In the event it becomes necessary for the commissioner to proceed under this section and §§ 54-5-207, 54-5-209 and 54-5-210, the state, acting through the commissioner, is authorized and empowered to exercise the power of eminent domain within municipalities for streets designate…

No municipality has the authority to enact any ordinance or do any other act that will cause the state to lose federal aid funds for such streets.

Nothing in this section and §§ 54-5-207 — 54-5-209 shall be construed as otherwise changing the character or legal status of city streets in any way and the distinctions made in this code between streets and highways are continued in full force and effect.

The responsible authority in each municipality may designate and appropriately mark on appropriate municipal streets, or portions of municipal streets, routes for the use of bicycles.

(a) In order to prevent the obstruction or restriction of the flow of water along, across or under any highway on the state highway system, the impounding of water upon or within the highway, the damaging in any way or manner of the highway, or the interference with or creation o…

No person, firm, corporation or municipality shall construct any entrance into a highway in the state highway system without first having agreed to construct the highway in accordance with rules and regulations of the commissioner.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “State Industrial Access Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of transportation;(2) “Industrial highway” means any extension of, or connection with the highway system, including state and federal highways, rural roads, and municipal streets…

(a) To facilitate the development and expansion of industry and to provide access to industrial areas, the department is authorized to use any powers granted to it under current law and this part to develop and construct industrial highways when there is a finding made jointly by…

The department is authorized to enter into agreements with municipalities regarding the acquisition of rights-of-way adequate for present and foreseeable needs and the proportion of preliminary engineering, design, and construction costs to be paid by the state and by the municip…

(a) The state shall not share in the cost of constructing any part of an industrial highway within an industrial site or park or privately owned tract of land, unless the part of the industrial highway is a link in a highway serving areas beyond the industrial site or park or pri…

(a) In effectuating the purposes of this part, the department is authorized to use highway funds not specifically allotted by legislative action to other categories of highway construction and maintenance. (b) Notwithstanding § 54-5-405, cities and counties within this state may …

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Local Interstate and Fully Controlled Access Highway Connector Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Department” means the department of transportation;(2) “Local agency” means any county or incorporated city or town in this state;(3) “Local interstate or fully controlled access highway connecting route” or “co…

In order for the citizens of the state to get the greatest possible use from the interstate highway system or fully controlled access highways, the department is authorized to use any powers granted under any general law to establish a system of connectors so located and spaced a…

The connectors shall be limited in length from their respective intersections with a segment of the interstate highway or fully controlled access highway to a connection with the first existing adequate facility or to a connection with the street system of the first population ce…

Tolerable standards for establishing adequacy of existing routes shall be those of the department used in highway planning, based on estimated traffic in 1975, and adequacy shall be determined by the department.

The department has the responsibility for administering each project and establishing the specifications that are appropriate for each contemplated connector.

(a) The department will receive proposals from local agencies, either city or county, for the construction of a connector. Proposals shall contain an agreement on the part of the local agency to participate in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of the cost of the project, and to m…

In effectuating the purposes of this part, the department is authorized to use funds appropriated to the department for this purpose.