Title 54, Highways, Bridges And Ferries

(a) The traffic laws of this state, including the applicable traffic laws of a municipality through which a user fee facility passes, and user fees and use restrictions established by the commissioner, govern the use of a user fee facility authorized under this chapter. State and…

(a) The state funding board is authorized to issue bonds of this state, without limitation as to amount, for the purpose of financing costs associated with the development of user fee facility projects, as shall be requested by the commissioner, subject to approval of the board. …

(1) By authorizing the issuance of bonds, hedging agreements and ancillary agreements which are not a liability of the state, payable other than from user fee revenues and other moneys on deposit in the state user fee fund, the general assembly intends that such authorizations sh…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as either waiving the immunity of the state from suit or as extending its consent to be sued.

In order to effectuate the purposes and policies prescribed in this chapter, this chapter shall be liberally construed.

(a) There is established the transportation modernization board. The board consists of five (5) voting members as follows:(1) One (1) member to be appointed by the governor;(2) One (1) member to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;(3) One (1) member to be …

(a) The operator of a vehicle that is driven through a user fee facility without payment of the user fee commits a violation of § 54-3-108(e) subject to enforcement under this section. Each event of nonpayment is a separate violation. This subsection (a) does not apply to an oper…

(a) Personal information or highly restricted personal information obtained in connection with a motor vehicle record, and thereafter obtained by the department or the department's contractor in connection with the collection of and enforcement of user fees on a user fee facility…

(a) All state moneys appropriated or allotted for the maintenance and improvement of county systems shall be known as county aid funds, to be paid over by the commissioner of finance and administration to the trustees of the several counties in the proportion directed in § 54-4-1…

(a) Any county official or person who authorizes, directs or permits the expenditure of county aid funds for any purpose, except those authorized by this part, shall be personally liable for any unauthorized expenditure of the funds. (b) Officials or persons violating this sectio…

(a) (1) The county aid funds shall be divided and distributed to the various counties of the state as follows: fifty percent (50%) of the fund shall be distributed equally among the ninety-five (95) counties of the state, and fifty percent (50%) of the balance shall be distribute…

In the event the task of administering a county's pro rata share of the county aid fund is placed on the department of transportation by resolution as provided in § 54-4-103, and, in carrying on the work on the county roads and bridges, an employee or other person is injured or k…

Nothing in § 54-4-103 shall be construed to increase the salary of trustees of the counties beyond that fixed by any salary law.

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Municipal street aid fund” means the funds provided for municipalities by §§ 67-3-901 and 67-3-905;(2) “Municipality” means any incorporated city or incorporated town charged with the duty of constructing and ma…

(a) Funds in the municipal street aid fund shall be distributed to eligible municipalities within the state monthly by the commissioner of finance and administration, or other official now or hereafter charged with the duty of allocating or distributing state funds, in proportion…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (f), each municipality shall keep all funds received from the municipal street aid fund in a separate fund designated as the state street aid fund and may expend the funds only for one (1) or more of the following purposes:(1) Street improveme…

It is a Class C misdemeanor for any municipal official or employee to authorize, direct or permit the expenditure of the funds for any purpose, except those authorized by this part. Any municipal official or employee who violates this section shall be personally liable for any un…

Those counties having a metropolitan form of government shall keep all funds received under this chapter in one (1) fund to be used for the purposes set out in this chapter.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require those counties having a metropolitan form of government to keep separate from each other the funds received under this chapter, to keep separate accounting of the funds or to spend the funds in a particular service district.

The commissioner is authorized to establish a state-aid highway system in cooperation with local officials.

(a) The commissioner has full power, and it is made the duty of the commissioner, after consultation with local officials, to designate those highways and roads that are considered of sufficient importance to be included in the state-aid highway system. In the selection and desig…

When the state-aid highway system has been designated as provided in § 54-4-402, the local authorities having authority over the selected roads shall submit an annual program to the department specifying the type of work to be performed in the local entity on the state-aid highwa…

(a) Funds appropriated to the state-aid highway system shall be allocated to the local agencies to be expended upon the designated highways and roads by the same formula as is set forth in § 54-4-103. (b) No funds shall be either obligated or expended under this program unless th…

(1) Work authorized by this part shall be done in one (1) of the following methods:(1) Upon request of local officials, the department may agree and is fully empowered to act as agent for the local agency to carry out any phase of work authorized on the state-aid highway system;(…

Any road designated as a part of the state-aid highway system shall be maintained by the local agency in which the highway or road is located.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “1990 Bridge Grant Program Act.”

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of transportation;(2) “Department” means the department of transportation; and(3) “Local government” means any county, incorporated city or town, and metropolitan form of gov…

The general assembly finds and declares it to be in the vital interest of the state that a highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program be established to enable the local governments to replace or rehabilitate certain bridges within their respective jurisdictions when th…

(a) The commissioner shall develop a selection process for projects authorized to be funded under this part, and, furthermore, shall establish the policies and procedures by which this program shall be accomplished. (b) Eligible bridges shall be those located on public roads, oth…

Subject to the conditions for local government participation set forth in this part, the allocation of funds appropriated to the 1990 bridge grant program each fiscal year shall be in accordance with the general appropriations act.

Once the local governments within a county geographical area have addressed the project priorities established by the commissioner, application may be made to the commissioner for permission to expend moneys allocated to the area under this part for other roadway purposes. The co…

(a) The state share payable for a project undertaken pursuant to this part shall be no more than eighty percent (80%) of the approved project cost. (b) The local government share shall be at least twenty percent (20%) of the approved project cost. This share may be provided by lo…

Any project undertaken pursuant to this part shall be maintained by the local government within whose jurisdiction the project lies.

(a) Eligible bridges shall be those located on public roads under the jurisdiction of a local government, and shall not include bridges located on the state system of highways. Any local government that meets the eligibility requirements in § 54-4-504(c) shall be eligible for par…

The commissioner of transportation shall establish criteria for the selection of projects to be funded under the high priority bridge replacement program based on the numbers and structural condition of bridges identified through the National Bridge Inventory as compiled by the d…

(a) Funding for the high priority bridge replacement program shall be separate from funding for the state bridge grant program established in part 5 of this chapter. (b) The expenditure of funds under this program shall be based on need as determined by the commissioner of transp…

Any project undertaken pursuant to this part shall be maintained by the local government, as defined in § 54-4-502, within whose jurisdiction the project lies.

(a) Those portions of interstate and defense highways I-24, I-75, and I-81 within Tennessee and that portion of State Highway 40 (United States Highway 64) from Chattanooga to the Tennessee-North Carolina state line are designated Blue Star Memorial Highways. (b) That portion of …

The department is authorized to cooperate with concerned public and private groups to develop and implement a program for signing and marking the highways designated in § 54-5-1001.

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Conventional state highway” means a highway on the state highway system that is characterized by at-grade intersections and a lack of control of access;(2) “Immediate family member” means a spouse, child, parent, or sibling of the deceased victim,…

The department of transportation has full power, and it is made its duty, through its highway engineers or otherwise, to designate a system of state highways, to designate the road or roads to be constructed, repaired, or maintained by the use of the funds mentioned in chapter 2 …

(a) The commissioner is given the power to proceed to designate main traveled roads, with a view to connecting all county seats, and also to designate other main traveled roads, that are deemed of sufficient importance to be included in the general highway plan of the state, and …

(1) As used in this chapter and chapters 1 and 2 of this title, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of transportation;(2) “Department” means the department of transportation; and(3) “Road” or “highway” is construed to include all bridge…

(a) The department is authorized to condemn the fee to, or an easement in, lands that may be necessary, suitable, or desirable for the construction, reconstruction, development, enlargement, maintenance, repair, drainage, or protection of any street, road, highway, freeway, or pa…

The attorney general and reporter and the district attorney general in each case shall act as attorneys for the department without additional compensation.

All judgments rendered and other expenses necessarily incurred in condemnation proceedings shall be paid out of the general funds of the county in which the expenses are incurred and standing to the credit of the trustee, on the warrant or voucher of the county mayor drawn under …