Title 47, PUBLIC HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION

(1) The secretary of transportation shall have the power and it shall be its duty to adopt and designate a uniform state standard for the manufacture, display, erection, and location of all signs, signals, signboards, guideposts, and other traffic devices erected or to be erected…

The department, upon written request, shall cause to be manufactured, painted, and printed, and shall furnish to any county legislative authority or the governing body of any incorporated city or town, directional signboards, guide boards, and posts of the uniform state standard …

The department shall erect and maintain upon every state highway in the state of Washington suitable and proper signs, signals, signboards, guideposts, and other traffic devices according to the adopted and designated state standard of design, erection, and location, and in the m…

The department shall place and maintain such traffic devices conforming to the manual and specifications adopted upon all state highways as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this title or to regulate, warn, or guide traffic. [ 1984 c 7 s 191; 1961 c 13 s 47.36.053…

Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic devices upon public highways under their jurisdiction as are necessary to carry out the provisions of the law or local traffic ordinances or to regulate, warn, or guide traffic. Cities and t…

Whenever any person, firm, corporation, municipal corporation, or local authorities responsible for the erection and maintenance, or either, of signs at any railroad crossing or point of danger upon any state highway fails, neglects, or refuses to erect and maintain, or either, t…

Wherever it is considered necessary or convenient the department may erect approach and warning signs upon the approach of any state highway to a highway-railroad grade crossing situated at a sufficient distance therefrom to make the warning effective. The department may further …

Standard federal road markers shall be placed on state highways in the manner requested by the department of transportation of the United States. The department of transportation of the state of Washington is authorized and empowered to cooperate with the several states and with …

The department is hereby authorized to establish a continuing system for the designating of state highways and branches or portions thereof, heretofore established by the legislature of the state of Washington, to give designations to such state highways and branches, or portions…

Designations or redesignations assigned under the system by the department pursuant to RCW 47.36.095 as each is made, shall be filed with the secretary of state and with the auditor of each county. Thereafter such highways shall be so designated for all purposes. [ 1984 c 7 s 197…

Directional signs showing distance and direction to points of importance may be placed at all crossings and intersections of primary and secondary state highways. The department may place such directional signs as it deems necessary upon any city streets designated by it as formi…

In order to provide safety at intersections on the state highway system, the department may require persons traveling upon any portion of such highway to stop before entering the intersection, except as provided in RCW 46.61.190. For this purpose there may be erected a standard s…

The department shall erect wherever it deems necessary upon state highways at or near their point of entrance into cities and towns, signs of the standard design designating the city or town limits of the cities or towns. [ 1984 c 7 s 200; 1961 c 13 s 47.36.120. Prior: 1937 c 53 …

No person shall without lawful authority attempt to or in fact alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic control signal, traffic device or railroad sign or signal, or any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon, or any other part thereof. [ 1961 c 13 s 47…

(1) Local transit authority bus shelters within the right-of-way of the state highway system may display and maintain commercial advertisements subject to applicable federal regulations, if any. Pursuant to RCW 47.12.120, the department may lease state right-of-way air space to l…

(1) It is unlawful to erect or maintain at or near a city street, county road, or state highway any structure, sign, or device: (a) Visible from a city street, county road, or state highway and simulating any directional, warning, or danger sign or light likely to be mistaken for…

(1) When construction, repair, or maintenance work is conducted on or adjacent to a public highway, county road, street, bridge, or other thoroughfare commonly traveled and when the work interferes with the normal and established mode of travel on the highway, county road, street…

(1) If the department or its delegate determines at any time for any part of the public highway system that the unsafe conditions of the roadway require particular tires, tire chains, or traction equipment in addition to or beyond the ordinary pneumatic rubber tires, the departme…

The department shall erect signs on multilane highways indicating proper lane usage. [ 1986 c 93 s 6.] Notes: Keep right except when passing, etc: RCW 46.61.100.

Regional shopping center directional signs shall be erected and maintained on state highway right-of-way if they meet each of the following criteria: (1) There shall be at least five hundred thousand square feet of retail floor space available for lease at the regional shopping c…

The department of transportation shall, by January 1, 1992, adopt minimum pavement marking standards for the area designating the limits of the vehicle driving lane along the right edge for arterials that do not have curbs or sidewalks and are inside urbanized areas. In preparing…

Directional signs for state parks within fifteen miles of an interstate highway shall be erected and maintained on the interstate highway by the department despite the existence of additional directional signs on primary or scenic system highways in closer proximity to such state…

(1) The legislative authority of any county, city, or town may erect, or permit the erection of, supplemental directional signs directing motorists to motorist service businesses qualified for motorist information sign panels pursuant to RCW 47.36.310 or 47.36.320 in any location…

The department is authorized to erect and maintain motorist information sign panels within the right-of-way of the interstate highway system to give the traveling public specific information as to gas, food, lodging, camping, or tourist-oriented business available on a crossroad …

The department is authorized to erect and maintain motorist information sign panels within the right-of-way of noninterstate highways to give the traveling public specific information as to gas, food, lodging, recreation, or tourist-oriented businesses accessible by way of highwa…

(1) Not more than six business signs may be permitted on motorist information sign panels authorized by RCW 47.36.310 and 47.36.320. (2) The maximum distance that eligible service facilities may be located on either side of an interchange or intersection to qualify for a business…

To be eligible for placement of a business sign on a motorist information sign panel a lodging activity shall: (1) Be licensed or approved by the department of social and health services or county health authority; (2) Provide adequate sleeping and bathroom accommodations availab…

The department shall ensure that motorist information sign panels are installed within nine months of receiving the request for installation. [ 1999 c 201 s 7; 1991 c 94 s 5.]

(1) The department of transportation shall not include the logo "RV" under RCW 47.36.310 and 47.36.320 unless a business or destination requests an "RV" logo and the department determines that the gas, food, or lodging business or the camping or tourist activity destination provi…

Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose in an omnibus transportation appropriations act, the department may install adopt-a-highway signs, with the following restrictions: (1) Signs shall be designed by the department and may only include the…

(1)(a) The executive officer, or a designated employee, with control of operations and maintenance of a bridge of any county, city, town, or state agency, subject to approval by the department pursuant to (d) of this subsection, may erect informational signs near or attached to b…

(1) Pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW, the department and the Washington state patrol shall jointly adopt rules governing the conduct and the safety of the traveling public relating to the use and control of rest areas and other areas as designated in RCW 47.12.250. Nothing herein ma…

(1) Except where specifically authorized by the department, it is unlawful for any person or persons to stop, stand, or park any vehicle, including but not limited to trailers, campers, and motorcycles, for more than eight hours within a twenty-four hour period, or for any person…

In order to provide information in the specific interest of the traveling public, the department may establish information centers at safety rest areas and permit maps, informational directories, and advertising pamphlets to be made available there for the purpose of informing th…

The department of transportation shall construct and maintain recreational vehicle sanitary disposal systems in the following safety rest areas lying along highways which are a part of the interstate highway system: (1) Gee Creek safety rest area, northbound and southbound on Int…

The department may designate interstate safety rest areas, as appropriate, as locations for memorial signs to prisoners of war and those missing in action. The department shall adopt policies for the placement of memorial signs on interstate safety rest areas and may disapprove a…

(1) As a necessary and desirable step to spur public and private investment in electric vehicle infrastructure in accordance with section 1, chapter 459, Laws of 2009, and to begin implementing the provisions of RCW 43.19.648, the legislature authorizes an alternative fuels corri…

(1) By December 31, 2015, the state must, to the extent practicable, install electrical outlets capable of charging electric vehicles in each state-operated highway rest stop. (2) By December 31, 2015, the state must provide the opportunity to lease space for the limited purpose …

The department may work with human trafficking victim advocates in developing informational posters for placement in rest areas. The department may adopt policies for the placement of these posters in rest areas and these policies must address, at a minimum, placement of the post…

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department is directed to reconfigure its maintenance operations to assure that its owned and operated safety rest areas are open for use except for seasonal closures or cleaning, maintenance, …

There is hereby created a scenic and recreational highway system. Highways in this system shall be developed and maintained in accordance with general standards for state highways of comparable classification and usage. Recognizing that the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st …

The following portions of highways are designated as part of the scenic and recreational highway system: (1) State route number 2, beginning at the crossing of Woods creek at the east city limits of Monroe, thence in an easterly direction by way of Stevens pass to a junction with…

(1) The department shall pay from motor vehicle funds appropriated for construction of state highways, the following costs of developing and constructing scenic and recreational highways: (a) Acquisition of the right-of-way necessary for state highway purposes; (b) construction o…

The establishment of planning and design standards for items provided for in RCW 47.39.050 shall be coordinated by the department of commerce. The department of transportation, parks and recreation commission, and any other departments or commissions whose interests are affected …

Planning and design standards established for highways falling within the scenic and recreational highways system may include, but shall not be limited to, provision for the following: (1) Hiking, bicycle, and bridle trails, including regulations for their use; (2) Campsites and …

The department and the parks and recreation commission may include, where appropriate, on any maps, or in any relevant descriptive material they may prepare at state expense, references to those portions of highways designated in RCW 47.39.020, and may include those designated by…