Chapter 86, MISCELLANEOUS HIGHWAY PROVISIONS

86.001 Definitions. In this chapter: (1m) “Department” means the department of transportation. (2) “Division of hearings and appeals” means the division of hearings and appeals in the department of administration. (2m) “Office” means the office of the commissioner of railroads. (…

86.01 Materials left in highway; penalty. It shall be unlawful for any highway superintendent or any other person to leave any materials in the traveled portion of any highway not closed to public travel in piles or rows after sunset without placing within one hour after sunset u…

86.02 Injury to highway. Any person who shall injure any highway by obstructing or diverting any creek or watercourse or sluiceway, or by dragging logs or timber thereon, or by any other act, shall be liable in treble damages, to be recovered by the political division chargeable …

86.021 Highways, cultivation of; injury by farm machinery. (1) No person shall, within the limits of any public highway, plow, cultivate or otherwise work any lands in such manner as to interfere with or obstruct the drainage in any public highway ditch, nor shall any person oper…

86.022 Obstructing highway with embankment or ditch. Any person who shall willfully or maliciously make any ditch, depression or embankment or place any obstruction in any public highway intended or calculated to impede or incommode the use of such highway, or who shall place any…

86.025 Camping on highways. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to camp in wagons, tent or otherwise on the public highways or lands adjacent thereto, after a notice to remove therefrom by the owners of such adjacent lands, or the owner of land abutting on the highway,…

86.03 Trees on and adjacent to highway. 86.03(1)(1) Removal of fallen trees. If any tree falls from adjacent land into any highway, the owner or occupant of the land shall immediately remove the tree from the highway. It shall be the duty of every highway patrolman, street commis…

86.04 Highway encroachments. (1) ORDER FOR REMOVAL. If any highway right-of-way shall be encroached upon, under or over by any fence, stand, building or any other structure or object, and including encroachments caused by acquisition by the public of new or increased widths of hi…

86.05 Entrances to highways restored. Whenever it is necessary, in making any highway improvement to cut or fill or otherwise grade the highway in front of any entrance to abutting premises, a suitable entrance to the premises shall be constructed as a part of the improvements; a…

86.06 Highways closed to travel; penalties. (1) Whenever any highway is impassable or unsafe for travel or during the construction or repair of any such highway and until it is ready for traffic the authorities in charge of the maintenance or construction thereof may keep it clos…

86.07 Digging in highways or using bridges for advertising. (1) Any person who draws, paints, prints or pastes upon any culvert, bridge or guard rail on any highway shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $200 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days or both. (2) (a) Subjec…

86.073 Review of denial of permit. (1) If a district office of the department denies a request for a permit under s. 86.07 (2) (a) to construct an entrance to a state trunk highway from abutting premises or revokes a permit issued under s. 86.07 (2) (a), the department shall, upo…

86.074 Highway setback areas. (1) In this section: (a) “Highway setback area” means an area abutting a highway in which the construction or placement of structures and improvements is prohibited without a special exception permit issued by the department consistent with the terms…

86.075 Highway authorities to notify drainage board of highway construction. Whenever a highway crossing any draining ditch of a drainage district governed by ch. 88 is being constructed or reconstructed or a culvert in any such ditch is being replaced, the highway authority in c…

86.08 Dust-free surfacing at licensed dairy or meat packing plants. (1) The duly constituted authority charged with the maintenance of any highway not having a dust-free surface shall cause the main traveled portion thereof within 400 feet of any licensed dairy or meat packing pl…

86.09 Access to cemetery preserved. In all cases where the paving, improvement, change of grade or any other change in the condition of any street or highway in this state shall operate to cut off, impede or obstruct the access or approach from such highway to a cemetery, it shal…

86.10 Salvage in highway construction. Materials removed from a highway incident to its improvement or maintenance which are suitable for reuse or have a market value, and which are not used in or disposed of under the contract for the work, shall become the property of the duly …

86.105 Snow removal in private driveways. The governing body of any county, town, city or village may enter into contracts to remove snow from private roads and driveways. This section must be construed narrowly. Plowing of private parking lots is not authorized. Only in exceptio…

86.11 Highways; railroad crossings; grade separation. Whenever any highway crosses a railroad at grade and the town, village or county board or the city council or city commissioners other than in a city of the first class, as the case may be, shall deem it for the best interest …

86.12 Highway railroad grade crossings; construction and repair. (1) All railroad companies owning or operat- 86.13 ing tracks crossing streets or highways at grade shall keep the surface of the crossings between the tracks and rails and extending 4 feet on either side of the out…

86.13 Railroads to maintain highway crossings. (1) When any street or highway crosses any railroad track at grade, the company owning or operating the railroad shall grade, construct and maintain in good and safe condition for public travel the portion of such street or highway e…

86.135 Railroad highway crossings; traffic control. All railroad companies, and their officers, agents, and employees, constructing, maintaining, or repairing railroad highway crossings shall comply with the traffic control provisions directed to the safe and expeditious movement…

86.14 Strength of bridges. (1) After July 1, 1943, no bridge or culvert shall be constructed in any highway unless it shall be designed to have sufficient strength to carry at least 15 ton truck loading in accordance with standard specifications covering design for structures as …

86.15 Donations of highway aid to adjoining municipalities. (1) Any town, city or village to which is or has been bequeathed or donated money or other property for the construction of a proposed highway or the improvement of an existing highway, either or both of the terminals or…

86.16 Utility lines on highways; place of poles; penalty. (1) Any person, firm, or corporation, including any foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state, may, subject to ss. 30.44 (3m), 30.45 and 196.491 (3) (d) 3m., with the written consent of the departme…

86.17 Taking water from highway streams. (1) The general public shall have the right to use and take water from any spring, creek or running water that may be found running in or across the limits of any public highway, provided that this section shall not interfere with the tunn…

86.18 Milwaukee County highways; location, alteration, maintenance. (1) The county board of any county having a population of 250,000 or more may acquire, establish, lay out, relocate, widen, enlarge, extend, pave, repave, improve and maintain county trunk highways therein, and w…

86.185 Populous counties; power over county trunk highways. Counties having a population of at least 150,000 may exercise any corresponding power over county trunk highways that is conferred upon cities in the widening or improving and maintaining of state trunk or county trunk h…

86.19 Highway signs, regulation, prohibition. (1) Except as provided in sub. (1m), (1n), (1o), or (1p) or s. 84.01 (30) (g), no sign shall be placed within the limits of any street or highway except such as are necessary for the guidance or warning of traffic or as provided by ss…

86.191 Advertising in highways prohibited, where. (1) No person shall erect, or cause to be erected, any advertising, direction, guide, warning or other sign or marker within any public highway within a distance of 1,000 feet from the intersection of any 2 or more highways, when …

86.192 Penalty for injuring guide board, markers, etc. (1) No person may injure, deface or remove any sign, guide board, mile post, signal or marker erected by the state or by any municipality thereof for the warning, instruction or information of the public. The following warnin…

86.195 Specific information signs. (1) DEFINITIONS. Unless defined differently in this section, the terms used in this section are defined in accordance with the manual of uniform traffic control devices adopted by the department under s. 84.02 (4) (e). In this section: (am) “Bus…

86.196 Tourist-oriented directional signs. (1) In this section: (a) “Tourist-oriented directional sign” means a sign providing identification of and directional information for tourist-related businesses, services or activities. (b) “Tourist-related business, service or activity”…

86.20 Interstate bridge corporations. Any corporation organized for the purpose of constructing, operating and maintaining a bridge over navigable boundary waters of this state and authorized by congress to erect such bridge shall have all the rights and powers with respect to en…

86.21 Interstate toll bridges. (1) Any county or town, or any village or city however organized, bordering upon any navigable waters which form the boundary line between this and another state, may construct, maintain and operate a foot and vehicular toll bridge over and across s…

86.22 Interstate railroad bridges must have convenient approaches. Each corporation incorporated under the laws of this state and granted a franchise or permit by the U.S. congress to construct, maintain and operate a railroad bridge and provide for the passage of persons and veh…

86.23 Maintenance of drawbridges owned jointly. (1) Each swing or drawbridge built or purchased by any city and town or by any other 2 municipalities, situated so that a part of the bridge is in one municipality and a part in another, shall be operated and maintained at the joint…

86.25 Municipal cooperation as to highways improved with state or federal aid. (1) Any county, city, village or town may by any lawful means provide funds to match or supplement state or federal aid for the construction, reconstruction or improvement, under ch. 84, of any highway…

86.255 Limitation on moneys used to purchase land remote from highway project. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 84.09 and 86.25, beginning with purchase contracts executed on October 29, 1999, and with relocation orders initially filed under ch. 32 on October 29, 1999, the department may …

86.257 Transfer of highways. The department or a political subdivision, as defined in s. 86.31 (1) (d), may transfer jurisdiction and ownership of, or other property interest in, a highway that is under the jurisdiction of the department or political subdivision to a federally re…

86.30 General transportation aids. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (b) “Mileage aids” means the amount determined under sub. (2) (a) 3. (c) “Municipality” means a city, village or town. (d) “Share of costs” means the amount determined under sub. (2) (a) 2. a. or b. (e) “Statewi…

86.302 Local roads; inventory. (1d) (a) “Highway” has the meaning given in s. 340.01 (22). (b) “Municipality” means a city, village or town. (1g) Except as provided in sub. (1m), beginning on January 1, 2001, the board of every town, village and county, and the governing body of …

86.303 Cost determinations. (4) MULTIYEAR AVERAGE COSTS. (a) The multiyear average costs used to determine the share of cost aids amount for local units of government shall be based on the 6 most recent years for which actual costs are available. (b) In the case of municipalities…

86.305 Eligibility for transportation aids. The restriction of access to a street under s. 66.0429 (3) may not affect the eligibility of a city to receive any state transportation aids. History: 1993 a. 113; 1999 a. 150 s. 672.

86.31 Local roads improvement program. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “County highway improvement program district” means a group of counties established by the department by rule under sub. (6) (f). (am) “County highway improvement program district committee” means a comm…

86.312 Local roads for job preservation program. (1) In this section: (a) “Job” means an employment position providing full-time equivalent employment. “Job” does not include initial training before an employment position begins. (b) “Local roads” means streets under the authorit…

86.315 County forest road aids. (1) From the appropriation under s. 20.395 (1) (fu), the department shall annually, on March 10, pay to counties having county forests established under ch. 28, for the improvement of public roads within the county forests which are open and used f…

86.32 Connecting highways. (1) The department may designate, or rescind the designation of, certain marked routes of the state trunk highway system over the streets or highways in any municipality for which the municipality will be responsible for maintenance and traffic control …

86.33 Population estimates. Population determination for the purpose of calculating aids under ss. 86.30 and 86.32 shall be based on the final population estimates arrived at by the department of administration under s. 16.96 as of November 30 of the preceding year. History: 1973…

86.34 Disaster damage aids. (1g) In this section: (a) “Catastrophic highway failure” means the sudden failure of a major element or segment of the highway system due to a cause that is external to a highway, but does not include any failure primarily attributable to gradual and p…