Designation of state highways and bridges

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 91

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Reported from the Committee on Transportation, April 9, 2009, with recommendation that the Senate Committee Substitute do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.

TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

0536S.05C

AN ACT

To amend chapter 227, RSMo, by adding thereto seven new sections relating to the designation of state highways and bridges.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 227, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto seven new sections, to be known as sections 227.295, 227.297, 227.310, 227.320, 227.368, 227.402, and 227.407, to read as follows:

227.295. 1. The department of transportation shall establish and administer a drunk driving risk reduction awareness program. The provisions of this section shall be known as "David's Law". The signs shall be placed upon the state highways in accordance with this section, placement guidelines adopted by the department, and any applicable federal limitations or conditions on highway signage, including location and spacing.

2. The department shall adopt, by rules and regulations, program guidelines for the application for and placement of signs authorized by this section, including, but not limited to, the sign application and qualification process, the procedure for the dedication of signs, and procedures for the replacement or restoration of any signs that are damaged or stolen. The department shall also establish by rule, application procedures and methods for proving eligibility for the program.

3. Any person may apply to the department of transportation to sponsor a drunk driving victim memorial sign in memory of an immediate family member who died as a result of a motor vehicle accident caused by a person who was shown to have been operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 577.010 or 577.012, RSMo, or was committing an intoxication-related traffic offense at the time of the accident. Upon the request of an immediate family member of the deceased victim involved in a drunk driving accident, the department shall place a sign in accordance with this section. A person who is not a member of the immediate family may also submit a request to have a sign placed under this section if that person also submits the written consent of an immediate family member. The department shall charge the sponsoring party a fee to cover the department's cost in designing, constructing, placing, and maintaining that sign, and the department's costs in administering this section. Signs erected under this section shall remain in place for a period of ten years. After the expiration of the ten-year period, the department shall remove the sign unless the sponsoring party remits to the department of transportation a ten-year renewable fee to cover maintenance costs associated with the sign.

4. The signs shall feature the words "Drunk Driving Victim!", the initials of the victim, the month and year in which the victim of the drunk driving accident was killed, and the phrase "Who's Next?". The overall design of the sign, including size, color, and lettering, shall conform to the guidelines and regulations established by the department. The signs shall be placed near the scene of the accident.

5. All roadside memorials or markers commemorating the death of a drunk driving victim not meeting the provisions of this section are prohibited. No person, other than a department of transportation employee or the department's designee, may erect a drunk driving victim memorial sign.

6. As used in this section, the term "immediate family member" shall mean spouse, child, stepchild, brother, stepbrother, sister, stepsister, mother, stepmother, father, or stepfather.

7. The department shall adopt rules and regulations to implement and administer the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2009, shall be invalid and void.

227.297. 1. This section establishes an interstate interchange designation program, to be known as the "Heroes Way Interstate Interchange Designation Program", to honor the fallen Missouri heroes who have been killed in action while performing active military duty with the armed forces in Afghanistan or Iraq on or after September 11, 2001. The signs shall be placed upon the interstate interchanges in accordance with this section, and any applicable federal limitations or conditions on highway signage, including location and spacing.

2. Any person who is related by marriage, adoption, or consanguinity within the second degree to a member of the United States armed forces who was killed in action while performing active military duty with the armed forces in Afghanistan or Iraq on or after September 11, 2001, and who was a resident of this state at the time he or she was killed in action, may apply for an interstate interchange designation under the provisions of this section.

3. Any person described under subsection 2 of this section who desires to have an interstate interchange designated after his or her family member shall petition the department of transportation by submitting the following:

(1) An application in a form prescribed by the director, describing the interstate interchange for which the designation is sought and the proposed name of the interstate interchange. The application shall include the name of at least one current member of the general assembly who will sponsor the interstate interchange designation. The application may contain written testimony for support of the interstate interchange designation;

(2) Proof that the family member killed in action was a member of the United States armed forces and proof that such family member was in fact killed in action while performing active military duty with the United States armed forces in Afghanistan or Iraq on or after September 11, 2001;

(3) By signing a form provided by the Missouri transportation department, the applicant shall certify that the applicant is related by marriage, adoption, or consanguinity within the second degree to the member of the United States armed forces who was killed in action; and

(4) A fee to be determined by the commission to cover the costs of constructing and maintaining the proposed interstate interchange signs. The fee shall not exceed the cost of constructing and maintaining each sign.

4. All moneys received by the department of transportation for the construction and maintenance of an interstate interchange signs shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the state road fund.

5. The documents and fees required under this section shall be submitted to the department of transportation.

6. The department of transportation shall submit for approval or disapproval all applications for interstate interchange designations to the joint committee on transportation oversight. The joint committee on transportation oversight may review such applications at any scheduled meeting convened pursuant to section 21.795, RSMo. If satisfied with the application and all its contents, the committee shall approve the application. The committee shall notify the department of transportation upon the approval or denial of an application for an interstate interchange designation.

7. The department of transportation shall give notice of any proposed interstate interchange designation under this section in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the public of such proposal. Reasonable notice shall include posting the proposal for the designation on the department's official public website and making available copies of the sign designation application to any representative of the news media or public upon request and posting the application on a bulletin board or other prominent public place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the principal office.

8. If the memorial interstate interchange designation request is not approved by the joint committee on transportation oversight, ninety-seven percent of the application fee shall be refunded to the applicant.

9. Two signs shall be erected for each interstate interchange designation processed under this section.

10. No interstate interchange may be named or designated after more than one member of the United States armed forces killed in action. Such person shall only be eligible for one interstate interchange designation under the provisions of this section.

11. Any highway signs erected for any interstate interchange designation under the provisions of this section shall be erected and maintained for a twenty-year period. After such period, the signs shall be subject to removal by the department of transportation and the interstate interchange may be designated to honor persons other than the current designee. An existing interstate interchange designation processed under the provisions of this section may be retained for additional twenty-year increments if, at least one year before the designation's expiration, an application to the department of transportation is made to retain the designation along with the required documents and all applicable fees required under this section.

227.310. The portion of Missouri highway 100 located in Franklin County, from its intersection with Missouri highway 47, to the highway's connection with Interstate 44, shall be designated as the "Veterans Memorial Highway". The department of transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs designating such highway, with the costs for such designation to be paid for by the city of Washington.

227.320. The portion of the state highway system which was designated as Highway 47 as of January 1, 2009, within the limits of the city of Washington shall be designated and known as "Franklin Street" and shall not be designated as a numbered state highway.

227.368. The bridge crossing over Interstate 44 on Business Loop 44 at exit 127 in Laclede County shall be designated the "Specialist James M. Finley Memorial Bridge". The department of transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs designating such highway. The costs of such designation shall be paid for by private donations.

227.402. The Highway 17 bridge crossing over the Gasconade River in Pulaski County shall be designated the "WWII Okinawa Veterans Memorial Bridge". The department of transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs designating such highway, with the costs to be paid for by private donations.

227.407. Interstate 435 from mile marker 63.4 to mile marker 54.2 shall be designated the "Lamar Hunt Memorial Highway". The department of transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs designating such highway, with the costs to be paid for by private donations.

•