lionorable D. C. Grew 

State Highway .Engineer 

Texae Highway Department 

Auotin, Texas 

Opinion No. wu 505 

Re: Whether IIlghway Deportment cnn 

opcnd highway funds for aeeoeements to,pavo city otroeto adjacent to building0 and oitoo 

owned and uocd by the HiGhway 

Department. 

Donr Mr. Grow: 

You roquect tho opinion of thic office upon the,above captimed 

mattar. 

The 55th Legielature, 1957, passed B. B. 179, presently codified 

In Vernon'8 Civil Statutes a8 Article 6674~. Subdivisioh 3 of this 

act providee in part aa'followsi 

II 

. . .conetructing and operating warehousse and 

other buildinga and facilities used In connection 

with the 'construction, maintenance, and operation 

of the state Bighwoys. . . .II 

Prior to U&enactment of this specific legislation, this office 

-haa for many yeare uniformly recognized the authority of the Highway 

Department, in the exerciee of the broad general p&we conferred 

upon it by law to construtit..and maintain a system of highway8 in the 

atate, to do thoae thlnge necessary and Incidental to that end. This 

is coverd'somevhat in detail in our Opinion S-105 referred to in 

your oplnion“request, a copy of which we assume you have. 

The Highway Department doee now hev& apeciflc legislative authority 

to construot, operate, and maintain warehouses and other buildlnge used 

in the conetruction, maintenance, and operation of a .eyetem ,of State 

HJ.&W(ICyB . 

The conetruction and maintenance of these warehouaee, eesentia1 

ae they are to the efficient and economic operation of aState :EHdghway Syetem, need not and should not be considered ae isolated from 

the. @.reeta of a city upon which they are located, nor did the 

Leglelatqe intend that they ahould be. Free uee of the street upon 

which a warehouse is located and the right of egrees and ingreee 

therefrom is nbcessary to the operation and maintenance of a warehouee. 

A well-paved street adjacent to the warehouse la desirable for the 

convenience of the Highway Department and its employee8 operating end 

using the warehouee. It ie, therefore, quite reasonable to say that 
Honorable D. C. &eer,'page 2~(WW 585) 

the pro rata cost of paving the street adjacent to a warehouse owned 

and operated by the State Highway Department should be borne by the 

Department.; A city.and the general public ts under no legal obli@- 

tion to atikne end pay this cost for~.the State Highway Department. 

The Hlghway~Departkit is, therefore, authorized ~to pay its pro 

rata share of thb pavlng;of the street attributable to the warehouse 

frontage thereon if there~is an available~approtiriation from which 

it may be ~paid. We,next consider that question. 

The expenditure of this motley shal; not be coneldered as an 

expenditure for highways directly cr per se. The authority for the 

expenditure come8 from its capacity ae a land owner. It can spend 

money for a street improvement levied against a trtict of land owned 

and used by the Highway Department in the performan ce of its duties 

just as it could repair the roof of a building located on that lend. 

We understand that this has be&your departmental construction for 

may years. 

We are of the opinion that this paving cost may be paid from' 

the appropriation made to the State Highway Department in Item No. 

23 of the present biennlukappropriation, tiie for the reason that 

the cost of tiiis pavia may be consid&-& as an administrative expense in conribotion with,the establishing, planning, constructing 

a?xl maintaining a systti of State Highways as contemplated and set 

forth In Chapter 1, Title 116 end Chapter 186, General Laws, 39th 

Legislature, Regular Session, and amendments thereto. 

SUMMARY 

The,State Highway Department ia..authorized to construct and 

operate warehouses end other buildings and.facilltiee used in connection with the construction, maintenance, end operation of State 

Highways, knd incidental thereto to pay B pro k&e share of the 

coat of paving ~the ~street on which sukh a warehouse Is located, 

and the same may-be 'pkld from.Item No. 23 of ~the appropriation to 

the State Highway Department covering the present biennium. 

. WILL WIxmN 

~A!B!ORNEXGENERALQFTEXAS 

: ;ifja~+ 

GENERAL 

LPL:pm 
Honorable D. C. Crier, p&e 3 (WW 585) 

APPROVED: 

oPlm0N COMMITPEE: ” 

J. Arthur Sandlip, Chairman 

H. Grady Chandler 

Elmer McVey 

Edward A. Cazarea 

REUEKEDFGR TEZATTCRNEYGEVEFU 

BY: 

W. V. Geppert