reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 1. Designation, Marking, and Use. › Sec. 19.10.075. Designation of traffic safety corridors; fines.

(a) To promote traffic safety, the department may designate a portion of a highway to be a traffic safety corridor. The commissioner shall establish criteria for the designation and continuation of traffic safety corridors. In establishing the criteria, the commissioner may consider accident data and reports, the type and volume of vehicular traffic, engineering and traffic studies, and other relevant factors. Before the department designates a traffic safety corridor, the commissioner shall consult with the commissioner of public safety and shall consult with other local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for traffic safety. A motor vehicle or traffic offense committed in a traffic safety corridor is subject to a double fine as provided in AS 28.90.030. The department shall erect signs designating traffic safety corridors and alerting the public that motor vehicle and traffic offenses committed within a corridor are subject to double fines. A claim for damages may not be made against the state or its officers, employees, or agents for an act or omission relating to the designation of and erection of signs regarding a traffic safety corridor.
(b) The legislature may appropriate 50 percent of the fines for offenses committed in a traffic safety corridor imposed under AS 28.90.030 and collected and separately accounted for by the state under AS 37.05.142, to the division of the department responsible for highway safety planning, for highway safety programs.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 1. Designation, Marking, and Use. › Sec. 19.10.085. Naming of a highway.

(a) A highway constructed by the department under AS 19.05 - AS 19.40 may be given a name only by law.
(b) This section does not apply to
(1) a road constructed by a municipality under a grant authorized by AS 19.05 - AS 19.40;
(2) local service roads and trails.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 1. Designation, Marking, and Use. › Sec. 19.10.095. Signs promoting the use of safety belts and child safety devices.

The department may erect and maintain signs encouraging the use of safety belts and child safety devices at the site of a motor vehicle accident where a fatality occurred as the result of a person's failing to use a safety belt or child safety device. This section does not limit the authority of the department to erect or maintain signs to protect the public safety and welfare of persons using the highways of the state.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 1. Designation, Marking, and Use. › Sec. 19.10.100. Closing highways.

When it is necessary to exclude traffic from any portion of a highway, the department may close that portion of the highway by posting in a conspicuous manner, at each end of the portion closed, suitable signs warning the public that the road is closed under authority of law, and by erecting suitable obstructions.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 2. Planning. › Sec. 19.10.110. Traffic surveys, plans, and recommendations.

The department may collect, analyze, and interpret physical and economic data needed to measure existing and estimated future highway characteristics such as origin and destination, volumes, speeds, accidents, congestion, parking, pedestrian use of highways, and the economic loss caused by inferior traffic facilities, including the preparation of traffic plans and recommendations.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 2. Planning. › Sec. 19.10.120. Research on highway development.

The department may gather, investigate, and compile information concerning the use, construction, and maintenance of highways, the practices and methods of efficient highway organization, financing, and other information, data and statistics of the state and the extent of the natural resources of road-building materials in the state. The department may enter into agreements with states, municipalities, or research organizations to carry on research and test projects involving highway development. The department may disseminate this information, together with recommendations it considers advisable.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 2. Planning. › Sec. 19.10.150. Construction program.

Before February 2 of each year, the department shall prepare a statement showing what construction work has been requested and proposed and may be undertaken by the department. The statement must set forth a general itemization of the estimated cost for each project and the total estimates of all projects. The department shall adopt a construction program which must include the projects to be undertaken by it during the following construction season and must establish project priorities. The department may increase, decrease, amend, or revise the construction program from time to time as circumstances warrant.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 2. Planning. › Sec. 19.10.160. Standard plans and specifications; planning for future traffic.

(a) The department shall prepare and adopt uniform standard plans and specifications for the establishment, construction, and maintenance of highways in the state. The department may amend the plans and specifications as it considers advisable. The standards must conform as closely as practicable to those adopted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
(b) Design for proposed major upgrade and new construction projects for highways in federally recognized metropolitan planning areas must be conducive to safety, durability, and economy of maintenance, and provide for capacity that will adequately serve planned future traffic as set out in this subsection. This subsection does not apply to designs for highway maintenance projects. Proposed major upgrade and new construction projects that are estimated to cost
(1) less than $5,000,000 must be designed to adequately serve planned future traffic for at least the next 10 years;
(2) $5,000,000 or more must be designed to adequately serve planned future traffic for at least the next 20 years.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.170. Construction by department.

(a) Except as provided in AS 44.33.300, it is the general policy of the state to require the construction of all highways under bid contract in accordance with AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). However, subject to the provisions of (b) of this section, when the estimated cost of a construction project is less than $100,000 or when it appears to be in the best interests of the state, the department may perform the work notwithstanding any other provisions of law.
(b) Construction or professional services in connection with the construction of highways performed by the department under (a) of this section that have an estimated cost exceeding $5,000 may not be performed by the department unless the commissioner determines, in writing, that the cost to the state will be less than that incurred as a result of a formally advertised or negotiated contract. The determination of the commissioner shall be supported by findings of fact which shall set out enough facts and circumstances to clearly justify the determination. The determinations and findings shall be maintained as a permanent record of the department.
(c) In this section, “professional services” means architectural, engineering, or land surveying services.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.180. Request for public bids; contracts for materials and supplies.

Requests for public bids are governed by AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). The request for public bids may require the contractor to furnish equipment, labor, materials, and supplies for the project, or it may state that the department will furnish the materials and supplies. If the department elects to provide materials and supplies for a project, it shall do so at the time it adopts the construction program. The department shall acquire these materials and supplies under AS 36.30 by requesting bids for them according to the class, type, and nature of the materials and supplies. The contract for materials and supplies may be awarded either upon the basis of delivery to the construction project directly or to a central storehouse or storehouses maintained by the department. Those materials and supplies so purchased by the department may be delivered to the project site without expense to the contractor, or it may sell them to the contractor at cost and make the materials and supplies a part of the construction cost.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.230. Method of construction of highway ditches.

A highway constructed or reconstructed shall be designed to permit water to drain from it into ditches which shall drain into coulees, rivers, and lakes according to the surface and terrain where the highway is constructed in accordance with scientific highway construction and engineering in order to prevent the water from overflowing onto adjacent and adjoining land. The natural flow and drainage of surface water may not be obstructed, but it shall be permitted to follow the natural course according to the surface and terrain.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.240. Warning signs of road construction.

Whenever the department enters into a contract for the construction of a highway, it shall, as a condition of the contract, provide that the contractor shall place suitable warning signs that can be read from a distance of 100 feet in daytime, and that the contractor shall erect and place at night a red and white lantern or a torch or other effective device, of a type approved by the department, at both ends of the construction work, not less than 300 feet from it, warning the public that the road is under construction or improvement and is closed, impassable, or dangerous for travel. This section does not make the state liable for the failure of a contractor to erect warning signs.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.250. Penalty for failure to erect warning signs.

A contractor, foreman, or person in charge of work or repairs on a highway who fails or neglects to erect and maintain suitable warning signs as provided in AS 19.10.240 is punishable by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $50, or by imprisonment in jail for not more than 60 days, or by both.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.260. Replacement of permanent markers and filing of right-of-way map after construction.

The department shall
(1) replace all permanent markers on private or municipal property that were destroyed or lost during highway construction to permit persons to determine accurately new boundary lines resulting from the construction;
(2) file and record in the local recording district, after completion of highway construction, an accurate right-of-way map that will contain sufficient engineering and survey information designating where the resulting boundary lines are located on private or municipal property along the highway.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 3. Construction. › Sec. 19.10.270. Highway construction near airports.

(a) A person may not construct, reconstruct, relocate, or extend a federal-aid highway within two miles of an airport, airstrip, or private air facility without first obtaining the written approval of the commissioner, as provided by regulation.
(b) The commissioner may not approve the construction, reconstruction, relocation, or extension of a highway under this section if the construction would constitute a hazard to the traveling public or if the construction would otherwise not be in the public interest.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt regulations to implement the purpose of this section that are consistent with standards established by participating federal agencies.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 4. Commercial Motor Vehicle Requirements. › Sec. 19.10.310. Commercial motor vehicle safety inspections.

A commercial motor vehicle may not be operated without a certificate of inspection. An owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle shall renew a certificate of inspection at least annually. An owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle shall provide proof of annual inspection upon demand of a peace officer or employee of the department authorized by the commissioner to enforce this section.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 4. Commercial Motor Vehicle Requirements. › Sec. 19.10.340. Issuance of certificate of inspection.

A person conducting annual commercial motor vehicle inspections shall issue a certificate of inspection to the owner or operator after determining that the motor vehicle is in a safe and mechanically sound condition as required by law. The owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle shall keep a record of the annual inspection of the vehicle.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 10. State Highway System › Article 4. Commercial Motor Vehicle Requirements. › Sec. 19.10.375. Impoundment.

(a) If a peace officer or an employee of the department authorized by the commissioner to issue citations finds a commercial motor vehicle in operation without a current and valid certificate of inspection under this chapter, the commercial motor vehicle may be impounded. The commercial motor vehicle may not be released from impoundment until
(1) a current and valid certificate of inspection under this chapter has been provided for the commercial motor vehicle; and
(2) any impoundment fees or charges have been paid.
(b) The department may adopt regulations to charge fees to recover costs of implementation of this section, including costs of impoundment.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 15. Financial Provisions › Sec. 19.15.010. Loans to department.

For the purpose of participating in a federal grant-in-aid program, the department may apply to the Department of Administration for short-term loans from the general fund for periods not to exceed nine months and for amounts estimated not to exceed anticipated revenue for the term of the loan. The Department of Administration may approve the loan if it determines that the loan would not adversely curtail other expenditures from the general fund.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 15. Financial Provisions › Sec. 19.15.020. Assent to federal aid; line of credit.

(a) The legislature assents to the Act of Congress approved July 11, 1916 (39 Stat. 355) entitled, “An Act to provide that the United States shall aid the states in the construction of rural post roads, and for other purposes.” The department may make all contracts and do all things necessary to cooperate with the federal government in the construction of highways under the provisions of that Act, and all Acts amending or supplementing it, and any other Act of Congress that may be enacted, including the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (Public Law 627, 85th Congress, 2nd Session).
(b) The department may incur a line of credit or indebtedness to the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation, under 23 U.S.C. 601 - 609 (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998), as amended, and may enter into a contract or agreement with any public or private person, governmental unit or agency, corporation, or other business entity to secure the indebtedness.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 15. Financial Provisions › Sec. 19.15.025. Federal-aid highway projects.

(a) The department may allocate up to two percent of nonrestricted federal-aid highway apportionments to projects classified under the trails and recreational access for Alaska program under a statewide transportation improvement program.
(b) The department shall annually allocate at least 39 percent of nonrestricted federal-aid highway apportionments to projects classified under the community transportation program under a statewide transportation improvement program.
(c) Not more than 10 percent of the funds provided to a municipality for participation in federal-aid highway or other eligible projects may be expended from the transportation enhancement apportionment over the life of a transportation improvement program.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 15. Financial Provisions › Sec. 19.15.040. General laws governing assessments by municipalities to pay highway costs.

The provisions of law relating to the levying of assessments for highway financing, planning, construction, acquisition of right-of-way, and maintenance, referred to in AS 19.15.030 apply to the extent that they are not inconsistent with the general purpose of AS 19.05 - AS 19.25.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.010. Connecting highways.

(a) The department may enter into cooperative agreements with a municipality for the construction or maintenance of a connecting highway that is part of the state highway system and located within the municipality.
(b) The jurisdiction, control, and duty of the department and municipality with respect to connecting highways is as follows:
(1) The department has no authority to change or establish a grade of a connecting highway without approval of the governing body of the municipality.
(2) The municipality shall at its own expense maintain all underground facilities in a connecting highway and has the right to construct necessary additional underground facilities.
(3) The municipality may grant the privilege to open the surface of a connecting highway, but the municipality shall promptly repair all damage occasioned by the opening of the surface.
(4) Subject to law the municipality has the exclusive right to grant franchises over, beneath, and upon a connecting highway. However, it may not grant a franchise for transportation of passengers in motor vehicles on a connecting highway without the approval of the department.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.015. Local control of state transportation corridors.

(a) A municipality, by resolution of its governing body, may request of the department the assumption of the department's responsibilities relating to planning of transportation corridors that are to be located within the boundaries or operating area of the municipality. After receipt of the request, the department shall provide by agreement for assumption by the municipality of the department's responsibilities relating to planning of transportation corridors, unless the commissioner determines that assumption of responsibilities by the municipality is not practicable or not in the best interests of the state. The parties may by mutual agreement provide for joint or cooperative assumption of responsibilities by the department and the municipality.
(b) If the commissioner determines that assumption of responsibilities by a municipality under this section is not practicable or not in the best interests of the state, the commissioner shall notify the municipality of that finding and specify reasons for it. If the municipality requests reconsideration of the decision, the commissioner shall hold a hearing in the municipality within 30 days following mailing of the request. Following the hearing the commissioner may affirm, modify, or reverse the initial decision and shall specify in writing the reasons.
(c) Provisions of this title governing planning of transportation corridors by the department, and regulations adopted under the provisions, govern the administration of projects assumed by a municipality under this section, and for that purpose supersede any conflicting provisions of ordinance or charter.
(d) The commissioner may require terms or conditions in an agreement under this section necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section and otherwise considered to be in the public interest. If necessary, the commissioner may require as a condition of an agreement under this section approval of the agreement by the federal government.
(e) The provisions of this section apply only to the extent permitted by federal laws and regulations.
(f) [Repealed, § 88 ch 74 SLA 1985.]
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.017. Local control of traffic control systems.

(a) A municipality, by resolution of its governing body, may request the transfer to it of the responsibility of the department for the operation and maintenance of a traffic control system that regulates the flow of traffic at intersections of highways and roads maintained by the state and the municipality.
(b) After receipt of a resolution requesting a transfer to a municipality of the responsibility for operation and maintenance of a traffic control system under (a) of this section, the commissioner shall promptly negotiate and enter into an agreement with municipal officials transferring the operation and maintenance of a traffic control system to the municipality. The agreement shall contain the terms and conditions that ensure compliance with the requirements of this title, and may include other terms and conditions that relate to traffic control and that are considered by the commissioner to be in the public interest.
(c) If the commissioner and a municipality enter into an agreement under (b) of this section, the commissioner shall annually pay to the municipality, for the period beginning with the effective date of transfer of responsibility, the cost to the state of operating the traffic control system during the fiscal year preceding the effective date of the transfer, adjusted annually for inflation.
(d) The provisions of this section apply only to the extent permitted by federal law and regulation.
(e) In this section, “traffic control system” means a series of traffic control signals that regulate, electronically or by computer, and coordinate the flow of vehicle traffic.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.020. Authority to establish controlled-access facilities.

The department and a municipality, acting alone or in cooperation with each other or with a federal agency participating in the construction and maintenance of highways, may plan, designate, establish, regulate, vacate, alter, improve, maintain, and provide controlled-access facilities for public use when it finds that present or future traffic conditions justify special facilities. The department or a municipality may exercise the same authority with respect to controlled-access facilities that each has with respect to highways within its jurisdiction. The department or the municipality may regulate, restrict, or prohibit the use of the controlled-access facilities by the various classes of vehicles or traffic in a manner consistent with the definition of a controlled-access facility.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.030. Design of controlled-access facility.

The department and a municipality may design a controlled-access facility and may regulate, restrict, or prohibit access to best serve the traffic for which the facility is intended. The department and the municipality may divide and separate a controlled-access facility into separate highways by the construction of raised curbings, central dividing sections, or other physical separations, or by designating the separate highways by signs, markers, stripes, and the proper lane for traffic by appropriate signs, markers, stripes, and other devices. No person has the right of ingress or egress to, from, or across controlled-access facilities to or from abutting land, except at designated points at which access is permitted, upon the terms and conditions specified from time to time.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.040. Acquisition of property and property rights.

For the purposes of AS 19.05 - AS 19.25 the department and a municipality may acquire private or public property and property rights, including rights of access, air, view, and light for controlled-access facilities and service roads by gift, devise, purchase, or condemnation in the same manner as they may now or hereafter be authorized by law to acquire property or property rights in connection with highways in their respective jurisdictions. Property rights acquired under AS 19.05 - AS 19.25 shall be in fee simple. In acquiring property or property rights for a controlled-access facility or service highway in connection therewith, the municipality may acquire an entire lot, block, or tract of land if, by so doing, the interests of the public will be best served, even though the entire lot, block, or tract is not immediately needed for the right-of-way.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.050. Grade-crossing eliminations.

The department and a municipality may designate and establish controlled-access highways as new and additional facilities, or may designate and establish an existing highway as included within a controlled-access facility. The department and the municipality may provide for the elimination of an intersection at grade of a controlled-access facility with an existing highway by grade separation or service highway, or by closing off the highway at the right-of-way boundary line of the controlled-access facility. After the establishment of a controlled-access facility, a highway not part of the facility may not intersect it at grade. A municipal or state highway, or other public way, may not be opened into or connected with a controlled-access facility without the consent and prior approval of the department or the municipality having jurisdiction over the controlled-access facility. The department shall give its consent and approval only if the public interest is served.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.060. Participation in financing, planning, and regulation.

The department and a municipality may enter into an agreement with each other or with the federal government for the financing, planning, establishment, improvement, maintenance, use regulation, or vacation of controlled-access facilities or other public ways in their respective jurisdictions.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.070. Local service highways.

In the development of a controlled-access facility, the department and the municipality may plan, designate, establish, use, regulate, alter, improve, maintain, and vacate local service highways and exercise jurisdiction over them in the same manner authorized for the exercise of jurisdiction over controlled-access facilities if, in their opinion, local service highways are necessary or desirable. Local service highways shall be of appropriate design and shall be separated from the controlled-access facility by the devices designated as necessary or desirable by the proper authority.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 1. State Relationship to Municipalities. › Sec. 19.20.080. Municipal master highway plan.

A municipality of over 5,000 population, according to the latest available census, together with the department, shall develop and adopt a master highway plan, which shall insure the proper location and integration of the Alaska highway connections in the municipality. In selecting and designating the master highway plan, they shall take into account the important principal streets that connect residential areas with business areas and the streets that carry important rural traffic into and across the municipality, in order to ensure a system of highways upon which traffic can be controlled and protected in a manner to provide safe and efficient movement of traffic in the municipality.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 2. Metropolitan Planning Organizations. › Sec. 19.20.200. Establishment of metropolitan planning organizations.

In order to coordinate transportation planning in urbanized areas and achieve the transportation planning goals of 23 U.S.C. 134 and 49 U.S.C. 5303 - 5306, a metropolitan planning organization shall be established for each metropolitan area of the state when required for participation in a federal transportation program. A metropolitan area is an urbanized area with a population of more than 50,000 persons.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 2. Metropolitan Planning Organizations. › Sec. 19.20.210. Membership of the policy boards of metropolitan planning organizations.

(a) The policy board of a metropolitan planning organization established under AS 19.20.200 for a metropolitan area with a population greater than 200,000 persons shall consist of at least seven voting members. A quorum of the policy board is a majority of the voting members of the board. Four voting members of the board shall be designated by the municipalities that are located partially or wholly within the metropolitan area. Three voting members shall be appointed by the governor. At least one member designated by the municipalities and at least one member appointed by the governor shall be public members who reside within the metropolitan area and who are not elected public officials. The public members shall serve for three-year terms.
(b) Two nonvoting members of the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization that is subject to (a) of this section shall be designated as follows:
(1) one member of the senate who is elected from a district, of which more than 50 percent is located within the metropolitan area, and who is designated by the president of the senate; a person who is designated to serve as a member of the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization under this paragraph may not receive compensation for service on the metropolitan planning organization; and
(2) one member of the house of representatives who is elected from a district, of which more than 50 percent is located within the metropolitan area, and who is designated by the speaker of the house of representatives; a person who is designated to serve as a member of the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization under this paragraph may not receive compensation for service on the metropolitan planning organization.
(c) The governor may appoint an additional voting member to the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization that is subject to (a) of this section to represent a private entity that administers or operates a major mode of transportation within the metropolitan area.
(d) The governor may appoint additional nonvoting members to the policy board of a metropolitan planning organization that is subject to (a) of this section if the additional nonvoting members are authorized in the agreement between the governor and the participating local governments that designates the metropolitan planning organization.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 20. Cooperation by and with the State › Article 2. Metropolitan Planning Organizations. › Sec. 19.20.220. Approval of local transportation improvement plan.

The governor may approve a transportation improvement plan or an amendment to a transportation improvement plan prepared by a metropolitan planning organization if the plan is consistent with applicable federal law and regulation and the policy board of the metropolitan planning organization is organized in accordance with applicable provisions of AS 19.20.210.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 22. Landscaping and Scenic Enhancement › Sec. 19.22.020. Authorization to acquire and improve.

(a) The department is authorized to acquire by purchase, exchange, gift, or condemnation land or any interest in land necessary for the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of scenic beauty, within or adjacent to the rights-of-way of highways on the state highway system.
(b) The department may acquire and develop publicly owned and controlled rest and recreation areas and sanitary and other facilities within or adjacent to the highway right-of-way reasonably necessary to accommodate the traveling public.
(c) The department may make improvements necessary to implement the purposes of AS 19.22.010.
(d) The condemnation authority granted by this chapter may not be exercised beyond 660 feet from the right-of-way of the highway.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 1. Utilities in Highways. › Sec. 19.25.010. Use of rights-of-way for utilities.

A utility facility may be constructed, placed, or maintained across, along, over, under, or within a state right-of-way only in accordance with regulations adopted by the department and if authorized by a written permit issued by the department. The department may charge a fee for a permit issued under this section.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 1. Utilities in Highways. › Sec. 19.25.020. Relocation of utilities incident to highway projects.

(a) If, incident to the construction of a highway project, the department determines and orders that a utility facility located across, along, over, under, or within a state right-of-way must be changed, relocated, or removed, the utility owning or maintaining the facility shall change, relocate, or remove it in accordance with the order. The order must provide a reasonable time period for compliance.
(b) If the utility facility is not changed, relocated, or removed in accordance with the order, the facility becomes an unauthorized encroachment and may be disposed of in accordance with AS 19.25.240 - 19.25.250. In addition, the owner of the facility shall indemnify the state for any amount for which the state may be liable to a contractor by reason of the encroachment.
(c) The cost of change, relocation, or removal necessitated by highway construction is a cost of highway construction to be paid in accordance with AS 19.59.001(4) as follows:
(1) by the department as a cost of highway construction, if the utility facility is installed or authorized under a utility permit or a regulation after June 11, 1986, and is installed in the location specified in the permit;
(2) by the department as a cost of highway construction, if the facility was installed before June 11, 1986, under a utility permit issued on or after July 1, 1960, and is in the location specified in the permit;
(3) by the department as a cost of highway construction, if the utility facility was installed before July 1, 1960, or before the road became part of the state highway system;
(4) by the department as a cost of highway construction, if the utility permit that requires the utility to pay the relocation cost was issued more than five years before the contract for the highway construction project was first advertised;
(5) by the utility in all other cases, unless the commissioner finds it is in the public interest for the cost to be paid by the department.
(d) If requested by a municipality, the department shall implement this chapter by requiring to the maximum extent possible location underground of electric power transmission lines within the municipality.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.075. Findings and intent of the people of the State of Alaska.

(a) The people of the State of Alaska find that the presence of billboards visible from Alaska's highways endangers Alaska's uniqueness and its scenic beauty.
(b) It is the intent of the people of the State of Alaska that Alaska shall forever remain free of billboards.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.080. Purpose.

The purposes of AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180 are
(1) to protect the public safety and the welfare of persons using the highways of the state by having outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices along the highways controlled;
(2) to prevent unreasonable distraction of operators of motor vehicles; to prevent confusion with regard to traffic lights, signs, or signals, or other interference with the effectiveness of traffic regulations, and to promote the safety, convenience, and enjoyment of travel on, and protection of the public investment in, highways in this state; to preserve and enhance the natural scenic beauty or aesthetic features of the highways and adjacent areas; and to attract tourists;
(3) to regulate outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to the rights-of-way of the interstate, primary, and secondary systems within this state in accordance with this chapter and the regulations adopted under this chapter;
(4) to provide that outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices that are not in conformity with the requirements of this chapter are a public nuisance;
(5) to provide a statutory basis for regulation of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices consistent with the public policy declared by the Congress relating to areas within and adjacent to the right-of-way of a highway of the interstate, primary, or secondary systems.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.105. Limitations of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices.

(a) Outdoor advertising may not be erected or maintained within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled way of the interstate, primary, or secondary highways in this state except the following:
(1) directional and other official signs and notices which include, but are not limited to, signs and notices pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and historic attractions, which are required or authorized by law, and which shall conform to federal standards for interstate and primary systems;
(2) signs, displays, and devices advertising the sale or lease of property upon which they are located or advertising activities conducted on the property;
(3) signs determined by the state, subject to concurrence of the United States Department of Transportation, to be landmark signs, including signs on farm structures or natural surfaces of historic or artistic significance, the preservation of which would be consistent with the provisions of this chapter;
(4) directional signs and notices pertaining to schools;
(5) advertising on bus benches or bus shelters, and adjacent trash receptacles, if the state determines that the advertising conforms to local, state, and federal standards for interstate and primary highways.
(b) [Repealed, § 21 ch 94 SLA 1980.]
(c) Outdoor advertising may not be erected or maintained beyond 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of the main traveled way of the interstate, primary, or secondary highways in this state with the purpose of their message being read from that travel way except those outdoor advertising signs, displays, or devices allowed under (a) of this section.
(d) Outdoor advertising may not be erected or maintained within the right-of-way of an interstate, primary, or secondary highway except that outdoor advertising
(1) on bus benches and bus shelters, and adjacent trash receptacles, located within the right-of-way under the authority of a permit issued under AS 19.25.200 is allowed if the bus benches or bus shelters are located within a borough or unified municipality and the buses that stop at that location operate during the entire year; or
(2) present in the right-of-way on January 1, 2005, may remain, subject only to removals required by federal highway funding requirements imposed on the state by federal law, until or unless an encroachment permit for the outdoor advertising is denied under AS 19.25.200(c).
(e) [Repealed, § 4 1998 Ballot Measure No. 5.]
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.130. Penalty for violation.

A person who violates AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180, or a regulation adopted under AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $5,000.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.140. Compensation for removal of advertising.

(a) The department is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation all advertising devices and any property rights pertaining to them when the advertising devices are required to be removed under AS 19.25.150.
(b) Damages resulting from a taking in eminent domain shall be ascertained in the manner provided by law.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.150. Unlawful advertising.

An advertising sign, display, or device that violates the provisions of AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180 is a public nuisance. The department shall give 30 days' notice, by certified mail, to the owner of the land on which the advertising sign, display, or device is located, ordering its removal if it is prohibited by AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180 or ordering the owner to cause it to conform to regulations if it is authorized by AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180. If the owner of the property fails to comply within 30 days as required in the notice, the department shall remove the outdoor advertising sign, display, or device at the expense of the owner of the land or the person who erected it.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.160. Definitions.

In AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180,
(1) “billboards” means any signboards, signs, displays, notices, or forms of outdoor advertising that do not strictly comply with the provisions of AS 19.25.075 - 19.25.180, or with any permit or permits issued pursuant to AS 19.25.075 - 19.25.180;
(2) “interstate system” means that portion of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways located in this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated, by the commissioner, and approved by the secretary of transportation (or by the secretary of commerce before the effective date of the transfer of functions under Public Law 89-670 (80 Stat. 931)), under the provisions of 23 U.S.C.;
(3) “outdoor advertising” includes any outdoor sign, display, or device used to advertise, attract attention, or inform and which is visible to a person on the main-traveled way of a highway of the interstate, primary, or secondary systems in this state, whether by printing, writing, painting, picture, light, drawing, or whether by the use of figures or objects, or a combination of these, or any other thing designed, intended, or used to advertise, inform, or attract attention;
(4) “primary system” or “secondary system” means that portion of connected main highways, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated, by the commissioner, and approved by the secretary of transportation (or by the secretary of commerce before the effective date of the transfer of functions under Public Law 89-670 (80 Stat. 931)), under the provisions of 23 U.S.C.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.170. Agreements with the United States; regulations.

The department is authorized to enter into agreements in conformity with the provisions of this title with the United States Secretary of Transportation as provided by 23 U.S.C. relating to the control of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to interstate and primary systems and to take action in the name of the state to comply with the terms of the agreements, and to adopt required regulations.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 2. Outdoor Advertising. › Sec. 19.25.180. Applicability of municipal enactments.

Notwithstanding AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180, a municipality may enact ordinances that regulate outdoor advertising in a way that is more restrictive than the provisions of AS 19.25.080 - 19.25.180.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 3. Encroachments in Highways. › Sec. 19.25.210. Relocation or removal of encroachment.

If, incidental to the construction or maintenance of a state highway, the department determines and orders that an encroachment previously authorized by written permit must be changed, relocated, or removed, the owner of the encroachment shall change, relocate, or remove it at no expense to the state, except as provided in AS 19.25.020, within a reasonable time set by the department. If the owner does not change, relocate, or remove an encroachment within the time set by the department, the encroachment shall be considered an unauthorized encroachment and subject to the provisions of AS 19.25.220 - 19.25.250.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 3. Encroachments in Highways. › Sec. 19.25.220. Unauthorized encroachments.

If an unauthorized encroachment exists in, on, under, or over a state highway, the department may require the removal of the encroachment in the manner provided in AS 19.25.230 - 19.25.250.
2023 Alaska Statutes › Title 19. Highways and Ferries › Chapter 25. Utilities, Advertising, Encroachments, and Memorials › Article 3. Encroachments in Highways. › Sec. 19.25.230. Notice of removal.

Except as otherwise provided in AS 19.25.200, 19.25.210, and 19.25.240, notice shall be given the owner, occupant, or person in possession of the encroachment, or to any other person causing or permitting the encroachment to exist, by serving upon any of them a notice demanding the removal of the encroachment. The notice must describe the encroachment complained of with reasonable certainty as to its character and location. Service of the notice may be made by certified mail.