2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 43 - TRANSPORTATION (§§ 43-1-101 — 43-10-119) › HIGHWAYS AND HIGHWAY SYSTEMS (§§ 43-2-101 — 43-2-404) › Article 2 - STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL HIGHWAYS (§§ 43-2-101 — 43-2-404) › Part 1 - STATE, COUNTY, AND CITY HIGHWAY SYSTEMS (§§ 43-2-101 — 43-2-151) › Section 43-2-135 - Division of authority over streets

(1)
The jurisdiction, control, and duty of the state, cities, cities and counties, and incorporated towns with respect to streets which are a part of the state highway system is as follows:
(a)
The city, city and county, and incorporated town shall exercise full responsibility for and control over any such street beyond and including the curbs and, if no curb is installed, beyond the traveled way, its contiguous shoulders, and appurtenances; except that the regulation and control of driveways shall be subject to the provisions of section
43-2-147
.
(b)
The department of transportation has authority to prohibit the suspension of signs, banners, or decorations above the portion of such streets between the curbs or portion used for highway purposes up to a vertical height of twenty feet above the surface of the roadway.
(c)
The city, city and county, or incorporated town at its own expense shall maintain all underground facilities in such streets and has the right to construct such underground facilities as may be necessary in such streets.
(d)
The city, city and county, or incorporated town has the right to grant the privilege to open the surface of any such street, but all damages occasioned thereby shall promptly be repaired either by the city, city and county, or incorporated town itself or at its direction.
(e)
The city, city and county, or incorporated town at its own expense shall provide street illumination and shall clean all such streets, including storm sewer inlets and catch basins.
(f)
The department of transportation has the right to utilize all storm sewers on such highways without cost; and if new storm sewer facilities are necessary in construction of streets by the department of transportation, the cost of such facilities shall be borne by the state and municipality as may be mutually agreed upon between the department of transportation and the local governing body of the city, city and county, or incorporated town.
(g)
Cities, cities and counties, and incorporated towns shall regulate and enforce all traffic and parking restrictions on streets which are state highways, but all regulations adopted after December 31, 1979, shall be approved in writing by the department of transportation before becoming effective on such streets; except that such regulations shall become effective on such streets sixty days after receipt for review by the department of transportation if not disapproved in writing by said department during that sixty-day period.
(h)
The department of transportation shall erect, control, and maintain at state expense all route markers and directional signs, except street signs on those streets.
(i)
The department of transportation shall install, operate, maintain, and control at state expense all traffic control signals, signs, and traffic control devices on state highways in cities, the city and county of Denver, the city and county of Broomfield, and incorporated towns. No local authority shall erect or maintain any stop sign or traffic control signal at any location so as to require the traffic on any state highway to stop before entering or crossing any intersecting highway unless approval in writing has first been obtained from the department of transportation. For the purpose of this paragraph (i), striping, lane-marking, and channelization are considered traffic control devices.
(j)
Rights-of-way for such street shall be acquired by either the city, city and county, or incorporated town or by the state as is mutually agreed upon. Costs of acquiring such rights-of-way may be at the sole expense of the state or the city, city and county, or incorporated town, or both, as may be mutually agreed. Title to all rights-of-way so acquired shall vest in the city, city and county, or incorporated town, or the state, according to the agreement under which said rights-of-way were secured.
(k)
The department of transportation is authorized to acquire rights-of-way by purchase, gift, or condemnation for any such streets, highways, and bridges. Any such condemnation proceeding shall be exercised in the manner provided by law for condemnation proceedings to acquire lands required for state highways. Nothing in this section shall be construed as abrogating the rights of home rule cities to acquire lands for state purposes in the manner set forth in the charter of said cities.
L. 53: p. 526, § 35. CRS 53: § 120-13-35. C.R.S. 1963: § 120-13-35. L. 71: p. 202, § 10. L. 74: (1)(i) amended, p. 358, § 1, effective July 1. L. 79: (1)(g) amended, p. 1598, § 2, effective May 18. L. 80: (1)(a) amended, p. 798, § 66, effective June 5. L. 91: (1)(b), (1)(f) to (1)(i), and (1)(k) amended, p. 1105, § 147, effective July 1. L. 2001: (1)(i) amended, p. 273, § 27, effective November 15.