reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-3. Classification of Roads in State Road System; Reclassification

All roads in the state road system shall be classified by the state road commissioner. Classification shall be according to functional level of service, either as expressway, trunkline, feeder, or state local service. The designation of a road as expressway, trunkline, feeder, or state local service, shall be subject to change, however, whenever in the judgment of the commissioner altered conditions require that a road be reclassified from one category to another.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-5. Right of Eminent Domain

The state road commissioner, or the state road commission may acquire by right of eminent domain any land or water, or any interest therein or any rights, ways, or easements thereon or thereover, for the purpose of constructing, widening, straightening, grading, or altering any state road, or for the purposes enumerated in section twenty-five of this article, or to provide a detour or temporary road or bridge while a road is in the process of construction, reconstruction, improvement, or repair, or for any other purposes authorized by any provision of this chapter, whenever a just compensation cannot be agreed upon by the owner or claimant of such property, for such taking, use, or damage.
The state road commissioner, or the state road commission, for any of the purposes aforesaid may likewise acquire by eminent domain any bridge or bridge site across any stream separating this state from an adjoining state, any portion thereof, or the approaches thereto, or any interest, franchise, right, or privilege in the same, whether the same be owned and operated by a bridge company, a railroad or electric company, or other railway, or other utility, or any other person, firm, or corporation, such right to be exercised to provide either for a permanent title, ownership, use, or easement thereon or thereover, or for a temporary use and easement thereon or thereover as a detour, or temporary road or bridge; and such rights may be acquired subject to the use by any railroad or electric company, or other railway or utility, or under such reasonable regulation as to such use as the court may prescribe. The state road commission may also exercise in any adjoining state such powers of eminent domain for any of the purposes aforesaid, whether such powers are now conferred or may be hereafter conferred upon the commission by any act of Congress of the United States, if such act of Congress be necessary for the exercise of such powers. Title to property condemned in any adjoining state may be taken either in the name of the state or of the state road commission.
The proceedings for the purposes aforesaid may be instituted in the name of the commissioner, or the state road commission, either at law or in equity, and prosecuted and determined as provided in chapter fifty-four.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-8. Use of Roadbed by Railroad, Telephone Company, etc.

No railroad or electric or other railway shall be constructed upon the roadbed of any state road, except to cross the same, nor shall any person, firm or corporation enter upon or construct any works in or upon such road, or lay or maintain thereon or thereunder any drainage, sewer or water pipes, gas pipes, electric conduits or other pipes, nor shall any telephone, telegraph or electric line or power pole, or any other structure whatsoever, be erected upon, in or over any portion of a state road, except under such restrictions, conditions and regulations as may be prescribed by the state road commissioner. Whenever any railroad or electric or other railway, heretofore or hereafter constructed, shall cross any state road, it shall be required to keep its own roadbed, and the bed of the road or highway at such crossing, in proper repair, or else to construct and maintain an overhead or undergrade crossing, subject to the approval of the state road commissioner; and the tracks of such railroad or railway at grade crossings shall be so constructed as to give a safe and easy approach to and across the same, and when the construction of such approaches is made necessary by a change in the railroad grade at the grade crossing, the cost shall be upon the railway company.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-9. Separation, Elimination or Avoidance of Railway-Highway Grade Crossings -- When Commissioner May Require

Whenever in his judgment it is necessary for the safety of the traveling public or to comply with the safety, design or construction standards for a federal-aid highway project, the state road commissioner may require any railroad company, owning, controlling or operating a railroad in this state, to eliminate railway-highway crossings at grade on existing highways and to avoid railway-highway crossings at grade on new highways, relocated highways and extensions of existing highways by separating the grades or by relocating an existing highway. The commissioner may determine the location, design and grade for any project or structure for the elimination or avoidance of railway-highway crossings at grade, and may determine whether a new, relocated or extended highway shall pass over or under the railroad right of way or tracks. The railroad company shall not be required to bear any part of the cost of construction or maintenance of such grade separation, except where the separation structure eliminates an existing grade crossing.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-10. Same -- Commissioner's Order to Eliminate, etc., Crossing; Amendment to Order

(a) Whenever, in the judgment of the state road commissioner, it is necessary for the safety of the traveling public, or to comply with the safety, design or construction standards for a federal-aid highway project, that a railway-highway crossing at grade be eliminated on an existing highway or avoided on a new highway, relocated highway or extension of an existing highway by separating the grades or relocating an existing highway, the state road commissioner shall make an order to that effect and furnish a copy thereof by registered mail to the State Auditor or attorney of record of the railroad affected by the order.
(b) The commissioner's order shall include at least the following:
(1) A statement describing and locating the railway-highway crossing at grade to be eliminated or avoided; and
(2) A statement of the general plan to be followed in effecting the elimination or avoidance of the specified railway-highway crossing at grade, including general details concerning the following matters:
(A) Whether a new, relocated or extended highway shall pass over or under the railroad right-of-way or tracks; and
(B) The location, grade and width of the grade separation structure or crossing to be constructed and the angle at which the structure or crossing shall meet and converge into the highway bed on either side of the railroad tracks or right-of-way.
(c) Whenever a railroad company affected by the order specified in subsection (a) refuses to enter into a written agreement with the state road commissioner respecting a federal-aid railway-highway project for elimination or avoidance of railway-highway crossings at grade, the commissioner may amend the order made under subsection (a) to incorporate therein insofar as practicable all the details required by the regulations, policies and procedures of the Bureau of Public Roads, United States Department of Commerce, to be included in written agreements between a railroad and a state respecting federal-aid railway-highway projects. The amended order shall be furnished by registered mail to the State Auditor or attorney of record of the railroad affected thereby.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-12. Same -- Railroad to File Plans, etc., for Separation With Commissioner

Within sixty days after the entry of any order by the state road commissioner, directing a separation or elimination of grades at any point, as herein provided, unless legal proceedings be taken, the railroad company affected by such order shall, in the case of a separation of grades, prepare and present to the state road commissioner for his approval, plans, specifications and estimates of cost of the necessary approaches thereto.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-13. Same -- Bidding Upon Approval of Plans; Work to Be Let to Lowest Responsible Bidder

Upon the approval of such plans and specifications by the state road commissioner, the railroad company affected shall secure sealed bids for the construction of such work, and within thirty days after the approval of such plans shall receive and open such bids, after having notified the road commissioner five days in advance of the day on which such bids shall be opened. The work shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained. The successful bidder shall be required to prosecute the work to completion with reasonable diligence.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-14. Same -- Distribution of Cost Between Railroad and State

The total cost of preparing plans, specifications and estimates, of the necessary property including damages to property not taken, of securing bids, and of the work, in grade separations, shall be borne by the railroad company or companies and the state: Provided, however, That unless otherwise agreed upon, said railroad company or companies involved shall be liable for ten per cent of such total cost: Provided, further, That all right-of-way, owned by the state or the railroad company or companies and needed and used for such grade separations, shall be donated for that purpose and shall not be considered as a part of such total cost to be prorated between the parties involved.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-15. Same -- Rejection of Bids; New Bids; Performance of Work by State or Railroad

The state road commissioner shall have the authority to order the rejection of any or all bids submitted for the construction of any work ordered to be done under the provisions of this article, and the railroad company shall secure new bids. The state road commissioner or the railroad company affected shall have the power to reject any and all bids, and elect to do the work itself, in which event there shall not be charged to the railroad company or to the state road commissioner any sum in excess of what it would have been required to pay had the contract been let to the lowest responsible bidder.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-16. Same -- Payment of State's Share of Cost; Commissioner May Furnish Engineer

In all cases the state road commissioner shall, as the work progresses, pay to the railroad company affected its share of the cost of such work as herein provided, which payment shall be made upon estimates furnished by the chief engineer of such railroad company. The state road commissioner shall have the right to furnish an engineer, at his expense, who shall act in cooperation with the engineering department of the railroad company affected in the supervision of such work.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-17. Same -- Maintenance of Work

After the construction of a grade separation under this article, where the highway is carried over the railroad the state shall maintain the state highway and the structures supporting it and the drainage thereof, and the railroad company shall maintain its tracks; and where the state highway is passed under the railroad then the state shall maintain the highway and the drainage thereof, and the railroad company shall maintain its roadbed and the tracks and the structures supporting the same: Provided, however, That the state, at its sole expense, shall bear the cost of repairing or replacing any part of such supporting structure which may be damaged or destroyed by highway traffic; and the railroad company, at its own sole expense, shall bear the cost of repairing or replacing any part of such supporting structure which may be damaged or destroyed by railroad traffic: Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not be applicable to grade separations constructed prior to the effective date of this act.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-17a. Same -- Relocation or Reconstruction of Existing Grade Separation Structures

The state road commissioner shall have the same authority and follow the same procedure and the cost and maintenance provision shall be the same, in the relocation and reconstruction of existing grade separation structures, where the tracks of any railroad and any state road cross, as is provided in sections nine to seventeen, inclusive, of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-17d. Relocation of Public Utility Lines and Public Service Districts Utility Lines on State Highway Construction Projects

Whenever the Commissioner of Highways determines that any public utility line owned by a county or municipal governmental body located upon, across or under any portion of a state highway needs to be relocated in order to accommodate a highway project for which proportionate reimbursement of the cost is not available from any federal program, the commissioner shall notify the public utility owning or operating the facility which shall relocate the same in accordance with this section, and the cost of the relocation shall be paid out of the state road fund.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-17e. Utility Relocation on State Highway Construction Projects Financed by Proceeds of Bonds or Notes Issued Before July 1, 2021

Subject to the provisions of §17-4-17d of this code, and notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, whenever the Commissioner of Highways determines that any utility facility located upon, across, above, or under any portion of a state highway needs to be relocated in order to accommodate a highway project funded, in whole or in part, with proceeds of bonds or notes issued by the division, commissioner, West Virginia Parkways Authority, or the State of West Virginia on or after January 1, 2018, and on or before July 1, 2021, the commissioner shall notify the utility owning or operating the facility, which shall relocate the facility in accordance with this article and in accordance with the cost-sharing provisions of this section. The utility shall bear 85 percent of any such relocation costs, and the Division of Highways shall bear 15 percent of any such relocation costs. The division’s share shall be paid out of the State Road Fund or paid with other eligible funds, within two years of completion of the highway project, and shall be considered a cost of the highway project: Provided, That nothing in this section shall alter or amend the responsibility of the division to pay for the cost of utility facilities relocation when such costs are incurred to accommodate a highway project and such utilities maintain pre-existing property rights in their facilities’ present location.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-18. Approved Types of Paving to Be Determined and Advertised

Before the state road commissioner shall advertise for any contract for the paving of any state road, he shall determine upon and approve plans and specifications for the construction of standard types of paving suitable for the project contemplated, and shall include in the advertisement and proposals for such work the types of paving approved.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-20. Bidder S Bond Required; Return or Forfeiture of Bond

(a) In any case where a contract for work and materials shall be let as a result of competitive bidding, the successful bidder shall, within 20 days after notice of award, execute a formal contract to be approved as to its form, terms, and conditions by the commissioner, and shall also execute and deliver to the commissioner a good and sufficient surety or collateral bond, payable to the State of West Virginia, to be approved by the commissioner, in such amount as the commissioner may require, but not to exceed 110 percent of the contract price, conditioned that the contractor shall well and truly perform the contract. The commissioner may determine individual contractor surety or collateral bond amounts based upon objective criteria set by the commissioner, and any final decision that adversely affects a contractor shall be a contested case subject to appeal under Chapter 29A of this code.
(b) The contractor shall pay in full to the persons entitled thereto for all material, gas, oil, repairs, supplies, tires, equipment, rental charges for equipment and charges for the use of equipment, and labor used by the contractor in the performance of such contract, or which reasonably appeared, at the time of delivery or performance, would be substantially consumed in and about the performance of the contract. A legal action may be maintained upon the bond for breach thereof by any person for whose benefit the bond was executed or by his or her assignee.
(c) The bidder who has the contract awarded to him or her and who fails within 20 days after notice of the award to execute the required contract and bond shall forfeit such check or bond, which shall be taken and considered as liquidated damages and not as a penalty for failure of such bidder to execute the contract and bond.
(d) Upon the execution of the contract and bond by the successful bidder, his or her check or bond shall be released to him or her. The checks or bonds of the unsuccessful bidders shall be released to them promptly after the bids are opened and the contract awarded to the successful bidder.
(e) A duplicate copy of such contract and bond shall be furnished by the Commissioner of the Division of Highways, in electronic or paper form as may be required, to the county clerk of the county in which such contract is to be performed. It is the duty of the county clerk to bind and preserve the same in his or her office and index the same in the name of the commissioner and of the contractor.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-22. Combination in Restraint of Trade; Persons Limiting Competition in Bidding

Contracts authorized by this chapter shall not be let to any person, association of persons, firm, company or corporation, connected, directly or indirectly, with any combination in the form of an unlawful trust in restraint of trade, or who has an understanding, directly or indirectly, to limit, in any manner, competition in bidding upon the construction of any state road or bridge, or for furnishing any materials. Any such combination or unlawful trust is hereby forbidden. Any person, association of persons, firm or corporation entering into, or being a part of, any such combination or unlawful trust shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding $1,000; and every person, county or state officer, or any employee of any county of the state, or of the state road commissioner or other person connected therewith, directly or indirectly, and any officer or member of a corporation, who shall be engaged in any way in promoting any such combination or unlawful trust, or in aiding or abetting the same, or knowingly committing any acts in pursuance thereof, in addition to being subject to the fine aforesaid, may, in the discretion of the court, be imprisoned not exceeding six months.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-23. Certificate Showing Constituents of Materials; False Certificates

Any person, firm or corporation offering for sale or selling to the state any paints, metal or metal culverts, fence or fencing, or any other materials or supplies for use upon or in the construction of any road or bridge or part thereof, shall, if requested, furnish therewith a certificate under oath, showing its purity, chemical constituents, and the percentage of impurities contained therein. Any person, firm or corporation knowingly making or furnishing a false certificate shall be guilty of perjury.
Any contract made by reason of any false statement or representation may be cancelled by order of the court.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-24a. Guardrail Construction

Beginning July 1, 1988, any guardrail placed or replaced in new or existing locations on the state road system must be constructed using wooden posts unless use of another material would reduce the costs of such construction or reconstruction: Provided, That when guardrails are damaged, materials of a like kind may be used.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-25. Acquisition, Establishment and Operation of Quarries, Cement and Other Plants

For the purpose of obtaining materials to be used in the construction and maintenance of state roads and highways, the state road commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered, on behalf of the state, to establish stone quarries, stone crushing plants, brick kilns, cement plants, and other plants deemed by him needful or necessary in the prosecution of his work, and to acquire lands and appurtenances requisite thereto. The commissioner shall also have the power to rent, purchase, condemn or acquire by any other lawful method, stone quarries, gravel, clay, sand, and other deposits, with rights-of-way thereto, and wharves, landings, switches and storage places for shipping or receiving materials; hire or purchase all means of transportation for the same; remove such materials from such lands and other places; prepare such materials for use; manufacture such materials into road-making products; purchase all necessary machinery, tools and other equipment; make such contracts and employ such labor as may be needful or necessary to establish and operate such plants; acquire, prepare, manufacture and transport such materials for use, and to do all other things needful or necessary in connection with the purchase, production, accumulation and distribution of such materials for the uses aforesaid. All costs and expenses incidental thereto shall be paid out of the state road fund. The commissioner may sell the surplus of such materials, products or equipment to any county or municipality of the state, or to any person, firm or corporation, at not less than actual cost, when the same are to be used exclusively in the building of roads, streets and alleys in this state. The commissioner shall pay to the State Treasurer the funds received therefor, to be credited to the state road fund.
The commissioner is empowered to enter into contracts with the proper authorities of other states to establish, jointly, plants for the preparation and manufacture of cement, brick, stone and other materials to be used in the construction of roads as provided herein, and to operate jointly such plants, acquire all materials and do all other things necessary for such operation, and the disposition of the products thereof, for the more economic prosecution of the work of building and maintaining public roads.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-26. Municipal Streets and Bridges and Free Bridges Designated as Connecting Part of State Road System -- Authorized

The state road commissioner may, at any time, after due consultation with and notice to the governing body of the municipal corporation, locate and designate or relocate and redesignate, as a connecting part of the state road system, any bridge or street within a municipal corporation. The commissioner may construct, reconstruct, improve and maintain the designated or redesignated connecting part at the cost and expense of the state.
Any existins free bridge forming a connecting link between two counties or two state routes is hereby adopted as part of the state road system and shall hereafter be maintained by the state, and any existing free bridge forming a connecting link between this and another state is hereby adopted as part of such system, and shall, as to that part of the bridge within the boundary of this state, be maintained by the state.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-27. Same -- Control of Connecting Parts of State Road System Within Municipalities

The state road commissioner shall exercise the same control over connecting parts of the state road system in municipalities, except the regulation of traffic, that he exercises over such system generally, but he shall assume no greater duty or obligation in the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of streets which are part of the state road system than he is required to assume in the case of state roads outside of municipalities. In order, however, to promote the safe and efficient utilization of such streets, the location, form and character of informational, regulatory and warning signs, curb and pavement or other markings, and traffic signals installed or placed by any municipality on any highway or street hereafter constructed with state or federal aid shall be subject to the approval of the state road commissioner.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-28. Same -- Notice and Laying of Necessary Pipes, etc., Before Reconstruction Within Municipality

Before the state road commissioner shall construct, reconstruct, improve or repair a section of the state road system within a municipality he shall, where the road is an "expressway" or "truckline," and he may, where said road is a "feeder" or "state local service" road, give the municipality a notice of such proposed construction, reconstruction, improvement, and repair, and shall likewise give notice to all public service companies and public utilities of such proposed work. Upon receipt of such notice, the municipality shall by ordinance compel all abutting property owners to lay all necessary pipe and to make necessary connections along, in, under, and through the said section of said road before the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or repair is started. All public service companies and public utilities receiving notice from said state road commissioner shall also lay all necessary pipe and make necessary connections along, in, under, and through said section of said road before the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or repair is started.
Should any person, firm, association, or corporation, including municipal corporation, fail or neglect to make all such necessary repairs and connections within a reasonable time after the enactment of such ordinance or the service of notice on them by the state road commissioner, then the said state road commissioner may law such pipe and make such connections and the cost and expenses of laying such pipe and making such connections shall be chargeable to the person, firm, association, or corporation who shall have failed or refused to lay such pipe and make such connections, and the state road commissioner shall collect all of such necessary costs and expenses from the person, firm, association, or corporation, who shall have so failed, refused or neglected to perform such work, by proper action in any court having jurisdiction thereof. However, the cost and expenses shall not be chargeable against any municipality to the extent that the same would impose an indebtedness against any municipality in excess of the amount allowed by law.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-31. Same -- Rules and Regulations of Commissioner to Govern Streets Taken as Connecting Parts of State Road System

The state road commissioner may, by reasonable rules and regulations, govern the widths and grades of streets designated as connecting parts of the state road system. He may regulate the opening of pavement for the construction or repair of service lines or substructures, and may require adequate bond to secure the proper replacement of the pavement. He may also make other reasonable regulations concerning the construction and maintenance of the streets.
In the absence of regulations by the commissioner, the municipal authorities may continue to exercise the same authority that they have over other streets within their jurisdiction.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-34. Contracts for Interstate Bridges; Report to Governor

When it is necessary and proper to connect a state road with a public highway of an adjoining state, the state road commissioner, with the approval of the Governor, is authorized to enter into a contract with the proper authorities of the adjoining state for the joint purchase, erection, and maintenance of a bridge across the stream separating this state from the adjoining state. The commissioner shall file with the Governor a report in writing, with necessary maps, plans and specifications of the bridge, showing the estimated cost, and all other facts that he may deem necessary, or that may be required by the Governor.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-35. Diversion of Nonnavigable Stream

The state road commissioner, incidental to the construction and maintenance of state roads, shall have the power and authority to change or divert any stream of water which is not navigable, in order to avoid or facilitate the crossing thereof, or to economize in the construction or maintenance of any such road, or to protect the same from damage. To effect a change or diversion of any such stream, he may exercise the right of eminent domain.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-36. Construction and Removal of Sidewalks Along State Roads; Injury To, Failure to Repair, etc., Sidewalks

Whenever the safety or convenience of the traveling public demands it, the state road commissioner may construct and maintain sidewalks along state roads. Any person, at his own expense, may build, with the permission of the state road commissioner, a sidewalk along any state road for the free use of the public. The commissioner shall order the sidewalk removed if it interferes with the public travel. Any person who, without authority, injures or destroys any such sidewalk and fails to repair the same, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five nor more than $50.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-38. Violations of Article; Penalty

Except as otherwise provided, a person violating any of the provisions of this article or any of the rules or regulations of the state road commissioner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction shall be fined not less than ten nor more than $100, or be imprisoned not less than five nor more than thirty days, or both.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-39. Controlled-Access Facilities -- Defined

For the purpose of this chapter, a controlled-access facility is defined as a highway or portion of a highway especially designed for through traffic, and over, from, or to which owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons have no right or only a controlled right or easement of access, light, air, or view by reason of the fact that their property abuts upon such controlled-access facility or for any other reason. Such highways may be freeways open to use by all customary forms of highway traffic; or they may be parkways from which trucks, buses, and other commercial vehicles shall be excluded.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-40. Same -- Authority to Establish, Maintain, Regulate, etc.

The state road commissioner is hereby authorized to plan, construct, designate, establish, regulate, vacate, alter, improve, maintain, and provide controlled-access facilities for public use as a part of the state road system wherever present or reasonably anticipated future traffic conditions render such special facilities necessary. The commissioner, in addition to specific powers granted in connection with controlled-access facilities, shall also have and may exercise, relative to such controlled-access facilities, any and all additional authority now or hereafter vested in him relative to highways or the state road system. He may also regulate, restrict, or prohibit the use of such controlled-access facilities by the various classes of vehicles or traffic in a manner consistent with section thirty- nine of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-41. Same -- Design of Controlled-Access Facilities

The state road commissioner is authorized to so design any controlled-access facility and to so regulate, restrict or prohibit access as to best serve the traffic for which such facility is intended. In this connection the commissioner is authorized to divide and separate any controlled-access facility into separate roadways by the construction of raised curbings, central dividing sections, or other physical separations, or by designating such separate roadways by signs, markers, or stripes, and the proper lane for such traffic by appropriate curbs, barriers, signs, markers, stripes or other devices. No person shall have any right of ingress or egress to, from, or across controlled-access facilities to or from abutting lands, except at such designated points at which access may be permitted, upon such terms and conditions as may be specified by the commissioner.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-42. Same -- Acquisition of Property and Property Rights

The state road commissioner may acquire private or public property rights or any interests in lands for controlled-access facilities and service roads, including existing and vested rights of access, air, view and light, by grant, gift, devise, purchase or condemnation in the same manner as the commissioner is now or may hereafter be authorized by law to acquire such property or property rights in connection with the highways of the state road system. In connection with the acquisition of such property or property rights for any controlled-access facility or portion thereof, or service road in connection therewith, the commissioner may, in his discretion, acquire an entire lot, block, or tract of land, if by so doing, the interests of the public will best be served even though said entire lot, block, or tract is not immediately needed for the right of way proper.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-43. Same -- New and Existing Facilities; Grade Crossing Eliminations; Consent to Connect

The state road commissioner may designate and establish controlled-access highways as new and additional facilities, or he may designate and establish an existing street or highway as a controlled-access facility or as a part of a controlled-access facility, and in the event such existing street or highway be so designated, the commissioner may acquire, by grant, gift, purchase or if the exercise of the right of eminent domain be necessary for acquisition purposes, shall condemn existing and vested access rights of abutting landowners to such existing street or highway if such access rights are taken or destroyed. The commissioner is authorized to provide for the elimination of intersection at grade of controlled-access facilities with existing state roads, city streets or other public or private roads or ways by grade separation or service road, or by closing off of such roads and streets at the right-of-way boundary line of such controlled-access facility. No city street, state road or other public or private road or way shall be opened into or connected with any such controlled-access facility without the written consent and previous approval of the state road commissioner, which consent and approval shall be given only if the public interest shall be served thereby.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-44. Same -- Authority to Contract With Other Governmental Agencies

The state road commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements with municipalities, counties or other political subdivisions of the state, or with the federal government or any agency thereof, respecting the financing, planning, establishment, improvement, maintenance, use, regulation or vacation of controlled-access facilities or other public ways to facilitate the establishment of such controlled-access facilities.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-45. Same -- Local Service Roads and Streets

In connection with the development of any controlled-access facility the state road commissioner is authorized to plan, designate, establish, use, regulate, alter, improve, maintain and vacate local service roads and streets or to designate as local service roads and streets any existing road or street, and to exercise jurisdiction over said local service roads as a part of the state road system, in the same manner as is authorized over controlled-access facilities under the terms of this article, if, in his opinion, such local service roads and streets are necessary or desirable. Such local service roads or streets shall be of appropriate design, and shall be separated from the controlled-access facility proper by all devices designated as necessary or desirable by the commissioner.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-46. Same -- Certain Commercial Enterprises Prohibited; Commercial Enterprises on Service Roads; Turnpikes Excluded From Provisions of Section

No automotive service station or other commercial establishment for serving motor vehicle users shall be constructed or located within the right-of-way of, or on publicly owned or publicly leased land acquired or used for or in connection with, a controlled-access facility. Emergency services for disabled vehicles shall be authorized or conducted by the state road commissioner. The state road commissioner may construct service roads adjacent to a controlled-access facility in such a manner as to facilitate the establishment and operation of competitive commercial enterprises for serving motor vehicle users on private property abutting such service roads.
Nothing in this section, however, shall have any application to any turnpike project as defined in section four, chapter one hundred thirty-nine, acts of the Legislature, regular session, one thousand nine hundred forty-seven, as amended.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-47. Access From Commercial, etc., Property and Subdivisions to Highways -- Purposes of Regulation; Right of Access; Provisions Inapplicable to Controlled-Access Facilities; Removal of Unauthorized Access; Bond for Access

(a) Reciprocal access between state highways and real property used or to be used for commercial, industrial or mercantile purposes and reciprocal access between state highways and real property that is subdivided into lots is a matter of public concern and shall be regulated by the Commissioner of Highways to achieve the following purposes:
(1) To provide for maximum safety of persons traveling upon, entering or leaving state highways;
(2) To provide for efficient and rapid movement of traffic upon state highways;
(3) To permit proper maintenance, repair and drainage of state highways; and
(4) To facilitate appropriate public use of state highways.
(b) Except where the right of access has been limited by or pursuant to law, every owner or occupant of real property abutting upon any existing state highway has a right of reasonable means of ingress to and egress from such state highway consistent with those policies expressed in subsection (a) of this section and any regulations issued by the commissioner under section forty-eight of this article.
(c) If the construction, relocation or reconstruction of any state highway, to be paid for, in whole or in part, with federal or state road funds, results in the abutment of real property as defined in subsection (a) of this section on the state highway that did not previously abut on it, no rights of direct access shall accrue because of such abutment. However, the commissioner may authorize or limit access from an abutting property if the property is compatible with the policies stated in subsection (a) of this section and any regulations issued by the commissioner as authorized by section forty-eight of this article.
(d) The policies expressed in this section are applicable to state highways generally and shall in no way limit the authority of the Commissioner of Highways to establish controlled-access facilities under sections thirty-nine through forty-six, inclusive, of this article.
(e) Any unauthorized access to a state highway may be removed, blocked, barricaded or closed in any manner considered necessary by the commissioner to protect the safety of the public and enforce the policies of this section and sections forty-eight, forty-nine and fifty of this article.
(f) As a condition of granting access to a state highway, the commissioner may require the owners of real property developed or to be developed to provide a bond in an amount the commissioner determines necessary to compensate the division for improvements to highway facilities required as a result of the development. This bond shall be held a maximum of ten years: Provided, that no bond shall be required for any residential development consisting of one hundred homes or less.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-48. Same -- Regulations by Commissioner

The state road commissioner is hereby authorized to issue reasonable regulations specifying standards for the location, design and construction of access facilities to state highways and any other regulations necessary to carry out the policies stated in section forty-seven of this article. Such regulations may be based upon any or all of the following:
(a) Standards suggested by any public organization or body concerned with highway or traffic safety; or
(b) Studies, surveys or reports made for the commissioner or for any other governmental agency; or
(c) Any other data deemed relevant by the commissioner. Regulations affecting access previously issued by the commissioner or the state road commission shall continue in effect until altered or withdrawn by the commissioner.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-51. Same -- Amendment or Withdrawal of Objections or Preliminary Determinations by Commissioner; Delegation of Authority by Commissioner

(a) The state road commissioner may revise, amend or withdraw any objections issued by him and any preliminary determinations made by him under sections forty-seven, forty- eight, forty-nine or fifty of this article upon reasonable notice to the owner or owners of the property affected or to the person submitting a subdivision plan.
(b) The commissioner may delegate the authority to make, revise, amend and withdraw objections and preliminary determinations and hold hearings required or authorized under this section and sections forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine and fifty of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-52. Same -- Requirements for Objections, Preliminary Determinations and Notices

(a) All objections and preliminary determinations made pursuant to sections forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine and fifty of this article, and all notices required to be given pursuant to sections forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty and fifty-one of this article, shall be in writing. All such objections and preliminary determinations shall be signed by the person making them, and all such notices shall be signed by the person charged with the duty of giving the notice.
(b) Notice of any preliminary determination or objection required or authorized by sections forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine or fifty of this article shall be given by causing such notice to be delivered to the owner or owners of the real property affected or by causing a copy thereof to be sent by certified or registered mail to such owner or owners at his or their last-known place of business or residence.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 17. Roads and Highways › Article 4. State Road System › §17-4-53. Same -- Appeals From and Judicial Review of Determinations and Final Orders of Commissioner

(a) Any objection or preliminary determination issued by the state road commissioner under sections forty-seven, forty- eight, forty-nine or fifty of this article shall be subject to judicial review by the circuit court of the county in which the real property affected is located, or the circuit court of Kanawha county, upon the filing in such court or with the judge thereof in vacation, of a petition for appeal by the owner or owners aggrieved by such objection or preliminary determination, within thirty days from the date of the giving of notice of such objection or preliminary determination.
(b) The owner or owners making such appeal shall forthwith send a copy of such petition for appeal, by certified or registered mail, to the state road commissioner. Upon receipt of such copy of such petition for appeal the state road commissioner shall promptly certify and file in such court a complete transcript of the record upon which the preliminary determination or objection complained of was made. The costs of such transcript shall be paid by the commissioner.
(c) The court sitting in lieu of a jury, or judge thereof in vacation, shall, after due notice, conduct a hearing on the issues presented by such appeal and shall permit argument, oral or written or both, by the parties. The court shall permit such pleadings, in addition to the pleadings before the state road commissioner, as it deems to be required. Evidence relating to the making of the objection or preliminary determination complained of and relating to the questions raised by the allegations of the pleadings or other questions pertinent in the proceeding may be offered by the parties to the proceeding.
(d) Upon such conditions as may be required and to the extent necessary to prevent irreparable injury, any circuit court to which an appeal has been made as provided in this section, may, after due notice to and hearing of the parties to the appeal, issue all necessary and appropriate process to postpone the effective date of the objection or final determination of the state road commissioner or to grant such other relief as may be appropriate pending final determination.
(e) A circuit court to which an appeal has been made as provided in this section, may affirm, annul or revise the objection or preliminary determination of the state road commissioner, or it may remand the proceeding to the state road commissioner for such further action as it directs.
(f) The decision of the circuit court on an appeal from the state road commissioner shall be final, subject only to review by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia upon a petition for certiorari filed in such court within sixty days from the entry of an order and decision of the circuit court upon such appeal from the state road commissioner.