Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 603 - TRANSPORTATION CABINET › Chapter 4 - Right-of-way › Section 603 KAR 4:040 - TODS signs; placement on public roads other than interstates or parkways

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				189.337
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				189.337 requires the Department of Highways
				to establish standards for the placement of signs within highway right-of-way
				of a public road. The Transportation Cabinet has promulgated
				603 KAR
				5:050 which deals with all traffic control devices by
				incorporating the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices by reference. The
				Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices allows for the erection of tourist
				oriented directional signs (TODS) to provide directional information for
				tourist activities offering goods and services that are of significant interest
				to the traveling public within certain parameters, but requires each
				jurisdiction to establish policies for those areas not covered in the manual.
				This administrative regulation sets forth the criteria to be followed in the
				erection and maintenance of TODS. The criteria included in this administrative
				regulation are consistent with the guidelines set forth in the Manual on
				Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Section
			 1. Definitions.
(1) "Clear zone"
			 means the area between the edge of the driving lane of a public road and an
			 imaginary line running parallel to the road but thirty (30) feet (9.12 meters)
			 away from the road.
(2)
			 "Contractor" means the entity selected by the Department of Highways pursuant
			 to KRS Chapter 45A and 600 KAR Chapter 6 to administer the tourist oriented
			 directional signs program in Kentucky. The activities of the contractor shall
			 include but not be limited to marketing, determination of business eligibility,
			 maintenance, erection and removal of the information panels and TODS.
(3) "Contractor year" means July 1 through
			 the following June 30.
(4) "Cover"
			 means a protective shield over a TODS sign which prohibits viewing of the
			 sign.
(5) "Department" is defined
			 by
			 KRS
			 189.010(1).
(6) "Eligibility distance" means the distance
			 from the at-grade intersection of the state highway at the point where the
			 directional sign is located to the entrance driveway to the business.
(7) "Fully-controlled access highway" means a
			 highway that:
(a) Gives preference to through
			 traffic;
(b) Has access only at
			 selected public roads; and
(c) Does
			 not have a highway intersection or at-grade crossing.
(8) "Illegal sign" means an advertising
			 device which has been determined to be illegal according to the provisions of
			 603 KAR
			 3:080.
(9)
			 "Information panel" means an official sign placed within the highway
			 right-of-way with space for one (1) or more individual TODS to be attached to
			 it and which may display the legend "TOURIST ACTIVITIES".
(10) "Intersection" is defined by
			 KRS
			 189.010(4).
(11) "Motorist service" means a place of
			 business or a business location providing gas, food, lodging, or camping
			 facilities or a combination thereof.
(12) "MUTCD" means the Federal Highway
			 Administration's Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices incorporated by
			 reference in
			 603 KAR
			 5:050.
(13) "Public road" means all state-maintained
			 roads other than interstate or parkway highways.
(14) "Ramp" means the on- or off-access road
			 from the interstate highway or parkway to or from the first public
			 road.
(15) "Shopping area" means a
			 group of ten (10) or more retail and other commercial establishments located
			 within close proximity of one another that employ a unifying theme carried out
			 by individual shops in their architectural design or their
			 merchandise.
(16) "Shopping mall"
			 means a group of retail and other commercial establishments that is 400,000
			 square feet or more and is planned, developed, owned, and managed as a single
			 property.
(17) "TOD trailblazer"
			 means a reduced-sized TODS used in areas where the speed limit is posted with a
			 limit of forty-five (45) miles per hour or less (seventy-two and four-tenths
			 (72.4) kilometers per hours) to direct the traveling public to a tourist
			 attraction.
(18) "Tourist activity"
			 means a public or private activity which provides a tourist attraction or
			 motorist service to the traveling public.
(19) "Tourist attraction" means:
(a) A cultural, historical, recreational,
			 agricultural, educational, or entertainment activity;
(b) A shopping mall or shopping area;
			 or
(c) A commercial activity which
			 is unique and local or indigenous in nature.
(20) "Tourist oriented directional sign" or
			 "TODS" means an individual tourist information sign paid for and owned by the
			 tourist activity and fabricated to the standards set forth in this
			 administrative regulation and located on an information panel on the
			 right-of-way of a public road. The TODS may provide the official name,
			 directional information, and distance to a specific tourist activity.