Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Transportation › Chapter Trans 233 - Division of land abutting a state trunk highway or connecting highway › Section Trans 233.01 - Purpose

Current through June 24, 2024
Dividing or developing lands, or both, affects highways by
				generating traffic, increasing parking requirements, reducing sight distances,
				increasing the need for driveways and other highway access points and, in
				general, impairing highway safety and impeding traffic movements. The ability
				of state trunk highways and connecting highways to serve as an efficient part
				of an integrated intermodal transportation system meeting interstate,
				statewide, regional and local needs is jeopardized by failure to consider and
				accommodate long-range transportation plans and needs during land division
				processes. This chapter specifies the department's minimum standards for the
				division of land that abuts a state trunk highway or connecting highway, in
				order to provide for the safety of entrance upon and departure from those
				highways, to preserve the public interest and investment in those highways, to
				help maintain speed limits, and to provide for the development and
				implementation of an intermodal transportation system to serve the mobility
				needs of people and freight and foster economic growth and development, while
				minimizing transportation-related fuel consumption, air pollution, and adverse
				effects on the environment and on land owners and users. Preserving the public
				investment in an integrated transportation system also assures that no person,
				on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, is excluded from
				participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under
				any transportation program or activity. The authority to impose minimum
				standards for subdivisions is s.
				236.13(1)
				(e), Stats. The authority to impose minimum
				standards for land divisions under ss.
				236.34,
				236.45
				and
				703.11, Stats.,
				is s.
				86.07(2),
				Stats. The authority to impose minimum standards for land divisions to consider
				and accommodate long-range transportation plans and needs is ss.
				1.11(1),
				1.12(2),
				1.13(3),
				20.395(9)
				(qx),
				66.1001(2)
				(c),
				84.01(2), (15), and
				(17),
				84.015,
				84.03(1),
				85.02,
				85.025,
				85.05,
				85.16(1),
				86.31(6),
				88.87(3),
				and
				114.31(1),
				Stats.
The Department is authorized and required by ss.
				  84.01(15),
				  84.015,
				  84.03(1)
				  and
				  20.395(9)
				  (qx), to plan, select, lay out, add to,
				  decrease, revise, construct, reconstruct, improve and maintain highways and
				  related projects, as required by federal law, Title 23, USC and all acts of
				  Congress amendatory or supplementary thereto, and the federal regulations
				  issued under the federal code; and to expend funds in accordance with the
				  requirements of acts of Congress making such funds available. Among these
				  federal laws that the Department is authorized and required to follow are
				  23 USC
				  109 establishing highway design standards;
				  23 USC
				  134, requiring development and compliance
				  with long-range (minimum of 20 years) metropolitan area transportation plans;
				  and
				  23 USC
				  135, requiring development and compliance
				  with long-range (minimum of 20 years) statewide transportation plans.
				  Similarly, the Department is authorized and required by the state statutes
				  cited and other federal law to assure that it does not unintentionally exclude
				  or deny persons equal benefits or participation in transportation programs or
				  activities on the basis of race, color, national origin and other factors, and
				  to give appropriate consideration to the effects of transportation facilities
				  on the environment and communities. A "state trunk highway" is a highway that
				  is part of the State Trunk Highway System. It includes State numbered routes,
				  federal numbered highways, the Great River Road and the Interstate System. A
				  listing of state trunk highways with geographic end points is available in the
				  Department's "Official State Trunk Highway System and the Connecting Highways"
				  booklet that is published annually as of December 31. The County Maps published
				  by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation also show the breakdown county by
				  county. As of January 1, 1997, there were 11,813 miles of state trunk highways
				  and 520 center-line miles of connecting highways. Of at least 116
				  municipalities in which there are connecting highways, 112 are cities and 4 or
				  more are villages.
A "connecting highway" is not a state trunk highway. It is a
				  marked route of the State Trunk Highway System over the streets and highways in
				  municipalities which the Department has designated as connecting highways.
				  Municipalities are responsible for their maintenance and traffic control. The
				  Department is generally responsible for construction and reconstruction of the
				  through lanes of connecting highways, but costs for parking lanes and related
				  municipal facilities and other desired local improvements are local
				  responsibilities. The Department reimburses municipalities for the maintenance
				  of connecting highways in accordance with a lane mile formula. See ss.
				  84.02(11),
				  84.03(10),
				  86.32(1) and
				  (4), and
				  340.01(60),
				  Stats. A listing of connecting highways with geographic end points is also
				  available in the Department's "Official State Trunk Highway System and the
				  Connecting Highways" booklet that is published annually as of December 31.
A "business route" is an alternate highway route marked to
				  guide motorists to the central or business portion of a city, village or town.
				  The word "BUSINESS" appears at the top of the highway numbering marker. A
				  business route branches off from the regular numbered route, passes through the
				  business portion of a city and rejoins the regularly numbered route beyond that
				  area. With very rare exceptions, business routes are not state trunk highways
				  or connecting highways. The authorizing statute is s.
				  84.02(6),
				  Stats. This rule does not apply to business routes.