Chapter 2 - Department Of Transportation
CHAPTER 2 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
24-2-101. Department and commission created; qualifications;appointment; term; removal; compensation; location of offices; power to bringcivil actions; official seal.
(a) There is created a department of transportation to consistof a transportation commission and a director of the department oftransportation. The commission shall consist of seven (7) commissioners, notall of whom shall be registered in the same political party. They shallbiennially elect their chairman on or after the first day of March. Thecommissioners shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice andconsent of the senate, and each shall serve for a term of six (6) years. Theterms of all commissioners appointed after the effective date of this sectionshall terminate on the last day of February of the sixth year of the termregardless of the date of the beginning of the term. The governor may removeany commissioner as provided in W.S. 9-1-202.
(b) One (1) commissioner shall be appointed from each of thefollowing districts:
(i) District No. 1 composed of the counties of Laramie, Goshenand Platte;
(ii) District No. 2 composed of the counties of Albany, Carbonand Sweetwater;
(iii) District No. 3 composed of the counties of Lincoln, Teton,Sublette and Uinta;
(iv) District No. 4 composed of the counties of Campbell,Johnson and Sheridan;
(v) District No. 5 composed of the counties of Big Horn, HotSprings, Park and Washakie;
(vi) District No. 6 composed of the counties of Crook, Niobraraand Weston;
(vii) District No. 7 composed of the counties of Converse,Fremont and Natrona.
(c) The appointment in each district shall rotate successivelyamong the several counties comprising the district. If any commissioner ceasesto reside in, or for a continuous period of six (6) months or more is absentfrom the county, the governor shall declare his office vacant and shall appointa successor from the same county in accordance with W.S. 28-12-101.
(d) Each commissioner shall qualify by taking theconstitutional oath of office, and each shall receive a salary of six hundreddollars ($600.00) per year and actual and necessary traveling expenses whileaway from home in the performance of the duties of office, to be paid from thestate highway fund.
(e) The commission shall maintain offices at the statecapital. The commission is empowered to sue in the name of the"Transportation Commission of Wyoming", and may be sued by that namein the courts of this state and in no other jurisdiction upon any contractexecuted by it. The attorney general is the legal advisor of the commission andshall prosecute and defend all actions and shall also appear in all proceedingsin any federal department in which the commission is a party or is interested.
(f) The commission shall have a seal bearing the words"Transportation Commission of Wyoming, Official Seal", and all copiesof all records and other instruments in the office of the commission, certifiedunder the hand of its secretary with the seal affixed shall be received in anycourt as prima facie evidence of the original record or instrument.
(g) Effective July 1, 1979, appointments and terms shall be inaccordance with W.S. 28-12-101 through 28-12-103.
(h) The commission, department and appropriate divisions withinthe department may operate upon a federal fiscal year basis commencing October1 of each year. The commission, department and all divisions within thedepartment shall report revenues and expenditures upon a state fiscal yearcommencing July 1, 2010.
24-2-102. General powers; power of eminent domain limited.
(a) To construct, maintain and supervise the public highways ofthis state, the department of transportation is authorized to:
(i) Acquire, hold and manage real property in the name of thetransportation commission and to develop, improve, operate and maintain thesame for any necessary public purpose. Lands acquired for rights-of-way forhighways may be up to three hundred (300) feet wide and greater where extrawidth is necessary for:
(A) Deposits of road building materials;
(B) Deposits of waste materials;
(C) Embankments;
(D) Excavations;
(E) Maintenance;
(F) Parking facilities;
(G) Roadside rest areas; and
(H) Scenic roadside areas.
(ii) Sell, exchange, abandon, relinquish or otherwise dispose ofreal property including land, water and improvements for any necessary purposein accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the transportationcommission, provided that disposition of water rights shall be in accordancewith law.
(b) The commission shall not acquire property by eminent domainexcept for highway rights-of-way as specified by subparagraphs (a)(i)(A)through (F) of this section and only if the property for those purposes isimmediately adjacent to the highway right-of-way.
24-2-103. Repealed by Laws 1983, ch. 139, 2.
24-2-104. Repealed by Laws 1983, ch. 139, 2.
24-2-105. Appointment of director; qualifications; salary andexpenses; powers and duties.
(a) The commission shall submit a minimum of three (3) names ofqualified candidates to the governor who shall appoint a director of thedepartment of transportation. The director shall receive an annual salary asprovided by law, payable in equal monthly installments. He shall be allowed hisactual and necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in the discharge ofhis official duties, and shall give his entire time to the duties of his office.With the approval of the commission, the director shall have complete charge oflaying out and establishing highways upon which any portion of the statehighway fund is to be expended, including expenditures for roads now inexistence or in the future to be constructed, which are part of the statehighway system which are located within or partially within the nationalforests' boundaries, and shall purchase all materials, supplies and equipment,including road-building machinery, materials, supplies and equipment, and shallemploy such engineers, superintendents and employees with salaries as providedby law, as necessary for the proper performance of the duties of the departmentand the construction work undertaken by it. The director, with the approval ofthe commission, may promulgate and adopt rules and regulations as provided bythe Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, necessary for the proper performanceof the duties and functions of the department.
(b) Notwithstanding 1991 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 241,Section 1(a)(iv), the director of the department of transportation isauthorized to regulate and control the expenditure of any administrative fundsnot otherwise provided by law and not specifically regulated and controlled bythe transportation commission.
24-2-106. Appointment of chief engineer; duties of director andengineer.
(a) With the approval of the commission, the director of thedepartment of transportation shall appoint a qualified chief engineer whoshall:
(i) Compile all available information relative to the publicroads and bridges within the state;
(ii) Prepare standard plans and specifications for theconstruction of roads, culverts and bridges, and compile data relative to roadand bridge materials and their values;
(iii) Furnish standard plans, specifications and data to anyboard of county commissioners upon request, and advise with boards of countycommissioners with respect to highway construction and improvements not withinthe jurisdiction of the department when requested;
(iv) Prepare or approve plans and specifications for all bridgesto be constructed by any county, city or town within the state;
(v) Be a licensed professional civil engineer, knowledgeableand experienced in highway and bridge construction and maintenance.
(b) No contract for the construction of a bridge is validunless the plans and specifications have been prepared by the director of thedepartment of transportation or the chief engineer or, if prepared by otherprofessional engineers, the bridge designs, plans and specifications have beenapproved by the director or the chief engineer before the start ofconstruction. The review and approval under this section shall be made withoutcost to cities, towns and counties. Final payment upon any contract shall notbe made until the bridge is inspected and the payment approved by the designerof the bridge and the appropriate governing body.
24-2-107. Required reports.
Thedirector of the department of transportation shall make an annual report to thecommission of the transactions of the department, and on or before Decemberfirst of each even-numbered year, the commission shall, as required by W.S.9-2-1014, report to the governor.
24-2-108. Road and bridge construction.
Allroad and bridge construction work, any part of the cost of which is paid fromthe state highway fund, shall be performed in accordance with the plans andspecifications prepared by the director of the department of transportation orthe chief engineer and approved by the commission, and shall be performed by orunder contracts awarded by the commission. The director with the assistance ofthe chief engineer shall have complete charge, including expenditures for roadsnow in existence, or in the future to be constructed, which are part of statehighway systems which are located within or partially within the nationalforests' boundaries. All improvements costing more than two hundred thousanddollars ($200,000.00) shall be constructed under contracts awarded after publicnotice to the lowest responsible bidder determined qualified by thetransportation commission of Wyoming which is given the power to determine thequalifications and responsibilities of bidders. The commission may reject anyor all bids and readvertise for bids. Improvements costing less than fortythousand dollars ($40,000.00) may be constructed by the commission upon forceaccount, with its own forces or under contract, as the commission shalldetermine. A state highway construction job to be completed within any calendaryear period and to cost more than forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) shall notbe constructed by department of transportation forces in sections or parcels soas to come within the forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) limitation. Contractsmay be entered into with railroad companies for the construction of gradeseparation structures at actual cost under terms and conditions approved by thecommission. Whenever an emergency arises requiring immediate expenditure offunds for the repair or rebuilding of bridges, approaches to bridges and anyroadway, when the bridges, approaches to bridges or roadway are required to berebuilt immediately and in such short time that in the judgment of thecommission the people would be seriously inconvenienced in waiting the regularperiod for advertising for bids, the commission may enter into contract for anybuilding or rebuilding of bridges, approaches or roadway without advertisingfor the letting of any contract, provided the amount of the contract shall notexceed one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) and provided the commission requestsproposals from at least two (2) contractors capable of performing the emergencyconstruction or repair. The commission shall adopt general rules and regulationsfor the publication of notice to bidders, the awarding of contracts, and fordetermining the qualifications and responsibilities of bidders.
24-2-109. Designation of state highways; vesting of county interest instate; commission authorized to acquire severed portions of land; land to besold.
(a) The transportation commission shall designate publichighways to be known as state highways, which may coincide in whole or in partwith previously established county roads. When the state highway is defined anddesignated by resolution entered in the records of the commission, all titleand interest of the respective counties, in the road and right-of-waydesignated, shall pass to and vest in the transportation commission of Wyoming.
(b) Pursuant to W.S. 24-2-102:
(i) Any rights-of-way for state highways not acquired from therespective counties may be acquired;
(ii) The commission shall have the authority to acquire bypurchase or gift, the parcel or parcels of property that may be severed or damagedas a result of the acquisition of the highway right-of-way; provided, that thecommission shall not acquire any such parcel or parcels of land by purchase orgift until full settlement has been made for the damages to the landowner asotherwise provided by law;
(iii) Any parcel of land acquired pursuant to paragraph (b)(ii)of this section and not otherwise used for highway purposes or traded for landused for highway purposes shall be offered for sale within two (2) years fromthe date of the completion of the project for which it was acquired. Afterwritten notice to the state building commission, the sale or disposition ofthis land shall be in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by thetransportation commission.
24-2-110. Cooperation with counties in construction and maintenance ofcounty roads; allocation of costs; state-county road construction accountestablished.
(a) The board of county commissioners of each county shallestablish a separate road construction and maintenance fund solely for theconstruction and maintenance of county roads, bridges and culverts. Work usingfunds from the road construction and maintenance fund of a county shall beperformed under contract awarded after competitive bidding if the estimatedcost of the work exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00). All work shall beperformed under the immediate control and supervision of the board of countycommissioners or its authorized representative and in accordance with countyroad standards as established by the Wyoming county road standards committee.The road construction and maintenance fund program is a supplement to federalaid, primary and secondary road programs in each county. The term"construction and maintenance" as used in this section means construction,reconstruction, surveys, mapping, right-of-way costs, bridges, culverts,general road maintenance and fencing. The county shall use existing grades,bridges and other physical items or facilities in order to minimize or avoidmore costly relocation.
(b) All expenses of maintaining the road after its constructionis completed shall be paid by the county.
(c) The gasoline license tax revenues distributed by the statetreasurer under W.S. 39-17-111(d)(ii) shall be sent to the county treasurers ofthe various counties and placed in a separate fund in each county earning itsown interest and be expended by the board of county commissioners solely forthe road construction and maintenance fund program and as otherwise provided inthis subsection. This money shall be allocated as follows:
(i) To the highway fund, an amount equal to the counties'contribution for the cost of the university's technology transfer program underW.S. 21-17-115(a)(ii) or thirty-one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($31,250.00),whichever is less;
(ii) The remainder to the counties and the share allocated toeach county shall be based fifty percent (50%) upon the percentage ratio whichthe rural population including the population within the cities and towns withless than one thousand four hundred (1,400) of each county bears to the totalrural population of the state and fifty percent (50%) based upon the percentageratio which the area of each county bears to the area of the state. Anyinterest earned on the investment of monies in the fund created by thissubsection shall be retained by each county and shall be used for project costsas authorized by this section.
(d) Repealed by Laws 2008, Ch. 24, 2.
(e) Repealed By Laws 2009, Ch. 170, 2.
(f) There is created a Wyoming county road standards committeeappointed by the governor consisting of:
(i) Three (3) members nominated by the Wyoming countycommissioners association, one (1) of whom shall be a registered professionalengineer;
(ii) Two (2) members nominated by the Wyoming association ofconsulting engineers and surveyors;
(iii) One (1) member nominated by the Wyoming contractorsassociation; and
(iv) One (1) member nominated by the Wyoming association ofcounty engineers and road superintendents.
(g) It shall be the responsibility of the Wyoming county roadsstandards committee to furnish standards for the construction and maintenanceof county roads to any board of county commissioners upon request, and toadvise boards of county commissioners with respect to highway construction,maintenance and improvements. The committee shall meet as necessary, but atleast annually.
(h) Whenever an emergency arises requiring construction ormaintenance work using funds from the road construction and maintenance fund ofa county, the board of county commissioners may enter into contract for thework without advertising for the letting of the contract. An emergency is anoccasion requiring construction or maintenance work, on short notice, becausethe road has become unsafe or impassable due to events which are beyond thecontrol of the county.
24-2-111. Cooperation with cities in construction of streetsconnecting state highways and construction of storm sewers along streetsdesignated as state highways.
(a) The transportation commission may cooperate withincorporated cities and towns in the construction of public streets andhighways, including bridges and culverts, but excepting bypass routes, if thestreets or highways constitute direct connections between sections ofestablished state highways. All cooperative work shall be performed under theimmediate control and supervision of the director of the department oftransportation in accordance with plans and specifications prepared under thesupervision of the director or the chief engineer, but no contract shall be letnor work commenced until sixty (60) days after the plans for the work have beensubmitted and approved by the legislative body of the incorporated city ortown. The failure of the legislative body of the incorporated city or town totake official action approving or disapproving the plans within sixty (60) daysshall constitute approval for the purpose of this section. The entire cost ofconstruction of the streets and highways and the maintenance, including streetsand highways currently in existence, shall be paid by the transportationcommission with the following exceptions:
(i) The cost of construction of storm sewers along streetsdesignated as state highways shall be paid by the transportation commission. Ifthe city decides to connect other storm sewers with the one constructed by thecommission, the commission shall only pay for the cost of a storm sewer neededto provide drainage for the street. If additional costs are incurred, thecities shall pay these additional costs. The city or town, if the population isover fifteen hundred (1,500) or more, shall pay all costs of, and beresponsible for, the cleaning and maintenance of the storm sewers;
(ii) The city or town, if it has a population of fifteen hundred(1,500) or more, shall pay all costs of, and be responsible for, the cleaning,sweeping and washing of, and snow removal from the streets and highways.Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the transportation commission maycontribute financial assistance to any city or town with a population betweenfifteen hundred (1,500) and five thousand (5,000) that is performing its dutiesunder this paragraph in a total amount not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00)per capita annually to the city or town;
(iii) The entire cost to the state of the construction,maintenance and acquisition of the necessary right-of-way for any highwayroute, which constitutes a bypass of any incorporated city or town, and whichis constructed for the purpose of satisfying the highway construction standardsestablished by the American Association of State Highway and TransportationOfficials and approved by the federal highway administration including accesscontrol, regardless whether any portion lies within the corporate limits of anycity or town, shall be paid by the transportation commission.
24-2-112. Contracts and agreements with United States government.
Thelegislature of the state of Wyoming assents to the provisions of the act ofcongress approved July 11, 1916, entitled "an act to provide that theUnited States shall aid the states in the construction of rural post roads, andfor other purposes," together with all acts and legislation, amendatory orsupplementary, or which shall grant or authorize aid for the construction,improvement, maintenance or repair of public roads or highways. Thetransportation commission is authorized to enter into all contracts andagreements with the United States government relating to the construction andmaintenance of roads under the provisions of the act or acts of congress tosubmit the scheme or program or construction or maintenance as may be requiredby the federal highway administration and to do all other things necessaryfully to carry out the cooperation contemplated and provided for by the act oracts, for the construction or improvement of highways under the act, the goodfaith of the state is pledged to make available funds sufficient to equal thesums apportioned to the state by or under the United States government duringeach of the years for which federal funds are appropriated by section 3 of theact and to maintain the roads so constructed with the aid of funds appropriatedand to make adequate provisions for carrying out maintenance. Cooperativeagreements under the provisions of the act shall be entered into with thefederal highway administration only by the commission, but may be for theconstruction or improvement of either a state highway or a county road. If theroad to be improved under such cooperative agreement is a state highway, thestate's share of the expense shall be borne entirely by the state; if thehighway to be improved or constructed under such cooperative agreement is not astate highway, the state's share of the cost of the work shall be dividedbetween the state and the county upon such basis as the commission shalldetermine, and before an agreement is entered into with the federal highwayadministration the county must furnish the right-of-way and shall have enteredinto an agreement with the commission whereby it shall agree to pay its shareof the cost and to pay the cost of all subsequent maintenance, work which shallbe performed by and under the supervision of the director of the department oftransportation, and the county also shall pay into the state highway fund itsshare of the estimated cost of the construction.
24-2-113. Repealed by Laws 1983, ch. 139, 2.
24-2-114. State agency law enforcement communications system;department duties and responsibilities.
(a) The department of transportation shall:
(i) Maintain, install, operate and dispatch the state agencylaw enforcement communications system as defined by W.S. 9-2-1101(b), subjectto the supervision of the director of telecommunications as provided by W.S.9-2-1026.1;
(ii) Supervise personnel and budget funds necessary for themaintenance, installation, operation and dispatching of the state agency lawenforcement communications system; and
(iii) Provide technical assistance and advice as requested by thelaw enforcement communications commission and by the state [law enforcement]radio communications consultant.
(b) The budget for maintenance, operation and dispatching ofthe state agency law enforcement communications system shall be approved by thedirector of the department of transportation and by the legislature.
24-2-115. Program for informational signing by businesses, main streetor historic sites; department duties and responsibilities; contracting ofduties; fees.
(a) As authorized under W.S. 31-5-406(b), the department oftransportation shall establish a program for informational signing by businessentities as part of departmental approved motorist service panels or roadsideinformation panels erected within rights-of-way along interstate and primaryhighways. The program shall be designed for advertising and information ofinterest to the traveling public in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 131(f).
(b) In establishing the program under this section, thedepartment shall by rule and regulation:
(i) Provide for application by business entities for thedisplay of its name or logo upon the informational signing;
(ii) Provide for application by main street or historic sitesfor signing upon approval by the federal highway administration for interstatehighways and the department of transportation for primary highways;
(iii) Establish a uniform initial fee and annual permit fee forapplicants to cover the costs of constructing, erecting and maintaininginformational signing, including the costs of contracting for any of theseservices;
(iv) Establish minimum standards for informational signing bybusiness entities in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 315;
(v) Provide for the administration of the program and subjectto W.S. 9-2-1016(b), may establish necessary procedures for contractingservices for the construction, erection and maintenance of highwayinformational signing pursuant to this section.
(c) Initial and permit fees established by the departmentpursuant to paragraph (b)(iii) of this section shall not exceed the costs ofinstalling and maintaining the signs, including the costs of contracting forany of these services, and the costs of administering the program. All feescollected by the department under the program shall be deposited into the statehighway fund.