§ 136-44.7. Secondary roads; annual work program. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 136‑44.7.  Secondaryroads; annual work program.

(a)        The Department ofTransportation shall be responsible for developing criteria for improvementsand maintenance of secondary roads. The criteria shall be adopted by the Boardof Transportation before it shall become effective. The Department ofTransportation shall be responsible for developing annual work programs forboth construction and maintenance of secondary roads in each county inaccordance with criteria developed. It shall reflect the long‑range andimmediate goals of the Department of Transportation. Projects on the annualconstruction program for each county shall be rated according to their prioritybased upon the secondary road criteria and standards which shall be uniformthroughout the State. Tentative construction projects and estimated fundingshall also be listed in accordance to priority. The annual construction programshall be adopted by the Board of Transportation before it shall becomeeffective.

(b)        When a secondaryroad in a county is listed in the first 10 secondary roads to be paved during ayear on a priority list issued by the Department of Transportation under thissection, the secondary road cannot be removed from the top 10 of that list orany subsequent list until it is paved. All secondary roads in a county shall bepaved, insofar as possible, in the priority order of the list. When a secondaryroad in the top 10 of that list is removed from the list because it has beenpaved, the next secondary road on the priority list shall be moved up to thetop 10 of that list and shall remain there until it is paved.

(c)        When it isnecessary for the Department of Transportation to acquire a right‑of‑wayin accordance with (a) and (b) of this section in order to pave a secondaryroad or undertake a maintenance project, the Department shall negotiate theacquisition of the right‑of‑way for a period of up to six months.At the end of that period, if one or more property owners have not dedicatedthe necessary right‑of‑way and at least seventy‑five percent(75%) of the property owners adjacent to the project and the owners of themajority of the road frontage adjacent to the project have dedicated thenecessary property for the right‑of‑way and have provided fundsrequired by Department rule to the Department to cover the costs of condemningthe remaining property, the Department shall initiate condemnation proceedingspursuant to Article 9 of this Chapter to acquire the remaining propertynecessary for the project. (1973, c. 507, s. 3; 1975, c. 716, s. 7; 1977, c. 464,s. 8; 1989, c. 692, s. 1.9; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 900, s. 99; 2001‑501,s. 2; 2002‑86, s. 1.)