California Streets and Highways Code ARTICLE 3 - The Department of Transportation

• Section 90.
  The department shall have full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. The...
• Section 90.1.
  The powers and duties enumerated in this section are intended to give the department broader authority to recruit and retain qualified civil engineers.(a) The department shall...
• Section 91.
  The department shall improve and maintain the state highways, including all traversable highways which have been adopted or designated as state highways by the commission,...
• Section 91.2.
  (a) The department shall perform construction inspection services for projects on or interfacing with the state highway system authorized pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section...
• Section 91.5.
  (a) The department may enter into an agreement to accept funds, materials, equipment, or services from any person for maintenance or roadside enhancement, including the cleanup...
• Section 91.6.
  The department shall, within its maintenance programs relating to litter cleanup and abatement, assign a high priority to litter deposited along state highway segments adjoining...
• Section 91.8.
  (a) The department shall, within its maintenance program, establish procedures for the removal and disposal of animal carcasses on state highways.(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,...
• Section 92.
  The department may do any act necessary, convenient or proper for the construction, improvement, maintenance or use of all highways which are under its jurisdiction,...
• Section 92.2.
  Where practical or desirable, the department shall, along any highway under its jurisdiction, possession, or control, replace trees that have been destroyed or removed because...
• Section 92.3.
  (a) The department shall do both of the following:(1) Discontinue further water intensive freeway landscaping and use drought resistant landscaping whenever feasible, taking into consideration such factors...
• Section 92.4.
  Where a city street or county road abuts upon real property acquired by the state for freeway purposes, the department may contribute toward the cost...
• Section 92.5.
  The department shall install, in all tunnels and underpasses on state highways within metropolitan areas where the tunnel or underpass is of sufficient length to...
• Section 92.6.
  At such locations as shall be determined by the department to be appropriate, screening shall be installed and maintained on state freeway overpasses on which...
• Section 93.
  The department may construct and maintain detours as may be necessary to facilitate movement of traffic where state highways are closed or obstructed by construction...
• Section 94.
  (a) The department may make and enter into any contracts in the manner provided by law that are required for performance of its duties, provided that...
• Section 94.3.
  To the extent that existing provisions of Part 23 (commencing with Section 23.1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended April...
• Section 94.4.
  (a) It shall be unlawful for a person to:(1) Knowingly and with intent to defraud, fraudulently obtain, retain, attempt to obtain or retain, or aid another in...
• Section 95.
  Whenever the commission relinquishes any portion of any state highway superseded by relocation and the construction of a freeway and when the department has prior...
• Section 95.5.
  From and after November 8, 1967, the department shall remove snow from that portion of former U.S. Route 40, which has been superseded by the...
• Section 95.6.
  (a) The department shall adopt and implement, on or before July 1, 1992, a deicing policy for state highways. The policy shall be set forth in...
• Section 96.
  If any directional or traffic control sign installed or maintained by the department within the right-of-way of a state highway is defaced with graffiti in...
• Section 97.
  (a) A state highway segment shall be designated by the department as a Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zone if all of the following conditions have been satisfied:(1) ...
• Section 97.01.
  The following segments are eligible for designation as Safety Awareness Zones pursuant to Section 97.1:(a) The Golden Gate Bridge.(Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 593, Sec. 1....
• Section 97.1.
  (a) A highway segment shall be designated as a Safety Awareness Zone if all of the following conditions have been met:(1) The highway segment is eligible for...
• Section 100.
  Using existing resources, the department shall monitor the cumulative impact of fragmented gaps in the state highway system to identify safety and long-term maintenance issues.(Amended...
• Section 100.1.
  The department is authorized to do any and all things necessary to lay out, acquire and construct any section or portion of a State highway...
• Section 100.15.
  Before the commission approves a capacity-increasing project or a major street or highway lane realignment project, the department or a regional transportation planning agency submitting...
• Section 100.2.
  The department is authorized to enter into an agreement with the city council or board of supervisors having jurisdiction over the street or highway and,...
• Section 100.21.
  (a) Whenever a street or highway closing agreement is required by Section 100.2, the department shall not acquire, except by gift, and except in hardship or...
• Section 100.22.
  The city council or board of supervisors shall, prior to entering into the agreement contemplated by Section 100.2, conduct a public hearing on the subject.(Added...
• Section 100.25.
  In addition to the other matters that may be covered by the agreements authorized under Section 100.2, provisions for improvements, revisions or extensions of city...
• Section 100.3.
  From and after the adoption of a resolution by the commission declaring any section of a state highway to be a freeway, the highway described...
• Section 100.45.
  When the department constructs a freeway on the route selected pursuant to Section 100.4 the department shall meet and confer with affected counties and cities...
• Section 100.5.
  Whenever the location of a State highway is such that a ferry must be used to completely traverse said highway, and there is no existing...
• Section 100.51.
  Notwithstanding any provision of Section 100.5, whenever any bridge or highway crossing over a navigable waterway in this state, including, but not limited to, toll...
• Section 100.6.
  The department may, on behalf of the State of California, enter into agreements with any adjoining state, or any proper agency of such state, for...
• Section 100.7.
  The department may, for the protection of the State of California, insure any bridge on the State Highway System acquired or constructed under provisions of...
• Section 100.9.
  When any state highway is relocated in such a manner as to bypass a city or business district, the department shall erect and maintain appropriate...
• Section 101.
  (a) The department shall keep in repair all objects or markers adjacent to a state highway which have been erected to mark registered historical places and...
• Section 101.1.
  (a) The department may place the state’s 9-1-1 emergency telephone number on road signs on all state highways at state entry points and county, city, and...
• Section 101.2.
  The department may, when it deems it necessary, replace or cause to be replaced any city limit road sign.(Added by Stats. 1947, Ch. 1273.)
• Section 101.3.
  The department shall submit all plans and specifications for any bridge or other structure across any river or other drainage channel or basin subject to...
• Section 101.4.
  The department shall replace or cause to be replaced any city limit road sign if all the following conditions exist:(a) If the legislative body of a...
• Section 101.5.
  The department may file for record with the State Lands Commission such maps as are necessary to furnish an accurate description of any ungranted swamp,...
• Section 101.6.
  The department shall design, place and maintain or cause to be placed and maintained at appropriate places along state highways signs which indicate the maximum...
• Section 101.7.
  (a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways located in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside...
• Section 101.8.
  (a) The department may design, place, and maintain, or cause to be designed, placed, and maintained, along state highways, signs to inform motorists of rail transportation...
• Section 101.9.
  (a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations to allow, in rural areas, the placement, on interstate and primary highways near public exits, of guide signs...
• Section 101.10.a.
  (a) (1) The department shall design, construct, place, and maintain, or cause to be designed, constructed, placed, and maintained, along state highways, signs that read as follows:...
• Section 101.11.
  (a) The Department of Transportation shall, through the erection of highway signs and appropriate markers, provide recognition of the historical importance of the Byzantine-Latino Quarter in...
• Section 101.12.
  The department may place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, signs on state highways directing motorists to communities within the geographical boundaries...
• Section 101.13.
  The department shall erect, at appropriate locations on highways in the state highway system, generic directional signs to each Veterans’ Home of California authorized pursuant...
• Section 101.14.
  (a) Prior to June 30, 2016, and subject to federal approval as provided in subdivision (d), the department shall update its internal policies to allow displays...
• Section 102.
  (a) In the name of the people of the State of California, the department may acquire by eminent domain any property necessary for state highway purposes.(b) For...
• Section 103.
  (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1) “Multimodal” means transportation options within a transportation corridor, including, but not limited to, highways,...
• Section 103.5.
  Subject to Sections 1240.670, 1240.680, and 1240.690 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the real property which the department may acquire by eminent domain, or...
• Section 103.65.
  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department should have a reasonable opportunity to acquire properties needed for transportation projects.(b) Whenever the department determines...
• Section 104.
  The department may acquire, either in fee or in any lesser estate or interest, any real property which it considers necessary for state highway purposes....
• Section 104.2.
  If property is provided through donation or at less than fair market value to the department for state highway purposes, or purchased with funds provided...
• Section 104.4.
  Whenever the right of occupancy of any person upon national forest or national park lands is terminated because of the proposed construction of a state...
• Section 104.5.
  The director may execute all deeds or conveyances necessary to convey any real property or interest therein to be sold or exchanged under the provisions...
• Section 104.6.
  The authority conferred by this code to acquire real property for state highway purposes includes authority to acquire for future needs. Structures maintained or allowed...
• Section 104.7.
  (a) Unless otherwise provided by statute, when requested by a city, county, or special district, the department shall provide information regarding, and shall lease, unoccupied, unimproved...
• Section 104.8.
  The department may retain in its records all deeds, conveyances, and other evidences of title to or interests in real property acquired by the department...
• Section 104.9.
  None of the deeds, conveyances or other evidences of title to or interests in real property acquired by the department under the provisions of this...
• Section 104.10.
  The Department of Transportation shall, not later than the first day of November following the close of any fiscal year, pay the rents computed pursuant...
• Section 104.11.
  (a) Upon a finding that the action would not adversely affect the activities of the department, the department may lease, in whole or in part, property...
• Section 104.12.
  (a) The department may lease to public agencies or private entities for any term not to exceed 99 years the use of areas above or below...
• Section 104.13.
  (a) The department shall act as agent for the payment of possessory interest taxes due from persons to whom the department leases property of a type...
• Section 104.15.
  Whenever land has been acquired pursuant to former Section 104.1 or pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 1240.410) of Chapter 3 of Title 7...
• Section 104.16.
  (a) Any airspace under a freeway, or real property acquired for highway purposes, in the City and County of San Francisco, that is not excess property,...
• Section 104.17.
  (a) The department may provide information regarding, and may lease, airspace under the interchange of Route 4 and Route 5 in San Joaquin County and on...
• Section 104.18.
  (a) Real property in the City of San Diego between 17th Street and the west side of Route 5 between the southbound onramp and the offramp...
• Section 104.19.
  (a) The excess property owned by the department described in subdivision (b) that is leased until June 30, 2005, to the Century Housing Corporation, a nonprofit...
• Section 104.21.
  (a) (1) The department may lease airspace under the interchange of Route 4 and Sutter Street in San Joaquin County to any city, county, or other political...
• Section 104.22.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Department of Transportation shall, consistent with Article XIX of the California Constitution, transfer to the Department of Parks and Recreation...
• Section 105.
  The department may construct and maintain stock trails approximately paralleling any State highway and may retain and maintain for stock trails the right of way...
• Section 106.
  Whenever in its opinion the public convenience and necessity require it for State highway purposes, the department may enter into a cooperative agreement:(a) To construct a...
• Section 107.
  Any such agreement may be:(a) With any person for the construction of a new bridge and the use of any such bridge thereafter jointly by such...
• Section 108.
  Any agreement made under the authority of sections 106 and 107 may provide:(a) Either for apportionment of the expense of any such construction, reconstruction, replacement, improvement,...
• Section 109.
  Any such bridge acquired, constructed, reconstructed, replaced or improved in the manner provided in sections 106, 107 and 108 is a part of the State...
• Section 109.5.
  Whenever the construction of any facility of the United States or any department or agency thereof, or any feature thereof, requires construction or relocation of,...
• Section 110.
  Nothing in this article shall prohibit any county or city from contributing to the State, in the manner provided by law, funds or real property...
• Section 111.
  Whenever the natural course of a State highway passes into or through any city and a State highway route through or around such city is...
• Section 111.5.
  Whenever a city street or a county highway and an existing state highway (1) are substantially parallel; (2) each has been or is to be restricted to...
• Section 112.
  The department may enter into an agreement with any city relative to proceedings to be taken by the city to fix or change the grade...
• Section 113.
  Upon a request from the department the governing body of any city may acquire any real property or interest therein needed for state highway purposes...
• Section 113.5.
  A city or county may enter into a cooperative agreement with the department to fund the construction or improvement of a segment of a state...
• Section 114.
  (a) When the commission or other public entity has allocated any funds for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any portion of a state highway within...
• Section 115.
  All work performed pursuant to any provisions of sections 111, 113 and 114 shall be performed to the satisfaction of and subject to the approval...
• Section 116.
  The department may delegate to any such city or county any part of the powers and jurisdiction vested by law in the department, except the...
• Section 117.
  Unless otherwise specifically provided in the instrument conveying title, the acquisition by the department of any right-of-way over any real property for state highway purposes,...
• Section 118.
  (a) If the department determines that real property or an interest therein, previously or hereafter acquired by the state for highway purposes, is no longer necessary...
• Section 118.1.
  Except as provided in Article 8 (commencing with Section 54220) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government...
• Section 118.5.
  No parcel of property acquired by eminent domain for the purposes specified in Section 104 which, in its entirety, is found to be no longer...
• Section 118.6.
  The department shall, to the greatest extent possible, offer to sell or exchange excess real property within one year from the date that it is...
• Section 118.7.
  (a) The department may, upon terms, standards, and conditions approved by the commission and the California Coastal Commission, transfer environmental mitigation property located within the city...
• Section 119.
  Any real property or interest therein which has passed to the State and has been accepted on behalf of the State by the department for...
• Section 120.
  With the consent and approval of the Public Utilities Commission, the department may abandon that portion of any state highway which crosses the tracks or...
• Section 121.
  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a state highway that has been designated by the federal government as an All-American Road on or before April...
• Section 122.
  Whenever jurisdiction over any highway within a State park has been relinquished to the authority charged by law with the management and control of such...
• Section 123.
  The provisions of section 122 shall neither affect nor limit the department’s authority, possession or control of any State highway even though any portion of...
• Section 123.5.
  The department shall erect and maintain signs directing the way to each of the 21 California Missions originally established by the Franciscan Fathers at the...
• Section 124.
  The department may restrict the use of, or close, any State highway whenever the department considers such closing or restriction of use necessary:(a) For the protection...
• Section 124.1.
  (a) Upon completion by the department of a safety study and a determination by the director, with the concurrence of the Commissioner of the California Highway...
• Section 125.
  To notify the public that a state highway is closed or its use restricted, the department may:(a) Erect suitable barriers or obstructions upon such highway.(b) Post warnings...
• Section 127.
  The California Highway Patrol shall cooperate with the department in the enforcement of the closing, or restriction of use, of any State highway.(Enacted by Stats....
• Section 128.
  The department shall maintain, in each district office, a file of its final construction plans and right-of-way record maps for all completed state highway projects...
• Section 129.
  Each county recorder shall keep all such state highway plans, maps, or drawings filed in separate map books provided by the department for that purpose...
• Section 130.
  The department and any county, city, or joint highway district, or any of them, may enter into a contract in respect to the proportion of...
• Section 130.1.
  Upon the completion of the improvement of any portion of any state highway constructed pursuant to Section 130 by the party designated in the contract,...
• Section 130.2.
  Upon receipt of the resolution of completion by the director, the control of the state highway, or the portion thereof, declared completed by the resolution...
• Section 130.5.
  The department may enter into a contract with the Federal authority in charge of any National monument with respect to the portion of the expense...
• Section 131.
  Upon the application of the governing authority of any county, city, or other governmental agency, the department may:(a) Aid in establishing grades and drainage systems for...
• Section 131.1.
  Upon the request of any service authority for freeway emergencies that has imposed additional fees on vehicles pursuant to Section 9250.10 of the Vehicle Code,...
• Section 131.5.
  The department and any county having a park commission may enter into and carry out cooperative agreements for the grading, development, planting and maintenance of...
• Section 132.
  For any cooperation rendered under the provisions of subdivisions (a), (b), (c) or (d) of section 131, the department may require the applicant to pay...
• Section 134.
  In the expenditure of funds allocated under Sections 2107 and 2117 for expenditure on other than state highways, the department may, upon the application of...
• Section 134.5.
  Whenever by the construction or improvement of a State highway, changes are necessitated in streets or highways not a part of the State highway system,...
• Section 135.
  The department may enter into contracts for the removal or relocation of structures or improvements situated upon real property over which a right-of-way for state...
• Section 135.3.
  The Legislature intends by this act to provide prompt and equitable relocation assistance to low-income individuals and families displaced because of the construction of state...
• Section 135.4.
  As used in Sections 135.3, 135.4, 135.5, 135.6, and 135.7:(a) “Low-income individuals and families” means those persons who lack the financial ability and income necessary to...
• Section 135.5.
  (a) As used in this section, “relocation assistance” means, and shall be limited to, that assistance reasonably necessary to place low-income individuals and families who lack...
• Section 135.6.
  The department may acquire, either in fee or in any lesser estate or interest, any unimproved or unoccupied real property, or real property not devoted...
• Section 135.7.
  The department may contract with other public agencies, private individuals, and corporations for the financing, planning, development, construction, management, sale, exchange, or lease of replacement...
• Section 136.
  The department may enter into contracts for the leasing or renting of tools or equipment for State highway purposes.(Amended by Stats. 1935, Ch. 514.)
• Section 136.1.
  The department may enter into major damage mitigation contracts to perform major damage repairs and operations on state highways when caused by sudden, unforeseen events...
• Section 136.5.
  (a) The contracts referred to in Sections 135, 136, and 136.1 are not subject to the State Contract Act (Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of...
• Section 136.6.
  (a) The department may enter into contracts not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the leasing and renting of operated heavy highway equipment for state highway...
• Section 137.
  The department shall determine the kind, quality, and extent of all highway work done under its control, and may prepare and approve all plans, specifications,...
• Section 137.6.
  The design of, the drafting of specifications for, and the inspection and approval of state highway structures shall be by civil engineers licensed pursuant to...
• Section 138.
  The department may employ an attorney at law and such assistant attorneys as are necessary, said attorney to act as the attorney and legal adviser...
• Section 139.
  The director or the Chief Engineer of the department may require verbal or written reports from any officer, assistant, or employee of the department regarding...
• Section 140.
  The department may establish and maintain shops for the construction, repair, and servicing of any equipment owned or used by the department. The department may...
• Section 140.3.
  Effective June 30, 2006, the Equipment Service Fund in the State Treasury is abolished and all moneys in the fund shall be transferred to the...
• Section 140.5.
  The department may do anything, including the prosecution of any action, necessary to collect any amounts owing to the State as a result of any...
• Section 141.
  In addition to the other powers relating to state highways granted to it by law, the department may do all of the following:(a) Make investigations to...
• Section 142.
  All expense incurred in carrying out the objects of section 141 is part of the administrative expense of the department.(Enacted by Stats. 1935, Ch. 29.)
• Section 143.
  (a) (1) “Best value” means a value determined by objective criteria, including, but not limited to, price, features, functions, life-cycle costs, and other criteria deemed appropriate by...
• Section 143.1.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the demonstration toll road project known as State Highway Route 125 (SR 125) in the County of San Diego,...
• Section 144.
  The department is authorized to divide or separate any state highway into separate roadways, wherever there is particular danger to the traveling public of collision...
• Section 144.5.
  No state highway shall be divided as provided in Section 144 in such manner as to prevent traffic on any city street or county highway...
• Section 145.
  The department is authorized to lay out and construct local service roads on and along any state highway where there is particular danger to the...
• Section 146.
  Any public agency having responsibility for the planning and development within a region of this state of public transportation systems may, with the approval of...
• Section 146.5.
  (a)  The department may construct, maintain, and operate fringe and transportation corridor parking facilities along the state highway system when those facilities would reduce motor...
• Section 147.
  The director shall, without supplanting any other program required to be administered by the department or redirecting funds allocated to other programs, restart program efforts...
• Section 148.
  The department may construct and maintain transit related highway facilities along the state highway system. Those facilities may include, but are not limited to, bus...
• Section 148.1.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Monterey-Salinas Transit District and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District may conduct a transit bus-only program using the...
• Section 149.
  The department may construct exclusive or preferential lanes for buses only or for buses and other high-occupancy vehicles, and may authorize or permit such exclusive...
• Section 149.1.
  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) may conduct, administer,...
• Section 149.3.
  The department may undertake the construction of exclusive or preferential lane facilities pursuant to a cooperative agreement with any public or private agency that provides...
• Section 149.4.
  (a) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) may conduct, administer,...
• Section 149.5.
  (a) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the Sunol Smart Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority (SSCLJPA), consisting...
• Section 149.6.
  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149, 149.7, and 30800, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) created by Part 12 (commencing...
• Section 149.7.
  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800, a regional transportation agency, as defined in subdivision (k), or the department may apply to the commission to develop and...
• Section 149.8.
  (a) Pursuant to Section 149.7, the Legislature hereby authorizes a value pricing and transit program involving high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to be developed and operated on...
• Section 149.9.
  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) may conduct,...
• Section 149.10.a.
  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) may conduct, administer,...
• Section 149.11.
  (a) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800 of this code, and Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, created pursuant to Section...
• Section 149.12.
  The Highway Toll Account is hereby created in the State Transportation Fund for the management of funds received by the department for toll facilities authorized...
• Section 150.
  When the department, in cooperation with rapid transit districts, recommends that mass public transportation facilities should be located along a proposed freeway corridor in order...
• Section 151.
  The department may make such regulations as may be required in the interests of public safety governing the use of any express highway or additional...
• Section 152.
  The department may permit the placing of, and cooperate in the planning for, emergency water hydrants on or adjacent to state freeway rights-of-way wherever a...
• Section 153.
  The department may place and maintain or cooperate with local agencies or others in the placing and maintenance of emergency telephones or other communication facilities...
• Section 154.
  The department shall encourage the construction and development by counties of portions of the county highways as official county scenic highways and may furnish to...
• Section 154.1.
  (a) Notwithstanding Section 154 or any other provision of law and subject to subdivision (b), if the department determines that the County of Los Angeles is...
• Section 155.
  The department may accept any gift of money or property from any person or group for the purpose of acquiring property for, and establishing and...
• Section 155.5.
  The commission, to the extent constitutionally permitted and if it determines that such actions constitute a highway purpose, may allocate funds from the State Highway...
• Section 155.6.
  Unless prohibited by federal laws or rules and regulations, the department may authorize the installation of coin-operated binocular or telescopic viewing machines at the vista...
• Section 155.7.
  (a) On or before April 1, 2018, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, shall establish a Transportation Permitting...

Last modified: October 22, 2018