N.Y. Highway Law § 340-b: Construction, improvement and maintenance of state interstate highways

§ 340-b. Construction, improvement and maintenance of state interstate

highways. 1. The highway routes and connections set forth and described

in section three hundred forty-a of the highway law shall be designated

"interstate highways" and shall be constructed or improved according to

such designs and types as determined by the commissioner of

transportation, subject to the provisions of federal aid therefor. Each

interstate highway shall ultimately provide for not less than two lanes

of traffic in each direction. Opposing traffic on every completed

interstate highway shall ultimately be separated by a mall generally or

the commissioner of transportation may separate such opposing traffic by

such other alignment of respective lanes of traffic which, in his

judgment, is practicable, because of topographic conditions and is

beneficial to the public interest. Access from one traffic direction to

the other shall be provided only at such points and in such manner as

the commissioner of transportation shall determine. Any state highway,

frontage, marginal and service road or portion thereof may be utilized

and become a part of any interstate highway when authorized by the

commissioner of transportation, provided such highway or portion thereof

either meets the prescribed requirements of an interstate highway or is

appropriately altered so as to come within such requirements before its

incorporation into the interstate highway. Access or branch connections

from any such interstate highway or section thereof to any highway that

is authorized by this chapter shall, in the discretion of the

commissioner of transportation, be included in the plans, specifications

and estimates and shall be constructed according to such design and type

as the commissioner of transportation shall deem to be suitable for the

purposes thereof. For any portion or section of an interstate highway

authorized within the corporate limits of a city, provision shall be

made for access thereto from existing streets at points designated by

the commissioner of transportation. After the establishment of any

interstate highway no additional points of access to, or exit from, the

project shall be made without prior approval by the commissioner of

transportation and the federal bureau of public roads. The commissioner

of transportation may set monuments on the boundaries of such interstate

highways, and he may cause fences to be erected along or adjacent to

such boundaries, and he is authorized to install suitable lighting,

directional and protective facilities, devices and appurtenances, if he

deems it necessary in the interests of public safety. The maintenance

and repair of interstate highways shall include the control of snow and

ice and shall be done by forces of the department of transportation or

by such other method or methods as determined by the commissioner, under

his direct supervision and control and any inconsistent provisions of

this chapter are superseded insofar as they conflict with this

provision. The cost of such maintenance and repair shall be borne wholly

by the state and be paid for from moneys appropriated therefor by the

legislature. The maintenance of any highway, road or street which is

affected by this section and which in the judgment of the commissioner

of transportation is not deemed to be a part of the state highway system

shall be maintained by the municipality or the municipalities in which

all or part thereof is located.

2. The commissioner of transportation is authorized to classify any

part of an interstate highway as a controlled access highway pursuant to

this chapter. Highway and railroad grade crossings shall be separated

generally by structures to be determined by the commissioner of

transportation, who is hereby given authority to combine, connect,

alter, reconstruct, terminate or relocate intersecting highways,

streets, or roads to adjust traffic to such grade separation structures

or any portion of an interstate route or connection. In the discretion

of the commissioner of transportation, a structure may be constructed to

eliminate an existing crossing at grade of a railroad and a highway

which intersects or closely parallels an interstate highway. The entire

cost of structures constructed pursuant to this paragraph as so

determined by the commissioner of transportation shall be included in

the cost of the interstate highway. Structures constructed pursuant to

this paragraph shall be maintained and repaired by the state. Highways

combined, connected, altered, reconstructed, relocated or carried over

or under an interstate highway section or connection, under the

provisions of this paragraph, shall, upon completion of the work, revert

to and become the responsibility with regard to maintenance and repair,

of the state, municipality, authority, commission or other public

agency, as the case may be, formerly having jurisdiction thereover.

3. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of this chapter or any

other law, general or special, any and all property which the

commissioner of transportation deems necessary for the construction,

reconstruction and maintenance of interstate highways and bridges

thereon shall be acquired pursuant to the provisions of any section or

sections of this chapter applicable to the acquisition of land or rights

and interests therein, and for the settlement of claims for damage

resulting from the work of constructing, reconstructing and maintaining

such interstate highways. The commissioner of transportation, for the

people of the state of New York, shall acquire pursuant to the aforesaid

procedures any property or interest therein, necessary for any and all

purposes connected with the construction, reconstruction and maintenance

of the interstate highway system of the state of New York, including the

appropriation of property for drains, ditches, spoil banks, gravel pits,

stone quarries, storehouses and repair shops; also for the removal of

obstructions, improvement of sight distance; also for appropriation of

property for the reconstruction of existing highway-railroad separation

structures upon incorporation into an interstate highway of an existing

highway or portion thereof of which they form a part, and for the

separation of interstate highway-railroad grades on newly laid-out

interstate highways; and for other purposes to improve safety conditions

on the interstate highway routes. The term "property" as used in this

section is defined to include lands, waters, rights in lands or waters,

structures, franchises and interests in land, including lands under

water and riparian rights, and any and all other things and rights

usually included within the said term and includes also any and all

interests in such property less than full title, such as easements

permanent or temporary, rights-of-way, uses, leases, licenses and all

other incorporeal hereditaments and every estate, interest or right

legal or equitable.

4. If moneys of the federal government are or may reasonably be

expected to be available therefor, under federal aid highway acts, the

commissioner of transportation is authorized to use such moneys or so

much thereof as he may determine to accept, together with other

available moneys, for (a) the construction and reconstruction of

interstate highways designated and described in section three hundred

forty-a of this chapter, (b) the construction, reconstruction,

alteration or repair, pursuant to the provisions of section two hundred

thirty of this chapter, of bridges and culverts on the interstate

highway system, and (c) the preparation of preliminary surveys, plans,

specifications and estimates of costs in connection with any of the

foregoing, and (d) the acquisition of rights of way necessary for such

interstate highways. The commissioner of transportation may perform such

work with respect to any interstate project which he may, in his

discretion, select. The proportion of the total cost of work performed

on any interstate project, in addition to such elements thereof as are

not subject to federal aid, which shall be borne by the state of New

York shall be the difference between the funds contributed for such work

by the federal government and the actual cost thereof. No city shall be

required to participate in the costs of an interstate highway project,

whether or not the alignment coincides with the alignment of a

previously approved arterial route, except for those costs which are

incurred under any special cooperative agreement between a city and the

state.

5. a. Any property in the city of New York which is deemed by the

commissioner of transportation to be necessary for the construction,

reconstruction and maintenance of interstate highways shall be acquired

and may be disposed of by him pursuant to applicable provisions of

section thirty of this chapter.

b. In any case in which property is to be acquired or disposed of

pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision and in any case where

property is created by landfill adjoining such property, the

commissioner of transportation shall, prior to any proposed acquisition,

disposition or new or different utilization, development or improvement

thereof, notify the city planning commission and the community board in

each community district in which the property is located of such

proposal. Such notice shall be given so as to afford the city planning

commission and the community board reasonable opportunity to: (1) notify

the public of the proposal; (2) conduct a public hearing thereon; and

(3) prepare and submit any written recommendations thereon to the

commissioner of transportation not later than sixty days after notice of

the contents of the proposal.

Within a reasonable time after receipt of any recommendations of the

city planning commission or community board or the expiration of the

time within which any such recommendation could have been made, the

commissioner shall notify the commission and respective board of the

contents of his resulting proposal. If any of the items contained in

the resulting proposal were not available for consideration by the

commission or board within the time provided for the making of

recommendations thereon the resulting proposal shall constitute a

different proposal and as such shall be subject to the foregoing

provisions.

The provisions of this paragraph b shall only be applicable to a

proposal by the commissioner of transportation which if proposed by a

city agency or instrumentality would be subject to the provisions of

section one hundred ninety-seven-c of the New York city charter.

Provided, however, that the provisions of this paragraph b shall not be

applicable to any portion of such property acquired, disposed of, or

created by landfill which is to be utilized exclusively as an interstate

highway so long as such utilization will not detrimentally affect the

utilization, development or improvement of remaining portions of such

property.

c. Upon the completion of construction by the state of a section or

sections of interstate highways in the city of New York, the

commissioner of transportation may by official order transfer

jurisdiction for maintenance of interstate highways or completed

portions thereof to the appropriate agency of the city of New York.

5-a. The commissioner of transportation and the city of New York,

acting through the mayor or other administrative head thereof, pursuant

to a resolution of the governing body of such city, are authorized to

enter into a written agreement for the maintenance and repair, under the

supervision and subject to the approval of the commissioner of

transportation, of any state interstate highway or portion thereof,

exclusive of service roads and pavement on intersecting street bridges,

which is within the boundaries of such city and which is now or which

shall hereafter be designated in section three hundred forty-a of this

chapter and which has been constructed or which shall have been

constructed as authorized by section three hundred forty-a of this

chapter. Such agreement may provide that the state shall pay annually to

such city a sum to be computed at the rate of (a) not more than

eighty-five cents per square yard of the pavement area that is included

in the state highway system according to the provisions of this section,

and (b) an additional ten cents per square yard of such pavement area

where such pavement area is located on any elevated bridge.

The maintenance and repair, as provided in this section, shall be done

either by the forces of such city and with its equipment, or by its

contractor, or by a combination of these two methods.

Such agreement for maintenance and repair as authorized by this

section, shall include the procedure and method for regulation of street

openings, and appropriate provisions for the care, protection and

patching of the pavement or pavements, and curbs, the care and

protection of drainage facilities and structures, the maintenance of

adjacent roadside and landscaped areas to include the care of trees,

shrubs and groundcovers and the cutting of grass at specified locations

and to the extent as shall be deemed by such commissioner of

transportation to be for the best interest of the public, control of

snow and ice on any such state interstate highway or portion thereof

included in such agreement, the performance of repairs and alterations,

and the operation and care of traffic lights, directional guides and

controls, and parking controls. Such maintenance and repair, whether

done by the city pursuant to an agreement therefor as authorized by this

section, or by the state because of the absence of such agreement, as

the case may be, shall not include (a) services of lighting, cleaning,

sweeping and sprinkling of any such state interstate highway or portion

thereof, all of which services are deemed to be the normal maintenance

of streets by the city, or (b) any work on or in connection with

subsurface installations and structures that are owned and operated by

the city, including sanitary sewers, gas mains, water lines and conduits

and appurtenances thereto.

6. All the provisions of this chapter relating to state highways and

state arterial highways and not inconsistent with the provisions of this

section or with the provisions of the federal-aid highway act of

nineteen hundred fifty-six, shall apply to the construction or

improvement and the control of maintenance of interstate highways in the

same manner as though they were designated as state highways or arterial

highways.