Notwithstanding the provisions of any other statute, the Commissioner of Transportation may, for the purpose of protecting the functional or aesthetic characteristics of any state highway or state highway appurtenance, promulgate regulations for the location and installation of any public service facility within, on, along, over or under the right-of-way of any state highway or state highway appurtenance and, when necessary to insure the protection of the aesthetic characteristics of any state highway, within, on, along, over or under the right-of-way of any other public highway; provided no such regulation shall limit, restrict or derogate from any power, right or authority of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority as provided by statute in respect to the location and installation of such public service facilities. The state shall pay the additional cost of any location, relocation, installation, adjustment or readjustment of any public service facility made necessary by such regulations.

(1967, P.A. 686; 1969, P.A. 768, S. 102; P.A. 75-486, S. 32, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 610; P.A. 80-482, S. 28, 348; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: 1969 act substituted commissioner of transportation for highway commissioner; P.A. 75-486 substituted public utilities control authority for public utilities commission; P.A. 77-614 substituted division of public utility control within the department of business regulation for public utilities control authority, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-482 made division an independent department and deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Public Utility Control” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority”, effective July 1, 2011.