(a) There shall be a director of planning appointed by the Governor subject to approval by a majority vote of both the House Transportation Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee. The director shall serve during the term of the Governor by whom he or she is appointed and at the pleasure of the Governor. If the Governor's term expires and the incoming Governor has not made an appointment, the current director of planning may serve until a replacement is appointed by the incoming Governor and confirmed by the House and Senate Transportation Committees.

(b) The director of planning's principal responsibility shall be the development of transportation plans, including the development of the state-wide strategic transportation plan and state-wide transportation improvement program and other comprehensive plans pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 32-2-3 and Code Section 32-2-22, strategic transportation plans pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 32-2-41.1, and benchmarks and value engineering studies pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 32-2-41.2, in consultation with the board, the Governor, and the commissioner. The director shall also be responsible for the duties and activities assigned to the director in Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 48. The director shall be the director of the Planning Division of the department and shall possess, exercise, and perform all the duties, powers, and authority which may be vested in such division by law and are necessary or appropriate for such purpose, except those duties, powers, and authority which are expressly reserved by law to the board or the commissioner.