308.4 Transportation commission duties.

1. The state transportation commission shall make such investigations, surveys, studies and plans in connection with any proposed national parkway or parkway development as it shall deem necessary or desirable to determine if the proposed development is under the terms of the Act of the United States Congress applicable to such parkway or any regulations under such Act and is advantageous to the state. Such parkway development may be any portion of the proposed parkway which is proposed to be constructed as a project under such Act.

2. The state transportation commission, with the cooperation of the department of natural resources, shall plan, designate, and establish the exact routing of the great river road, utilizing the general guidelines established in Tit. 23, United States Code.

3. The director of transportation, with the cooperation of the department of natural resources, shall:

a. Acquire all rights in land necessary for reconstruction or relocation of any portions of the great river road where reconstruction or relocation is imperative for the safety of the traveling public, or where the condition or location of existing segments of the highway is not in keeping with the intent of this chapter. Acquisitions of such rights in land shall be by gift, purchase, exchange, or by instituting and maintaining proceedings for condemnation. Gift, purchase, exchange, and condemnation include acquisition of a scenic easement. A scenic easement acquired under this chapter constitutes an easement both at law and in equity, and all legal and equitable remedies, including prohibitory and mandatory injunctions, are available to protect and enforce the state’s interest in such scenic easements. A scenic easement acquired under this chapter is deemed to be appurtenant to the roadway to which it is adjacent or from which it is visible. The duties created by a scenic easement acquired under this chapter are binding upon and enforceable against the original owner of the land subject to the scenic easement and the original owner’s heirs, successors, and assigns in perpetuity, unless the instrument creating the scenic easement expressly provides for a lesser duration. A court shall not declare a scenic easement acquired under this chapter to have been extinguished or to have become unenforceable by virtue of changed conditions or frustration of purpose.

b. Accept and administer state, federal, and any other public or private funds made available for the acquisition of rights in land and for the planning and construction or reconstruction of any segment of the great river road, and state and federal funds for the maintenance of that part of the great river road constituting the right-of-way.

[C62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §308.4; 81 Acts, ch 14, §23]

83 Acts, ch 198, §17; 85 Acts, ch 108, §1; 86 Acts, ch 1245, §1929; 86 Acts, ch 1246, §28; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §45

Referred to in §308.7