940. Boards of supervisors shall have general supervision,
management, and control of the county highways.
941. (a) Boards of supervisors shall, by proper order, cause those
highways which are necessary to public convenience to be established,
recorded, constructed, and maintained in the manner provided in this
division.
(b) No public or private road shall become a county highway until
and unless the board of supervisors, or its designee, by appropriate
action, has caused the road to be accepted into the county road
system. No county shall be held liable for failure to maintain any
road unless and until it has been accepted into the county road
system by action of the board of supervisors or its designee.
(c) The acceptance of any road or the acceptance of any road
subject to improvements pursuant to Section 66477.1 of the Government
Code does not constitute the acceptance of the road into the county
road system in the absence of the adoption of a resolution by the
board of supervisors accepting the road into the county road system.
(d) In lieu of the procedures set forth in subdivisions (b) or
(c), boards of supervisors may, by ordinance, designate a county
officer to accept, on behalf of the board, roads or portions thereof,
into the county road system and to record conveyances to the county
of real property interests for road uses and purposes. The designee
shall, prior to recording any conveyance under this section, affix a
certificate to the instrument stating the acceptance into the county
road system and designating the name or number, or both, of the
county road. The designee shall report all acceptances and recordings
to the board at the end of the fiscal year, or at more frequent
intervals as determined by the board.
941.1. The board of supervisors may lay out, acquire, construct,
and maintain any section or portion of any street or highway within
the county as a freeway or expressway and may make any existing
street or highway a freeway or expressway.
941.2. Boards of supervisors may close any street or highway within
their jurisdiction at or near the point of its intersection with any
freeway, or may make provision for carrying such street or highway
over, under, or to a connection with the freeway, and may do any and
all work on such street or highway as is necessary therefor.
No public highway shall be converted into a freeway except with
the consent of the owners of abutting lands or the purchase or
condemnation of their right of access thereto.
941.3. Before taking any action authorized by Section 941.2
affecting any state highway, such action must be approved by the
Department of Public Works.
941.4. (a) The board of supervisors, with the consent of any city
in which the proposed system is located, in whole or in part, may
designate a system of expressways within the county. The designation
shall be based on a study of the transportation needs of the county,
which shall include a financing plan for the expressway system.
(b) The purpose of the county expressway system is to provide a
level of service that is greater than that of city streets and county
roads, but less than that provided by the state system of freeways.
The designated county expressway system shall serve both incorporated
and unincorporated areas of a county, as appropriate.
(c) The board of supervisors may enter into an agreement with the
city council or other governing body of a city to close any city
street at or near its intersection with an expressway or to provide
for carrying the street over, under, or to a connection with the
expressway, and to perform any work necessary for this purpose. No
city street may be closed by the construction of an expressway except
pursuant to such an agreement. No city street may be connected with
an expressway unless the board of supervisors, by resolution,
consents and specifies the terms and conditions of that connection.
The board of supervisors may permit or prohibit, or specify the terms
and conditions of, a connection as, in its opinion, will best serve
the public interest of the county. This subdivision does not apply to
any connection constructed prior to January 1, 1989.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the
designated county expressway system may be planned, designed,
acquired, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated, maintained,
operated, and owned by the county in both incorporated and
unincorporated areas.
(e) The board of supervisors may delegate any authority under this
section to any local agency which it finds and determines has the
capability to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, and own an expressway.
(f) The boards of supervisors of two or more adjacent counties
into which an expressway is proposed to extend may enter into an
agreement to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, or own the expressway. The agreement
shall provide for the creation of a governing body with
representation from each county.
(g) Any county having an existing expressway system which was
designated by the board of supervisors before January 1, 1989, shall
be deemed to have met the conditions of this section. Any new
expressway project within such a system is subject to this section.
(h) As used in this section, "expressway" means a highway having
partial or complete control of access, whether or not divided or with
separations of grade at intersections.
941.6. If the boundary line between two adjacent counties lies
within a county highway, the boards of supervisors of the affected
counties may, by agreement, provide for the improvement, maintenance,
construction, or reconstruction of all or part of the highway by
either or both counties, and each county may expend funds available
to it for the improvements and maintenance of county highways as
necessary for its performance of the agreement.
942. Such boards may enact and enforce ordinances and regulations
for the construction, improvement or maintenance of county highways,
and for the protection, supervision, management, control, or use of
such highways. Any such board may by a four-fifths vote of all its
members let county equipment used in the maintenance and construction
of county roads, when such equipment is not in use upon the roads
under the jurisdiction of the board, and may charge for the use
thereof a rental, and arrange the basis of compensation, in keeping
with the general conditions prevailing in the county in which the
transaction is made.
942.5. The board of supervisors may restrict the use of, or close,
any county highway whenever the board considers such closing or
restriction of use necessary:
(a) For the protection of the public.
(b) For the protection of such county highway from damage during
storms.
(c) During construction, improvement or maintenance operations
thereon.
No liability shall attach to the county, or to the board of
supervisors, for the restriction of use, or closing, of any county
highway for the above public purposes.
This section does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory
of, the pre-existing law.
942.6. The board of supervisors may delegate the powers contained
in Section 942.5 to the county road commissioner.
943. Such board may:
(a) Acquire any property necessary for the uses and purposes of
county highways. When eminent domain proceedings are necessary, the
board shall require the district attorney to institute such
proceedings. The expense of and award in such proceedings may be paid
from the road fund or the general fund of the county, or the road
fund of any district benefited.
(b) Lay out, construct, improve, and maintain county highways.
(c) Incur a bonded indebtedness for any of such purposes, subject
to the provisions of Section 944.
(d) Construct and maintain stock trails approximately paralleling
any county highway, retain and maintain for stock trails the
right-of-way of any county highway which is superseded by relocation.
Such stock trail shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3 of this code.
944. No bonded indebtedness shall be incurred for any purpose
specified in section 943 until after the question of the issue of
bonds therefor has been submitted to the qualified electors of the
county, at the next general election or at a special election called
for that purpose, and two-thirds of the electors of the county voting
at such election have voted in favor of issuing such bonds. The
election shall be called and held and the bonds, if authorized, shall
be issued, sold, and made payable as prescribed by law.
945. Such boards may expend from the county general fund the moneys
necessary to pay the whole or any part of the cost of the
improvement of any highway lying within any city in the county,
whenever any real property belonging to the county and used for
public purposes is included within the assessment district formed to
pay for any such improvement. Such expenditures shall not exceed the
amount which, but for such public ownership and use, would be
properly chargeable to and assessed against such real property under
the provisions of the law governing such improvement.
946. No liability shall be created against the county in connection
with any such improvement conducted by a city unless the board, by
resolution, determines and declares the amount to be expended and
directs that such sum be set apart and reserved out of any moneys
available for such purpose in the general fund of the county, to be
used exclusively for paying the expense of such improvement.
947. Every instrument or judgment which constitutes evidence of
title to a right of way, or incident thereto, in relation to county
highways shall particularly describe the lands included in such right
of way or incident.
948. The board of supervisors of each county shall cause to be
recorded with the county recorder, in relation to every county
highway within the county, proper evidences of title to every
right-of-way, and all incidents thereto. The board of supervisors
may, by ordinance, delegate this duty to a county officer or
employee.
In cases of acquisitions by conveyance or condemnation, the
property or incidents conveyed or condemned shall be particularly
described in the instruments recorded.
949. The board of supervisors may plant shade and ornamental trees
on the county highways, and provide for their care. The cost of
planting and caring for such trees may be paid from the county
general fund.
The board may also encourage, under such regulations as it adopts,
the planting and preservation of shade and ornamental trees on the
county highways, and may pay a sum not exceeding one dollar to any
person planting and cultivating a living tree, payment to be made
when the tree is four years of age.
950. For the purpose of sprinkling county highways with oil or
water, the board of supervisors may erect or maintain waterworks,
tanks or reservoirs, and may purchase or lease real or personal
property therefor.
The board may charge the cost of erecting or maintaining such
waterworks, tanks or reservoirs and of such sprinkling to the county
general fund, the road fund, or the district fund of any district
benefited.
951. (a) Such board may set apart on any county highway a strip of
land for a side path, and make an order designating the width of such
path, and cause the lines separating the path from the highway to be
located and marked by stakes, posts, curbs, dikes, trees, or other
physical delineations, placed at such distances apart as the board
considers proper.
(b) After a path is set apart, and the lines separating it from
the highway are located and marked, as provided in subdivision (a) of
this section, the use of such path is restricted to pedestrians,
riders of horses, and riders of vehicles propelled solely by the
power of the rider.
(c) The board may charge the expense of erecting and maintaining
such path to the county general fund, the road fund, or the district
fund of any district benefited.
952. Such board shall cause properly inscribed guideposts to be
erected and maintained at all county highway crossings and forks
lying outside of any city.
953. A board of supervisors may, acting separately or in
conjunction with State or Federal agencies, or with another county,
burn or remove debris, rubbish, brush, and grass from the county
highways. When acting in conjunction with other agencies or counties,
a board may so act outside its county.
The expense incurred by a county, acting pursuant to this section,
shall be paid out of any road fund of the county. When a county is
acting in conjunction with another agency or county the share of the
expense to be borne by each shall be arrived at by agreement.
954. All county highways which for a period of five consecutive
years are impassable for vehicular travel, and on which during such
period of time no public money is expended for maintenance, are
unnecessary highways. The board of supervisors of any county on its
own motion, or on the petition of any interested taxpayer of the
county, may designate such county highway a stock trail. The board of
supervisors shall cause notices to be posted upon such stock trails,
and also at the entrance of such stock trails, directing all persons
to drive all untethered stock thereon.
After a stock trail has been established or designated as provided
in this chapter, the county is not liable for death or injury to a
vehicle owner or operator or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or
its contents, resulting from a dangerous condition of the stock
trail.
Such stock trails shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3.
954.5. (a) The board of supervisors may, by resolution, terminate
the maintenance of any county highway if it finds that the highway is
unnecessary for the public convenience.
(b) Evidence that a county highway is unnecessary for the public
convenience shall be taken at a public hearing set in accordance with
the procedures for vacation of a public street, highway, or service
easement in Sections 8323 and 8324. Notice of the hearing shall be
mailed to the owner of any property served by that portion of a
county highway subject to the termination of maintenance. A county
highway may be deemed unnecessary for the public convenience on the
basis of any of the following:
(1) The county highway does not provide the primary access to
occupied properties.
(2) Traffic on the county highway is intermittent and of low
volume.
(3) The county highway is impassable for more than six months and
there is no demand that it be reopened.
(c) A certified copy of the resolution terminating maintenance
shall be recorded as provided in Section 8325.
(d) If the board of supervisors resumes maintenance of a county
highway on which maintenance was terminated under this section, a
notice of maintenance shall be recorded in the office of the county
recorder.
(e) If a determination is made that maintenance is no longer
necessary, the county shall post signs clearly visible from the
traveled highway at each intersection of the highway for which
maintenance is being terminated with a maintained highway indicating
that the county no longer maintains the highway. The sign shall read
as follows: "This road is not maintained. ____ County is not
responsible for any loss or injury suffered by reason of its use."
The county shall provide adequate maintenance to ensure that the
signs remain posted in the appropriate places and the message is
legible for a period of one year. Once such action is taken and duly
recorded and the required signs are posted, the county shall not be
held liable for the death of or injury to a vehicle owner, operator,
or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or its contents, resulting
from a dangerous condition on such highway.
954.6. (a) A board of supervisors, by resolution, may terminate the
maintenance of all or a portion of a county highway if it finds that
another public agency will maintain the highway or that portion of
it pursuant to an agreement meeting the requirements of Section
941.6. The resolution terminating maintenance shall identify the
county highway, or portion of it, for which maintenance will be
terminated and also the agency that will perform the maintenance. A
certified copy of the resolution shall be recorded in the office of
the county recorder.
(b) As to each county highway, or portion of a county highway, for
which the board terminates maintenance pursuant to subdivision (a),
the county shall post signs at each intersection of that highway with
a maintained highway, if any, indicating that the county no longer
maintains the highway. The signs shall be clearly visible from the
traveled highway and shall read: "This road not maintained by ____
County. ____ County is not responsible for any loss or injury
resulting from use of this road." The county shall provide adequate
maintenance for the signs to ensure that for a period of one year
each sign remains posted in the appropriate place and the message is
legible.
(c) After a resolution adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) is duly
recorded in the office of the county recorder and the signs required
by subdivision (b) are posted, while the agreement entered into
pursuant to subdivision (a) is in effect, the county shall not be
liable for the death of, or injury to, any person or for damage to
any real or personal property resulting from a dangerous condition of
the highway or portion of the highway, as described in the
resolution, caused by inadequate maintenance.
960. Whenever the board of supervisors determines that any real
property, or interest therein, acquired by the county for highway
purposes is no longer necessary for those purposes, the county may
sell or exchange the real property, or interest therein, in the
manner and upon the terms and conditions approved by the board of
supervisors. Any conveyance under this section shall be executed on
behalf of the county by the chairman of the board of supervisors, and
the money received for the real property shall be paid into the
county treasury to the credit of any fund available for highway
purposes, which the board of supervisors designates.
960.5. The term "county highway" as used in Sections 954 and 954.5
shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court,
or trail, or any purported county highway, public highway, road,
street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court, or trail.
960.6. The board of supervisors may, by ordinance or resolution,
delegate to a county official, subject to rules or regulations as the
board may impose, the authority to lease any real property acquired
by the county for highway purposes for a renewable term not exceeding
three years. Proceeds from the lease of the property shall be paid
into the county treasury to the credit of any fund designated by the
board of supervisors which is available for highway purposes.
At least five working days prior to entering into a lease under
this section, a notice of intention to enter into a lease shall be
posted in a public place.
964. Whenever the board finds that any county highway has been
damaged or is in danger of being damaged by storm waters or floods,
the board shall adopt all measures necessary to repair or prevent
such damage. The board may condemn the right of way for, and may
construct, flumes, ditches or canals for the purpose of carrying off
such storm waters or floods.
The board may cause any expense incurred under this section to be
paid out of the county general fund, or out of the funds of any road
districts in which the highways are protected from damage or repaired
by the work done.
965. The board of supervisors shall, by order, direct the district
attorney of the county to institute eminent domain proceedings, in
the name of the county, whenever it is necessary to acquire real
property or any interest therein to do any of the following things
for the protection of a county highway:
(a) Raise the banks along any stream.
(b) Remove obstructions from any stream.
(c) Widen, change, deepen or straighten the channel of any stream.
(d) Construct flumes, ditches or canals, or make any improvements
for the purpose of carrying off storm waters or floods.
966. (a) The board of supervisors may provide for the erection and
maintenance of gates on the county highways to avoid the necessity of
building highway fences. The board may prescribe rules and
regulations for closing such gates, and penalties for violating such
rules and regulations.
(b) The person, for whose immediate benefit the gates are erected
or maintained, shall in all cases bear the expense of such erection
and maintenance.
967. Whenever a right of way for a highway is conveyed to a county
and the sole consideration for the conveyance is an agreement by the
county to construct and maintain a highway on the right of way and to
construct highway fences on the right of way boundaries, and
thereafter such right of way becomes a county highway, the board of
supervisors may, within five years from the date of such conveyance,
construct highway fences along the boundaries of such right of way.
968. The board may cause the expense of constructing such fences to
be charged to and paid from the county general fund, the road fund
of the county or the district fund of each district benefited, but
not more than one-half of the expense may be paid from the county
general fund.
969. Whenever a road is of general utility and of public
convenience and constitutes the only or principal means of
communication between one town or village and another town or village
in the same county, the board of supervisors may determine, by a
two-thirds vote of its membership, that the public convenience and
necessity demand the acquisition and reconstruction of such road.
Thereafter, by a resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of its
membership, the board may determine to, and after such determination
may proceed to, acquire and reconstruct such road although it is not
of the width required by Section 906. The board shall charge the
expense of such acquisition and reconstruction to the county general
fund, the road fund of the county, or the district fund of each
district benefited, or to any two or more of such funds in such
proportions as the board considers just and equitable.
969.5. Such boards may, after they have determined by a resolution
adopted by a four-fifths vote of their membership that general county
interest demands the improvement or repair of a privately owned
road, improve or repair such road in consideration of the grant or
lease of a right of way to the county for its own use or the use of
the State, any political subdivision or other appropriate public
agency for the public purposes specified in the resolution.
Such improvements or repairs shall be made and paid for in like
manner as improvements or repairs of county highways.
By the same authorization the board may rent to the owner of land
over which such a road has been open to the public for more than five
years the machinery and equipment necessary to repair such road and
the approaches thereto and any protecting embankments there may be,
charging therefor by way of rental the cost of labor and other
necessary expenses in addition to a reasonable allowance for
depreciation of machinery.
Proceedings under this section shall not cause the road to become
a county highway.
969.6. Notwithstanding Section 969.5 or any other provision of this
code, if a state of local emergency is declared by the board of
supervisors as a result of locally heavy rainfall or flood, the board
may authorize the expenditure of road funds for the purpose of
emergency repairs to public roads which are not county highways and
not in the county maintained system, without obtaining a grant or
lease of right-of-way, if the repairs are necessary to provide
minimum public access necessary for the protection or preservation of
health or safety of residents. The county shall not be responsible
for the maintenance of any road so repaired, and it shall not be
liable for the condition of the road after the emergency repairs are
made.
970.5. Whenever the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board to be in charge of naming county highways
finds that a name should be adopted and applied to any county
highway, or that the existing name of any county highway should be
changed, the board or the designated county officer shall hold a
public hearing on the proposed name for, or the change of name of,
such highway. Notice of such hearing shall be given by posting notice
in at least three public places along the street or streets proposed
to be affected, such posting to be complete at least 10 days before
the day set for the hearing. At the time set for the hearing or at
any time to which the hearing may be continued the board or the
designated county officer shall hear and consider proposals to adopt
a name for, or change the name of, the highway mentioned in the
notice and objections to such proposals. At or after the conclusion
of the hearing the board or the designated county officer may adopt a
name for, or change the name of, such highway, and upon the adoption
or change thereof shall make an order and file said order with the
board of supervisors officially designating the name for such
highway. Thereafter such highway shall be known by the name so
designated.
971. Any county highway which has not been officially named may be
officially named by the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board without any hearing, or notice. Such naming
shall be by an order duly made and filed with the board of
supervisors. Thereafter the highway shall be known by the name thus
designated.
972. A board of supervisors may, by ordinance, permit the use of
any county highway which connects with a main county highway of an
adjoining county, by the board of supervisors of such adjoining
county for the purpose of constructing and maintaining thereon a
highway serving the needs of residents of both counties.
973. The board of the county seeking the use, if it accepts the
provisions of the ordinance adopted by the board of the county
granting the use, may:
(a) Construct and maintain any such highway.
(b) Construct and maintain on such highway such bridges as it
deems necessary.
(c) Improve such highway in such manner as it determines.
(d) Acquire real property or interests therein adjacent to such
highway in an adjoining county for county purposes, and expend
thereon such amounts as the board deems necessary for county
purposes.
974. The expense of any work done or acquisition made pursuant to
section 973 shall be paid by the county to which the use is granted
out of the county general fund, or such other fund of the county as
the board designates or makes available.
975. The board of any county to which the use is granted, pursuant
to the provisions of section 972, may, by mutual consent expressed
through ordinances of the respective boards, retransfer the use,
control, and maintenance of any highway, constructed under the
provisions of sections 972 and 973, to the county originally granting
the use.
976. The board of supervisors of any county may purchase or lease
with the consent of the owner, or may obtain by gift, and may hold,
improve or maintain any real property or interest therein for the
uses and purposes of county highways. Such real property or interest
need not be within the boundaries of the county acquiring it, if it
is convenient thereto in an adjoining county. In all such cases such
property or interest is subject to the control of the county
acquiring it and to the ordinances, rules, and regulations of such
county.
Nothing in this section shall affect the power of any county to
acquire property within its boundaries by proceedings in eminent
domain in the manner prescribed by law.
977. The board of supervisors of any county desiring to act under
section 976 may, by unanimous vote of its membership, determine what
real property is necessary and proper for the uses and purposes of
county highways. Any county thus desiring to purchase or lease with
the consent of the owner, or to obtain, hold, improve or maintain,
real property or an interest therein situated within an adjoining
county shall first obtain the consent by resolution of the board of
supervisors of the adjoining county.
978. Whenever the United States government grants real property to
a county for highway uses and purposes, the county may take and
dispose of such real property and the board of supervisors shall
have, with regard to such real property, the powers of management,
control and disposition provided by law for other county property.
979. The board of supervisors shall keep in repair all objects or
markers adjacent to a county highway which have been erected to mark
registered historical places and shall keep such markers free from
all vegetation which may obscure them from view.
982. Except as provided in this section, the board of supervisors
shall have power to temporarily close all or any part of any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane or place and grant the
possession and use thereof, together with the management and control
thereof, to any person, firm or corporation operating, managing and
controlling any exposition or fair in aid of which the granting of
public moneys or other things of value has been authorized by the
Constitution or laws of this State upon such terms and conditions,
and for such periods of time, as the board of supervisors may
determine, such possession, use, management and control to terminate
not later than one year after the closing of such exposition or fair.
As to State highways, the exercise of any power granted hereby shall
be subject to the approval of the department.
985. The board of supervisors may construct, install and maintain
cattle guards on or adjacent to the county highways. The cost of
constructing, installing, and maintaining such cattle guards may be
paid from the general county fund.
The board of supervisors may, under such restrictions, plans and
specifications as it may deem proper, permit any property owner to
construct, install or maintain at his own expense, cattle guards on
or adjacent to any county highway. The construction and maintenance
of such cattle guards shall be under the direction and supervision of
the board of supervisors, and they may require such bond as they
deem proper as a condition of the granting of permission to erect
such cattle guard.
989. (a) (1) Upon the incorporation of a city or upon the
annexation of territory to a city, all right, title, and interest of
the county, including the underlying fee where owned by the county,
in and to any county highway within the territory involved, which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
shall vest in the city and shall thereupon constitute a city street.
(2) All right, title, and interest of a county in and to any
county highway included within territory heretofore incorporated as a
city or annexed to a city is hereby determined to have vested in the
city as a city street.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a road or highway which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
after the date of the first signature on a petition for annexation or
incorporation, the adoption of a resolution of application by an
affected local agency, or a date mutually agreed upon by the city and
county.
(c) Nothing in subdivision (a) requires a city to improve the
affected road or highway to city standards.
990. Where practical or desirable, the board of supervisors shall,
along any highway under its jurisdiction, possession, or control,
replace trees that have been destroyed or removed because of projects
undertaken to widen the highway.
Money received by county from the Highway Users Tax Fund available
for the widening of highways is also available for the planting of
trees pursuant to this section.
991. Before any bridge on a county highway is constructed over any
navigable river, the board of supervisors, after a study and public
hearing on the question, shall determine and shall prepare a report
on the feasibility of providing public access to the river for
recreational purposes and a determination as to whether such public
access shall be provided.
940. Boards of supervisors shall have general supervision,
management, and control of the county highways.
941. (a) Boards of supervisors shall, by proper order, cause those
highways which are necessary to public convenience to be established,
recorded, constructed, and maintained in the manner provided in this
division.
(b) No public or private road shall become a county highway until
and unless the board of supervisors, or its designee, by appropriate
action, has caused the road to be accepted into the county road
system. No county shall be held liable for failure to maintain any
road unless and until it has been accepted into the county road
system by action of the board of supervisors or its designee.
(c) The acceptance of any road or the acceptance of any road
subject to improvements pursuant to Section 66477.1 of the Government
Code does not constitute the acceptance of the road into the county
road system in the absence of the adoption of a resolution by the
board of supervisors accepting the road into the county road system.
(d) In lieu of the procedures set forth in subdivisions (b) or
(c), boards of supervisors may, by ordinance, designate a county
officer to accept, on behalf of the board, roads or portions thereof,
into the county road system and to record conveyances to the county
of real property interests for road uses and purposes. The designee
shall, prior to recording any conveyance under this section, affix a
certificate to the instrument stating the acceptance into the county
road system and designating the name or number, or both, of the
county road. The designee shall report all acceptances and recordings
to the board at the end of the fiscal year, or at more frequent
intervals as determined by the board.
941.1. The board of supervisors may lay out, acquire, construct,
and maintain any section or portion of any street or highway within
the county as a freeway or expressway and may make any existing
street or highway a freeway or expressway.
941.2. Boards of supervisors may close any street or highway within
their jurisdiction at or near the point of its intersection with any
freeway, or may make provision for carrying such street or highway
over, under, or to a connection with the freeway, and may do any and
all work on such street or highway as is necessary therefor.
No public highway shall be converted into a freeway except with
the consent of the owners of abutting lands or the purchase or
condemnation of their right of access thereto.
941.3. Before taking any action authorized by Section 941.2
affecting any state highway, such action must be approved by the
Department of Public Works.
941.4. (a) The board of supervisors, with the consent of any city
in which the proposed system is located, in whole or in part, may
designate a system of expressways within the county. The designation
shall be based on a study of the transportation needs of the county,
which shall include a financing plan for the expressway system.
(b) The purpose of the county expressway system is to provide a
level of service that is greater than that of city streets and county
roads, but less than that provided by the state system of freeways.
The designated county expressway system shall serve both incorporated
and unincorporated areas of a county, as appropriate.
(c) The board of supervisors may enter into an agreement with the
city council or other governing body of a city to close any city
street at or near its intersection with an expressway or to provide
for carrying the street over, under, or to a connection with the
expressway, and to perform any work necessary for this purpose. No
city street may be closed by the construction of an expressway except
pursuant to such an agreement. No city street may be connected with
an expressway unless the board of supervisors, by resolution,
consents and specifies the terms and conditions of that connection.
The board of supervisors may permit or prohibit, or specify the terms
and conditions of, a connection as, in its opinion, will best serve
the public interest of the county. This subdivision does not apply to
any connection constructed prior to January 1, 1989.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the
designated county expressway system may be planned, designed,
acquired, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated, maintained,
operated, and owned by the county in both incorporated and
unincorporated areas.
(e) The board of supervisors may delegate any authority under this
section to any local agency which it finds and determines has the
capability to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, and own an expressway.
(f) The boards of supervisors of two or more adjacent counties
into which an expressway is proposed to extend may enter into an
agreement to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, or own the expressway. The agreement
shall provide for the creation of a governing body with
representation from each county.
(g) Any county having an existing expressway system which was
designated by the board of supervisors before January 1, 1989, shall
be deemed to have met the conditions of this section. Any new
expressway project within such a system is subject to this section.
(h) As used in this section, "expressway" means a highway having
partial or complete control of access, whether or not divided or with
separations of grade at intersections.
941.6. If the boundary line between two adjacent counties lies
within a county highway, the boards of supervisors of the affected
counties may, by agreement, provide for the improvement, maintenance,
construction, or reconstruction of all or part of the highway by
either or both counties, and each county may expend funds available
to it for the improvements and maintenance of county highways as
necessary for its performance of the agreement.
942. Such boards may enact and enforce ordinances and regulations
for the construction, improvement or maintenance of county highways,
and for the protection, supervision, management, control, or use of
such highways. Any such board may by a four-fifths vote of all its
members let county equipment used in the maintenance and construction
of county roads, when such equipment is not in use upon the roads
under the jurisdiction of the board, and may charge for the use
thereof a rental, and arrange the basis of compensation, in keeping
with the general conditions prevailing in the county in which the
transaction is made.
942.5. The board of supervisors may restrict the use of, or close,
any county highway whenever the board considers such closing or
restriction of use necessary:
(a) For the protection of the public.
(b) For the protection of such county highway from damage during
storms.
(c) During construction, improvement or maintenance operations
thereon.
No liability shall attach to the county, or to the board of
supervisors, for the restriction of use, or closing, of any county
highway for the above public purposes.
This section does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory
of, the pre-existing law.
942.6. The board of supervisors may delegate the powers contained
in Section 942.5 to the county road commissioner.
943. Such board may:
(a) Acquire any property necessary for the uses and purposes of
county highways. When eminent domain proceedings are necessary, the
board shall require the district attorney to institute such
proceedings. The expense of and award in such proceedings may be paid
from the road fund or the general fund of the county, or the road
fund of any district benefited.
(b) Lay out, construct, improve, and maintain county highways.
(c) Incur a bonded indebtedness for any of such purposes, subject
to the provisions of Section 944.
(d) Construct and maintain stock trails approximately paralleling
any county highway, retain and maintain for stock trails the
right-of-way of any county highway which is superseded by relocation.
Such stock trail shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3 of this code.
944. No bonded indebtedness shall be incurred for any purpose
specified in section 943 until after the question of the issue of
bonds therefor has been submitted to the qualified electors of the
county, at the next general election or at a special election called
for that purpose, and two-thirds of the electors of the county voting
at such election have voted in favor of issuing such bonds. The
election shall be called and held and the bonds, if authorized, shall
be issued, sold, and made payable as prescribed by law.
945. Such boards may expend from the county general fund the moneys
necessary to pay the whole or any part of the cost of the
improvement of any highway lying within any city in the county,
whenever any real property belonging to the county and used for
public purposes is included within the assessment district formed to
pay for any such improvement. Such expenditures shall not exceed the
amount which, but for such public ownership and use, would be
properly chargeable to and assessed against such real property under
the provisions of the law governing such improvement.
946. No liability shall be created against the county in connection
with any such improvement conducted by a city unless the board, by
resolution, determines and declares the amount to be expended and
directs that such sum be set apart and reserved out of any moneys
available for such purpose in the general fund of the county, to be
used exclusively for paying the expense of such improvement.
947. Every instrument or judgment which constitutes evidence of
title to a right of way, or incident thereto, in relation to county
highways shall particularly describe the lands included in such right
of way or incident.
948. The board of supervisors of each county shall cause to be
recorded with the county recorder, in relation to every county
highway within the county, proper evidences of title to every
right-of-way, and all incidents thereto. The board of supervisors
may, by ordinance, delegate this duty to a county officer or
employee.
In cases of acquisitions by conveyance or condemnation, the
property or incidents conveyed or condemned shall be particularly
described in the instruments recorded.
949. The board of supervisors may plant shade and ornamental trees
on the county highways, and provide for their care. The cost of
planting and caring for such trees may be paid from the county
general fund.
The board may also encourage, under such regulations as it adopts,
the planting and preservation of shade and ornamental trees on the
county highways, and may pay a sum not exceeding one dollar to any
person planting and cultivating a living tree, payment to be made
when the tree is four years of age.
950. For the purpose of sprinkling county highways with oil or
water, the board of supervisors may erect or maintain waterworks,
tanks or reservoirs, and may purchase or lease real or personal
property therefor.
The board may charge the cost of erecting or maintaining such
waterworks, tanks or reservoirs and of such sprinkling to the county
general fund, the road fund, or the district fund of any district
benefited.
951. (a) Such board may set apart on any county highway a strip of
land for a side path, and make an order designating the width of such
path, and cause the lines separating the path from the highway to be
located and marked by stakes, posts, curbs, dikes, trees, or other
physical delineations, placed at such distances apart as the board
considers proper.
(b) After a path is set apart, and the lines separating it from
the highway are located and marked, as provided in subdivision (a) of
this section, the use of such path is restricted to pedestrians,
riders of horses, and riders of vehicles propelled solely by the
power of the rider.
(c) The board may charge the expense of erecting and maintaining
such path to the county general fund, the road fund, or the district
fund of any district benefited.
952. Such board shall cause properly inscribed guideposts to be
erected and maintained at all county highway crossings and forks
lying outside of any city.
953. A board of supervisors may, acting separately or in
conjunction with State or Federal agencies, or with another county,
burn or remove debris, rubbish, brush, and grass from the county
highways. When acting in conjunction with other agencies or counties,
a board may so act outside its county.
The expense incurred by a county, acting pursuant to this section,
shall be paid out of any road fund of the county. When a county is
acting in conjunction with another agency or county the share of the
expense to be borne by each shall be arrived at by agreement.
954. All county highways which for a period of five consecutive
years are impassable for vehicular travel, and on which during such
period of time no public money is expended for maintenance, are
unnecessary highways. The board of supervisors of any county on its
own motion, or on the petition of any interested taxpayer of the
county, may designate such county highway a stock trail. The board of
supervisors shall cause notices to be posted upon such stock trails,
and also at the entrance of such stock trails, directing all persons
to drive all untethered stock thereon.
After a stock trail has been established or designated as provided
in this chapter, the county is not liable for death or injury to a
vehicle owner or operator or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or
its contents, resulting from a dangerous condition of the stock
trail.
Such stock trails shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3.
954.5. (a) The board of supervisors may, by resolution, terminate
the maintenance of any county highway if it finds that the highway is
unnecessary for the public convenience.
(b) Evidence that a county highway is unnecessary for the public
convenience shall be taken at a public hearing set in accordance with
the procedures for vacation of a public street, highway, or service
easement in Sections 8323 and 8324. Notice of the hearing shall be
mailed to the owner of any property served by that portion of a
county highway subject to the termination of maintenance. A county
highway may be deemed unnecessary for the public convenience on the
basis of any of the following:
(1) The county highway does not provide the primary access to
occupied properties.
(2) Traffic on the county highway is intermittent and of low
volume.
(3) The county highway is impassable for more than six months and
there is no demand that it be reopened.
(c) A certified copy of the resolution terminating maintenance
shall be recorded as provided in Section 8325.
(d) If the board of supervisors resumes maintenance of a county
highway on which maintenance was terminated under this section, a
notice of maintenance shall be recorded in the office of the county
recorder.
(e) If a determination is made that maintenance is no longer
necessary, the county shall post signs clearly visible from the
traveled highway at each intersection of the highway for which
maintenance is being terminated with a maintained highway indicating
that the county no longer maintains the highway. The sign shall read
as follows: "This road is not maintained. ____ County is not
responsible for any loss or injury suffered by reason of its use."
The county shall provide adequate maintenance to ensure that the
signs remain posted in the appropriate places and the message is
legible for a period of one year. Once such action is taken and duly
recorded and the required signs are posted, the county shall not be
held liable for the death of or injury to a vehicle owner, operator,
or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or its contents, resulting
from a dangerous condition on such highway.
954.6. (a) A board of supervisors, by resolution, may terminate the
maintenance of all or a portion of a county highway if it finds that
another public agency will maintain the highway or that portion of
it pursuant to an agreement meeting the requirements of Section
941.6. The resolution terminating maintenance shall identify the
county highway, or portion of it, for which maintenance will be
terminated and also the agency that will perform the maintenance. A
certified copy of the resolution shall be recorded in the office of
the county recorder.
(b) As to each county highway, or portion of a county highway, for
which the board terminates maintenance pursuant to subdivision (a),
the county shall post signs at each intersection of that highway with
a maintained highway, if any, indicating that the county no longer
maintains the highway. The signs shall be clearly visible from the
traveled highway and shall read: "This road not maintained by ____
County. ____ County is not responsible for any loss or injury
resulting from use of this road." The county shall provide adequate
maintenance for the signs to ensure that for a period of one year
each sign remains posted in the appropriate place and the message is
legible.
(c) After a resolution adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) is duly
recorded in the office of the county recorder and the signs required
by subdivision (b) are posted, while the agreement entered into
pursuant to subdivision (a) is in effect, the county shall not be
liable for the death of, or injury to, any person or for damage to
any real or personal property resulting from a dangerous condition of
the highway or portion of the highway, as described in the
resolution, caused by inadequate maintenance.
960. Whenever the board of supervisors determines that any real
property, or interest therein, acquired by the county for highway
purposes is no longer necessary for those purposes, the county may
sell or exchange the real property, or interest therein, in the
manner and upon the terms and conditions approved by the board of
supervisors. Any conveyance under this section shall be executed on
behalf of the county by the chairman of the board of supervisors, and
the money received for the real property shall be paid into the
county treasury to the credit of any fund available for highway
purposes, which the board of supervisors designates.
960.5. The term "county highway" as used in Sections 954 and 954.5
shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court,
or trail, or any purported county highway, public highway, road,
street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court, or trail.
960.6. The board of supervisors may, by ordinance or resolution,
delegate to a county official, subject to rules or regulations as the
board may impose, the authority to lease any real property acquired
by the county for highway purposes for a renewable term not exceeding
three years. Proceeds from the lease of the property shall be paid
into the county treasury to the credit of any fund designated by the
board of supervisors which is available for highway purposes.
At least five working days prior to entering into a lease under
this section, a notice of intention to enter into a lease shall be
posted in a public place.
964. Whenever the board finds that any county highway has been
damaged or is in danger of being damaged by storm waters or floods,
the board shall adopt all measures necessary to repair or prevent
such damage. The board may condemn the right of way for, and may
construct, flumes, ditches or canals for the purpose of carrying off
such storm waters or floods.
The board may cause any expense incurred under this section to be
paid out of the county general fund, or out of the funds of any road
districts in which the highways are protected from damage or repaired
by the work done.
965. The board of supervisors shall, by order, direct the district
attorney of the county to institute eminent domain proceedings, in
the name of the county, whenever it is necessary to acquire real
property or any interest therein to do any of the following things
for the protection of a county highway:
(a) Raise the banks along any stream.
(b) Remove obstructions from any stream.
(c) Widen, change, deepen or straighten the channel of any stream.
(d) Construct flumes, ditches or canals, or make any improvements
for the purpose of carrying off storm waters or floods.
966. (a) The board of supervisors may provide for the erection and
maintenance of gates on the county highways to avoid the necessity of
building highway fences. The board may prescribe rules and
regulations for closing such gates, and penalties for violating such
rules and regulations.
(b) The person, for whose immediate benefit the gates are erected
or maintained, shall in all cases bear the expense of such erection
and maintenance.
967. Whenever a right of way for a highway is conveyed to a county
and the sole consideration for the conveyance is an agreement by the
county to construct and maintain a highway on the right of way and to
construct highway fences on the right of way boundaries, and
thereafter such right of way becomes a county highway, the board of
supervisors may, within five years from the date of such conveyance,
construct highway fences along the boundaries of such right of way.
968. The board may cause the expense of constructing such fences to
be charged to and paid from the county general fund, the road fund
of the county or the district fund of each district benefited, but
not more than one-half of the expense may be paid from the county
general fund.
969. Whenever a road is of general utility and of public
convenience and constitutes the only or principal means of
communication between one town or village and another town or village
in the same county, the board of supervisors may determine, by a
two-thirds vote of its membership, that the public convenience and
necessity demand the acquisition and reconstruction of such road.
Thereafter, by a resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of its
membership, the board may determine to, and after such determination
may proceed to, acquire and reconstruct such road although it is not
of the width required by Section 906. The board shall charge the
expense of such acquisition and reconstruction to the county general
fund, the road fund of the county, or the district fund of each
district benefited, or to any two or more of such funds in such
proportions as the board considers just and equitable.
969.5. Such boards may, after they have determined by a resolution
adopted by a four-fifths vote of their membership that general county
interest demands the improvement or repair of a privately owned
road, improve or repair such road in consideration of the grant or
lease of a right of way to the county for its own use or the use of
the State, any political subdivision or other appropriate public
agency for the public purposes specified in the resolution.
Such improvements or repairs shall be made and paid for in like
manner as improvements or repairs of county highways.
By the same authorization the board may rent to the owner of land
over which such a road has been open to the public for more than five
years the machinery and equipment necessary to repair such road and
the approaches thereto and any protecting embankments there may be,
charging therefor by way of rental the cost of labor and other
necessary expenses in addition to a reasonable allowance for
depreciation of machinery.
Proceedings under this section shall not cause the road to become
a county highway.
969.6. Notwithstanding Section 969.5 or any other provision of this
code, if a state of local emergency is declared by the board of
supervisors as a result of locally heavy rainfall or flood, the board
may authorize the expenditure of road funds for the purpose of
emergency repairs to public roads which are not county highways and
not in the county maintained system, without obtaining a grant or
lease of right-of-way, if the repairs are necessary to provide
minimum public access necessary for the protection or preservation of
health or safety of residents. The county shall not be responsible
for the maintenance of any road so repaired, and it shall not be
liable for the condition of the road after the emergency repairs are
made.
970.5. Whenever the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board to be in charge of naming county highways
finds that a name should be adopted and applied to any county
highway, or that the existing name of any county highway should be
changed, the board or the designated county officer shall hold a
public hearing on the proposed name for, or the change of name of,
such highway. Notice of such hearing shall be given by posting notice
in at least three public places along the street or streets proposed
to be affected, such posting to be complete at least 10 days before
the day set for the hearing. At the time set for the hearing or at
any time to which the hearing may be continued the board or the
designated county officer shall hear and consider proposals to adopt
a name for, or change the name of, the highway mentioned in the
notice and objections to such proposals. At or after the conclusion
of the hearing the board or the designated county officer may adopt a
name for, or change the name of, such highway, and upon the adoption
or change thereof shall make an order and file said order with the
board of supervisors officially designating the name for such
highway. Thereafter such highway shall be known by the name so
designated.
971. Any county highway which has not been officially named may be
officially named by the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board without any hearing, or notice. Such naming
shall be by an order duly made and filed with the board of
supervisors. Thereafter the highway shall be known by the name thus
designated.
972. A board of supervisors may, by ordinance, permit the use of
any county highway which connects with a main county highway of an
adjoining county, by the board of supervisors of such adjoining
county for the purpose of constructing and maintaining thereon a
highway serving the needs of residents of both counties.
973. The board of the county seeking the use, if it accepts the
provisions of the ordinance adopted by the board of the county
granting the use, may:
(a) Construct and maintain any such highway.
(b) Construct and maintain on such highway such bridges as it
deems necessary.
(c) Improve such highway in such manner as it determines.
(d) Acquire real property or interests therein adjacent to such
highway in an adjoining county for county purposes, and expend
thereon such amounts as the board deems necessary for county
purposes.
974. The expense of any work done or acquisition made pursuant to
section 973 shall be paid by the county to which the use is granted
out of the county general fund, or such other fund of the county as
the board designates or makes available.
975. The board of any county to which the use is granted, pursuant
to the provisions of section 972, may, by mutual consent expressed
through ordinances of the respective boards, retransfer the use,
control, and maintenance of any highway, constructed under the
provisions of sections 972 and 973, to the county originally granting
the use.
976. The board of supervisors of any county may purchase or lease
with the consent of the owner, or may obtain by gift, and may hold,
improve or maintain any real property or interest therein for the
uses and purposes of county highways. Such real property or interest
need not be within the boundaries of the county acquiring it, if it
is convenient thereto in an adjoining county. In all such cases such
property or interest is subject to the control of the county
acquiring it and to the ordinances, rules, and regulations of such
county.
Nothing in this section shall affect the power of any county to
acquire property within its boundaries by proceedings in eminent
domain in the manner prescribed by law.
977. The board of supervisors of any county desiring to act under
section 976 may, by unanimous vote of its membership, determine what
real property is necessary and proper for the uses and purposes of
county highways. Any county thus desiring to purchase or lease with
the consent of the owner, or to obtain, hold, improve or maintain,
real property or an interest therein situated within an adjoining
county shall first obtain the consent by resolution of the board of
supervisors of the adjoining county.
978. Whenever the United States government grants real property to
a county for highway uses and purposes, the county may take and
dispose of such real property and the board of supervisors shall
have, with regard to such real property, the powers of management,
control and disposition provided by law for other county property.
979. The board of supervisors shall keep in repair all objects or
markers adjacent to a county highway which have been erected to mark
registered historical places and shall keep such markers free from
all vegetation which may obscure them from view.
982. Except as provided in this section, the board of supervisors
shall have power to temporarily close all or any part of any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane or place and grant the
possession and use thereof, together with the management and control
thereof, to any person, firm or corporation operating, managing and
controlling any exposition or fair in aid of which the granting of
public moneys or other things of value has been authorized by the
Constitution or laws of this State upon such terms and conditions,
and for such periods of time, as the board of supervisors may
determine, such possession, use, management and control to terminate
not later than one year after the closing of such exposition or fair.
As to State highways, the exercise of any power granted hereby shall
be subject to the approval of the department.
985. The board of supervisors may construct, install and maintain
cattle guards on or adjacent to the county highways. The cost of
constructing, installing, and maintaining such cattle guards may be
paid from the general county fund.
The board of supervisors may, under such restrictions, plans and
specifications as it may deem proper, permit any property owner to
construct, install or maintain at his own expense, cattle guards on
or adjacent to any county highway. The construction and maintenance
of such cattle guards shall be under the direction and supervision of
the board of supervisors, and they may require such bond as they
deem proper as a condition of the granting of permission to erect
such cattle guard.
989. (a) (1) Upon the incorporation of a city or upon the
annexation of territory to a city, all right, title, and interest of
the county, including the underlying fee where owned by the county,
in and to any county highway within the territory involved, which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
shall vest in the city and shall thereupon constitute a city street.
(2) All right, title, and interest of a county in and to any
county highway included within territory heretofore incorporated as a
city or annexed to a city is hereby determined to have vested in the
city as a city street.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a road or highway which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
after the date of the first signature on a petition for annexation or
incorporation, the adoption of a resolution of application by an
affected local agency, or a date mutually agreed upon by the city and
county.
(c) Nothing in subdivision (a) requires a city to improve the
affected road or highway to city standards.
990. Where practical or desirable, the board of supervisors shall,
along any highway under its jurisdiction, possession, or control,
replace trees that have been destroyed or removed because of projects
undertaken to widen the highway.
Money received by county from the Highway Users Tax Fund available
for the widening of highways is also available for the planting of
trees pursuant to this section.
991. Before any bridge on a county highway is constructed over any
navigable river, the board of supervisors, after a study and public
hearing on the question, shall determine and shall prepare a report
on the feasibility of providing public access to the river for
recreational purposes and a determination as to whether such public
access shall be provided.
940. Boards of supervisors shall have general supervision,
management, and control of the county highways.
941. (a) Boards of supervisors shall, by proper order, cause those
highways which are necessary to public convenience to be established,
recorded, constructed, and maintained in the manner provided in this
division.
(b) No public or private road shall become a county highway until
and unless the board of supervisors, or its designee, by appropriate
action, has caused the road to be accepted into the county road
system. No county shall be held liable for failure to maintain any
road unless and until it has been accepted into the county road
system by action of the board of supervisors or its designee.
(c) The acceptance of any road or the acceptance of any road
subject to improvements pursuant to Section 66477.1 of the Government
Code does not constitute the acceptance of the road into the county
road system in the absence of the adoption of a resolution by the
board of supervisors accepting the road into the county road system.
(d) In lieu of the procedures set forth in subdivisions (b) or
(c), boards of supervisors may, by ordinance, designate a county
officer to accept, on behalf of the board, roads or portions thereof,
into the county road system and to record conveyances to the county
of real property interests for road uses and purposes. The designee
shall, prior to recording any conveyance under this section, affix a
certificate to the instrument stating the acceptance into the county
road system and designating the name or number, or both, of the
county road. The designee shall report all acceptances and recordings
to the board at the end of the fiscal year, or at more frequent
intervals as determined by the board.
941.1. The board of supervisors may lay out, acquire, construct,
and maintain any section or portion of any street or highway within
the county as a freeway or expressway and may make any existing
street or highway a freeway or expressway.
941.2. Boards of supervisors may close any street or highway within
their jurisdiction at or near the point of its intersection with any
freeway, or may make provision for carrying such street or highway
over, under, or to a connection with the freeway, and may do any and
all work on such street or highway as is necessary therefor.
No public highway shall be converted into a freeway except with
the consent of the owners of abutting lands or the purchase or
condemnation of their right of access thereto.
941.3. Before taking any action authorized by Section 941.2
affecting any state highway, such action must be approved by the
Department of Public Works.
941.4. (a) The board of supervisors, with the consent of any city
in which the proposed system is located, in whole or in part, may
designate a system of expressways within the county. The designation
shall be based on a study of the transportation needs of the county,
which shall include a financing plan for the expressway system.
(b) The purpose of the county expressway system is to provide a
level of service that is greater than that of city streets and county
roads, but less than that provided by the state system of freeways.
The designated county expressway system shall serve both incorporated
and unincorporated areas of a county, as appropriate.
(c) The board of supervisors may enter into an agreement with the
city council or other governing body of a city to close any city
street at or near its intersection with an expressway or to provide
for carrying the street over, under, or to a connection with the
expressway, and to perform any work necessary for this purpose. No
city street may be closed by the construction of an expressway except
pursuant to such an agreement. No city street may be connected with
an expressway unless the board of supervisors, by resolution,
consents and specifies the terms and conditions of that connection.
The board of supervisors may permit or prohibit, or specify the terms
and conditions of, a connection as, in its opinion, will best serve
the public interest of the county. This subdivision does not apply to
any connection constructed prior to January 1, 1989.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the
designated county expressway system may be planned, designed,
acquired, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated, maintained,
operated, and owned by the county in both incorporated and
unincorporated areas.
(e) The board of supervisors may delegate any authority under this
section to any local agency which it finds and determines has the
capability to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, and own an expressway.
(f) The boards of supervisors of two or more adjacent counties
into which an expressway is proposed to extend may enter into an
agreement to plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, maintain, operate, or own the expressway. The agreement
shall provide for the creation of a governing body with
representation from each county.
(g) Any county having an existing expressway system which was
designated by the board of supervisors before January 1, 1989, shall
be deemed to have met the conditions of this section. Any new
expressway project within such a system is subject to this section.
(h) As used in this section, "expressway" means a highway having
partial or complete control of access, whether or not divided or with
separations of grade at intersections.
941.6. If the boundary line between two adjacent counties lies
within a county highway, the boards of supervisors of the affected
counties may, by agreement, provide for the improvement, maintenance,
construction, or reconstruction of all or part of the highway by
either or both counties, and each county may expend funds available
to it for the improvements and maintenance of county highways as
necessary for its performance of the agreement.
942. Such boards may enact and enforce ordinances and regulations
for the construction, improvement or maintenance of county highways,
and for the protection, supervision, management, control, or use of
such highways. Any such board may by a four-fifths vote of all its
members let county equipment used in the maintenance and construction
of county roads, when such equipment is not in use upon the roads
under the jurisdiction of the board, and may charge for the use
thereof a rental, and arrange the basis of compensation, in keeping
with the general conditions prevailing in the county in which the
transaction is made.
942.5. The board of supervisors may restrict the use of, or close,
any county highway whenever the board considers such closing or
restriction of use necessary:
(a) For the protection of the public.
(b) For the protection of such county highway from damage during
storms.
(c) During construction, improvement or maintenance operations
thereon.
No liability shall attach to the county, or to the board of
supervisors, for the restriction of use, or closing, of any county
highway for the above public purposes.
This section does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory
of, the pre-existing law.
942.6. The board of supervisors may delegate the powers contained
in Section 942.5 to the county road commissioner.
943. Such board may:
(a) Acquire any property necessary for the uses and purposes of
county highways. When eminent domain proceedings are necessary, the
board shall require the district attorney to institute such
proceedings. The expense of and award in such proceedings may be paid
from the road fund or the general fund of the county, or the road
fund of any district benefited.
(b) Lay out, construct, improve, and maintain county highways.
(c) Incur a bonded indebtedness for any of such purposes, subject
to the provisions of Section 944.
(d) Construct and maintain stock trails approximately paralleling
any county highway, retain and maintain for stock trails the
right-of-way of any county highway which is superseded by relocation.
Such stock trail shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3 of this code.
944. No bonded indebtedness shall be incurred for any purpose
specified in section 943 until after the question of the issue of
bonds therefor has been submitted to the qualified electors of the
county, at the next general election or at a special election called
for that purpose, and two-thirds of the electors of the county voting
at such election have voted in favor of issuing such bonds. The
election shall be called and held and the bonds, if authorized, shall
be issued, sold, and made payable as prescribed by law.
945. Such boards may expend from the county general fund the moneys
necessary to pay the whole or any part of the cost of the
improvement of any highway lying within any city in the county,
whenever any real property belonging to the county and used for
public purposes is included within the assessment district formed to
pay for any such improvement. Such expenditures shall not exceed the
amount which, but for such public ownership and use, would be
properly chargeable to and assessed against such real property under
the provisions of the law governing such improvement.
946. No liability shall be created against the county in connection
with any such improvement conducted by a city unless the board, by
resolution, determines and declares the amount to be expended and
directs that such sum be set apart and reserved out of any moneys
available for such purpose in the general fund of the county, to be
used exclusively for paying the expense of such improvement.
947. Every instrument or judgment which constitutes evidence of
title to a right of way, or incident thereto, in relation to county
highways shall particularly describe the lands included in such right
of way or incident.
948. The board of supervisors of each county shall cause to be
recorded with the county recorder, in relation to every county
highway within the county, proper evidences of title to every
right-of-way, and all incidents thereto. The board of supervisors
may, by ordinance, delegate this duty to a county officer or
employee.
In cases of acquisitions by conveyance or condemnation, the
property or incidents conveyed or condemned shall be particularly
described in the instruments recorded.
949. The board of supervisors may plant shade and ornamental trees
on the county highways, and provide for their care. The cost of
planting and caring for such trees may be paid from the county
general fund.
The board may also encourage, under such regulations as it adopts,
the planting and preservation of shade and ornamental trees on the
county highways, and may pay a sum not exceeding one dollar to any
person planting and cultivating a living tree, payment to be made
when the tree is four years of age.
950. For the purpose of sprinkling county highways with oil or
water, the board of supervisors may erect or maintain waterworks,
tanks or reservoirs, and may purchase or lease real or personal
property therefor.
The board may charge the cost of erecting or maintaining such
waterworks, tanks or reservoirs and of such sprinkling to the county
general fund, the road fund, or the district fund of any district
benefited.
951. (a) Such board may set apart on any county highway a strip of
land for a side path, and make an order designating the width of such
path, and cause the lines separating the path from the highway to be
located and marked by stakes, posts, curbs, dikes, trees, or other
physical delineations, placed at such distances apart as the board
considers proper.
(b) After a path is set apart, and the lines separating it from
the highway are located and marked, as provided in subdivision (a) of
this section, the use of such path is restricted to pedestrians,
riders of horses, and riders of vehicles propelled solely by the
power of the rider.
(c) The board may charge the expense of erecting and maintaining
such path to the county general fund, the road fund, or the district
fund of any district benefited.
952. Such board shall cause properly inscribed guideposts to be
erected and maintained at all county highway crossings and forks
lying outside of any city.
953. A board of supervisors may, acting separately or in
conjunction with State or Federal agencies, or with another county,
burn or remove debris, rubbish, brush, and grass from the county
highways. When acting in conjunction with other agencies or counties,
a board may so act outside its county.
The expense incurred by a county, acting pursuant to this section,
shall be paid out of any road fund of the county. When a county is
acting in conjunction with another agency or county the share of the
expense to be borne by each shall be arrived at by agreement.
954. All county highways which for a period of five consecutive
years are impassable for vehicular travel, and on which during such
period of time no public money is expended for maintenance, are
unnecessary highways. The board of supervisors of any county on its
own motion, or on the petition of any interested taxpayer of the
county, may designate such county highway a stock trail. The board of
supervisors shall cause notices to be posted upon such stock trails,
and also at the entrance of such stock trails, directing all persons
to drive all untethered stock thereon.
After a stock trail has been established or designated as provided
in this chapter, the county is not liable for death or injury to a
vehicle owner or operator or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or
its contents, resulting from a dangerous condition of the stock
trail.
Such stock trails shall not be included in the term "maintained
mileage of county roads" as that term is used in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 2100) of Division 3.
954.5. (a) The board of supervisors may, by resolution, terminate
the maintenance of any county highway if it finds that the highway is
unnecessary for the public convenience.
(b) Evidence that a county highway is unnecessary for the public
convenience shall be taken at a public hearing set in accordance with
the procedures for vacation of a public street, highway, or service
easement in Sections 8323 and 8324. Notice of the hearing shall be
mailed to the owner of any property served by that portion of a
county highway subject to the termination of maintenance. A county
highway may be deemed unnecessary for the public convenience on the
basis of any of the following:
(1) The county highway does not provide the primary access to
occupied properties.
(2) Traffic on the county highway is intermittent and of low
volume.
(3) The county highway is impassable for more than six months and
there is no demand that it be reopened.
(c) A certified copy of the resolution terminating maintenance
shall be recorded as provided in Section 8325.
(d) If the board of supervisors resumes maintenance of a county
highway on which maintenance was terminated under this section, a
notice of maintenance shall be recorded in the office of the county
recorder.
(e) If a determination is made that maintenance is no longer
necessary, the county shall post signs clearly visible from the
traveled highway at each intersection of the highway for which
maintenance is being terminated with a maintained highway indicating
that the county no longer maintains the highway. The sign shall read
as follows: "This road is not maintained. ____ County is not
responsible for any loss or injury suffered by reason of its use."
The county shall provide adequate maintenance to ensure that the
signs remain posted in the appropriate places and the message is
legible for a period of one year. Once such action is taken and duly
recorded and the required signs are posted, the county shall not be
held liable for the death of or injury to a vehicle owner, operator,
or passenger, or for damage to a vehicle or its contents, resulting
from a dangerous condition on such highway.
954.6. (a) A board of supervisors, by resolution, may terminate the
maintenance of all or a portion of a county highway if it finds that
another public agency will maintain the highway or that portion of
it pursuant to an agreement meeting the requirements of Section
941.6. The resolution terminating maintenance shall identify the
county highway, or portion of it, for which maintenance will be
terminated and also the agency that will perform the maintenance. A
certified copy of the resolution shall be recorded in the office of
the county recorder.
(b) As to each county highway, or portion of a county highway, for
which the board terminates maintenance pursuant to subdivision (a),
the county shall post signs at each intersection of that highway with
a maintained highway, if any, indicating that the county no longer
maintains the highway. The signs shall be clearly visible from the
traveled highway and shall read: "This road not maintained by ____
County. ____ County is not responsible for any loss or injury
resulting from use of this road." The county shall provide adequate
maintenance for the signs to ensure that for a period of one year
each sign remains posted in the appropriate place and the message is
legible.
(c) After a resolution adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) is duly
recorded in the office of the county recorder and the signs required
by subdivision (b) are posted, while the agreement entered into
pursuant to subdivision (a) is in effect, the county shall not be
liable for the death of, or injury to, any person or for damage to
any real or personal property resulting from a dangerous condition of
the highway or portion of the highway, as described in the
resolution, caused by inadequate maintenance.
960. Whenever the board of supervisors determines that any real
property, or interest therein, acquired by the county for highway
purposes is no longer necessary for those purposes, the county may
sell or exchange the real property, or interest therein, in the
manner and upon the terms and conditions approved by the board of
supervisors. Any conveyance under this section shall be executed on
behalf of the county by the chairman of the board of supervisors, and
the money received for the real property shall be paid into the
county treasury to the credit of any fund available for highway
purposes, which the board of supervisors designates.
960.5. The term "county highway" as used in Sections 954 and 954.5
shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court,
or trail, or any purported county highway, public highway, road,
street, avenue, alley, lane, drive, way, place, court, or trail.
960.6. The board of supervisors may, by ordinance or resolution,
delegate to a county official, subject to rules or regulations as the
board may impose, the authority to lease any real property acquired
by the county for highway purposes for a renewable term not exceeding
three years. Proceeds from the lease of the property shall be paid
into the county treasury to the credit of any fund designated by the
board of supervisors which is available for highway purposes.
At least five working days prior to entering into a lease under
this section, a notice of intention to enter into a lease shall be
posted in a public place.
964. Whenever the board finds that any county highway has been
damaged or is in danger of being damaged by storm waters or floods,
the board shall adopt all measures necessary to repair or prevent
such damage. The board may condemn the right of way for, and may
construct, flumes, ditches or canals for the purpose of carrying off
such storm waters or floods.
The board may cause any expense incurred under this section to be
paid out of the county general fund, or out of the funds of any road
districts in which the highways are protected from damage or repaired
by the work done.
965. The board of supervisors shall, by order, direct the district
attorney of the county to institute eminent domain proceedings, in
the name of the county, whenever it is necessary to acquire real
property or any interest therein to do any of the following things
for the protection of a county highway:
(a) Raise the banks along any stream.
(b) Remove obstructions from any stream.
(c) Widen, change, deepen or straighten the channel of any stream.
(d) Construct flumes, ditches or canals, or make any improvements
for the purpose of carrying off storm waters or floods.
966. (a) The board of supervisors may provide for the erection and
maintenance of gates on the county highways to avoid the necessity of
building highway fences. The board may prescribe rules and
regulations for closing such gates, and penalties for violating such
rules and regulations.
(b) The person, for whose immediate benefit the gates are erected
or maintained, shall in all cases bear the expense of such erection
and maintenance.
967. Whenever a right of way for a highway is conveyed to a county
and the sole consideration for the conveyance is an agreement by the
county to construct and maintain a highway on the right of way and to
construct highway fences on the right of way boundaries, and
thereafter such right of way becomes a county highway, the board of
supervisors may, within five years from the date of such conveyance,
construct highway fences along the boundaries of such right of way.
968. The board may cause the expense of constructing such fences to
be charged to and paid from the county general fund, the road fund
of the county or the district fund of each district benefited, but
not more than one-half of the expense may be paid from the county
general fund.
969. Whenever a road is of general utility and of public
convenience and constitutes the only or principal means of
communication between one town or village and another town or village
in the same county, the board of supervisors may determine, by a
two-thirds vote of its membership, that the public convenience and
necessity demand the acquisition and reconstruction of such road.
Thereafter, by a resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of its
membership, the board may determine to, and after such determination
may proceed to, acquire and reconstruct such road although it is not
of the width required by Section 906. The board shall charge the
expense of such acquisition and reconstruction to the county general
fund, the road fund of the county, or the district fund of each
district benefited, or to any two or more of such funds in such
proportions as the board considers just and equitable.
969.5. Such boards may, after they have determined by a resolution
adopted by a four-fifths vote of their membership that general county
interest demands the improvement or repair of a privately owned
road, improve or repair such road in consideration of the grant or
lease of a right of way to the county for its own use or the use of
the State, any political subdivision or other appropriate public
agency for the public purposes specified in the resolution.
Such improvements or repairs shall be made and paid for in like
manner as improvements or repairs of county highways.
By the same authorization the board may rent to the owner of land
over which such a road has been open to the public for more than five
years the machinery and equipment necessary to repair such road and
the approaches thereto and any protecting embankments there may be,
charging therefor by way of rental the cost of labor and other
necessary expenses in addition to a reasonable allowance for
depreciation of machinery.
Proceedings under this section shall not cause the road to become
a county highway.
969.6. Notwithstanding Section 969.5 or any other provision of this
code, if a state of local emergency is declared by the board of
supervisors as a result of locally heavy rainfall or flood, the board
may authorize the expenditure of road funds for the purpose of
emergency repairs to public roads which are not county highways and
not in the county maintained system, without obtaining a grant or
lease of right-of-way, if the repairs are necessary to provide
minimum public access necessary for the protection or preservation of
health or safety of residents. The county shall not be responsible
for the maintenance of any road so repaired, and it shall not be
liable for the condition of the road after the emergency repairs are
made.
970.5. Whenever the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board to be in charge of naming county highways
finds that a name should be adopted and applied to any county
highway, or that the existing name of any county highway should be
changed, the board or the designated county officer shall hold a
public hearing on the proposed name for, or the change of name of,
such highway. Notice of such hearing shall be given by posting notice
in at least three public places along the street or streets proposed
to be affected, such posting to be complete at least 10 days before
the day set for the hearing. At the time set for the hearing or at
any time to which the hearing may be continued the board or the
designated county officer shall hear and consider proposals to adopt
a name for, or change the name of, the highway mentioned in the
notice and objections to such proposals. At or after the conclusion
of the hearing the board or the designated county officer may adopt a
name for, or change the name of, such highway, and upon the adoption
or change thereof shall make an order and file said order with the
board of supervisors officially designating the name for such
highway. Thereafter such highway shall be known by the name so
designated.
971. Any county highway which has not been officially named may be
officially named by the board of supervisors or a county officer
designated by the board without any hearing, or notice. Such naming
shall be by an order duly made and filed with the board of
supervisors. Thereafter the highway shall be known by the name thus
designated.
972. A board of supervisors may, by ordinance, permit the use of
any county highway which connects with a main county highway of an
adjoining county, by the board of supervisors of such adjoining
county for the purpose of constructing and maintaining thereon a
highway serving the needs of residents of both counties.
973. The board of the county seeking the use, if it accepts the
provisions of the ordinance adopted by the board of the county
granting the use, may:
(a) Construct and maintain any such highway.
(b) Construct and maintain on such highway such bridges as it
deems necessary.
(c) Improve such highway in such manner as it determines.
(d) Acquire real property or interests therein adjacent to such
highway in an adjoining county for county purposes, and expend
thereon such amounts as the board deems necessary for county
purposes.
974. The expense of any work done or acquisition made pursuant to
section 973 shall be paid by the county to which the use is granted
out of the county general fund, or such other fund of the county as
the board designates or makes available.
975. The board of any county to which the use is granted, pursuant
to the provisions of section 972, may, by mutual consent expressed
through ordinances of the respective boards, retransfer the use,
control, and maintenance of any highway, constructed under the
provisions of sections 972 and 973, to the county originally granting
the use.
976. The board of supervisors of any county may purchase or lease
with the consent of the owner, or may obtain by gift, and may hold,
improve or maintain any real property or interest therein for the
uses and purposes of county highways. Such real property or interest
need not be within the boundaries of the county acquiring it, if it
is convenient thereto in an adjoining county. In all such cases such
property or interest is subject to the control of the county
acquiring it and to the ordinances, rules, and regulations of such
county.
Nothing in this section shall affect the power of any county to
acquire property within its boundaries by proceedings in eminent
domain in the manner prescribed by law.
977. The board of supervisors of any county desiring to act under
section 976 may, by unanimous vote of its membership, determine what
real property is necessary and proper for the uses and purposes of
county highways. Any county thus desiring to purchase or lease with
the consent of the owner, or to obtain, hold, improve or maintain,
real property or an interest therein situated within an adjoining
county shall first obtain the consent by resolution of the board of
supervisors of the adjoining county.
978. Whenever the United States government grants real property to
a county for highway uses and purposes, the county may take and
dispose of such real property and the board of supervisors shall
have, with regard to such real property, the powers of management,
control and disposition provided by law for other county property.
979. The board of supervisors shall keep in repair all objects or
markers adjacent to a county highway which have been erected to mark
registered historical places and shall keep such markers free from
all vegetation which may obscure them from view.
982. Except as provided in this section, the board of supervisors
shall have power to temporarily close all or any part of any public
highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane or place and grant the
possession and use thereof, together with the management and control
thereof, to any person, firm or corporation operating, managing and
controlling any exposition or fair in aid of which the granting of
public moneys or other things of value has been authorized by the
Constitution or laws of this State upon such terms and conditions,
and for such periods of time, as the board of supervisors may
determine, such possession, use, management and control to terminate
not later than one year after the closing of such exposition or fair.
As to State highways, the exercise of any power granted hereby shall
be subject to the approval of the department.
985. The board of supervisors may construct, install and maintain
cattle guards on or adjacent to the county highways. The cost of
constructing, installing, and maintaining such cattle guards may be
paid from the general county fund.
The board of supervisors may, under such restrictions, plans and
specifications as it may deem proper, permit any property owner to
construct, install or maintain at his own expense, cattle guards on
or adjacent to any county highway. The construction and maintenance
of such cattle guards shall be under the direction and supervision of
the board of supervisors, and they may require such bond as they
deem proper as a condition of the granting of permission to erect
such cattle guard.
989. (a) (1) Upon the incorporation of a city or upon the
annexation of territory to a city, all right, title, and interest of
the county, including the underlying fee where owned by the county,
in and to any county highway within the territory involved, which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
shall vest in the city and shall thereupon constitute a city street.
(2) All right, title, and interest of a county in and to any
county highway included within territory heretofore incorporated as a
city or annexed to a city is hereby determined to have vested in the
city as a city street.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a road or highway which had
been accepted into the county road system pursuant to Section 941
after the date of the first signature on a petition for annexation or
incorporation, the adoption of a resolution of application by an
affected local agency, or a date mutually agreed upon by the city and
county.
(c) Nothing in subdivision (a) requires a city to improve the
affected road or highway to city standards.
990. Where practical or desirable, the board of supervisors shall,
along any highway under its jurisdiction, possession, or control,
replace trees that have been destroyed or removed because of projects
undertaken to widen the highway.
Money received by county from the Highway Users Tax Fund available
for the widening of highways is also available for the planting of
trees pursuant to this section.
991. Before any bridge on a county highway is constructed over any
navigable river, the board of supervisors, after a study and public
hearing on the question, shall determine and shall prepare a report
on the feasibility of providing public access to the river for
recreational purposes and a determination as to whether such public
access shall be provided.
