[§264-1.5]  Emergency powers; traffic
emergency zones.  (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if the
governor or state director of transportation, in the case of a state highway,
or the mayor of a county or the county director of transportation, in the case
of a county highway, determines that substantial endangerment to public health
and safety is or is highly likely to be caused by the temporary closure of, or
the lack of adequate access to an area by, a county highway or a state highway
as defined under section 264-1(a), which requires immediate action, the
governor or state director of transportation, in the case of a state highway,
or a mayor of a county or the county director of transportation, in the case of
a county highway, without a public hearing, may designate the area to be a
traffic emergency zone, and may take any action that may be necessary until
access to the designated area has been established.  The designation shall fix
a place and time, not later than twenty-four hours after the designation, for a
hearing to be held before the state director of transportation, or the county
director of transportation.



(b)  Upon designation of an area as a traffic
emergency zone by the governor or the state director of transportation, or the
mayor of a county or the county director of transportation:



(1)  State or county highway or street improvements,
including but not limited to new construction, reconstruction, preservation,
resurfacing, restoration, or rehabilitation of any county or state highway may
be undertaken without regard to chapter 103D;



(2)  All structures and improvements to land to be
used for state or county highway purposes:



(A)  May be planned, designed, and constructed
by the appropriate state or county department without the approval of county
agencies; and



(B)  Shall be exempt from any county permitting
requirements; and



(3)  The state department of transportation or county
department of transportation may acquire and designate cane haul roads as state
or county highways; provided that the use of cane haul roads as state or county
highways shall be for temporary purposes only for a period of time as
determined by the state or county director of transportation, but for no longer
than the public health and safety requires.



(c)  Any other law to the contrary
notwithstanding, except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), any decision
under this section by the governor, the department of transportation, the mayor
of a county, the transportation department of a county, or any officers,
employees, or agents of the State or a county, shall not give rise to a cause
of action or claim against:



(1)  The State or any county;



(2)  The state department of transportation;



(3)  A county department of transportation; or



(4)  Any officer, employee, or agent of an entity
under paragraphs (1) to (3).



(d)  There shall be a qualified standard of
care of the common-law emergency doctrine that shall apply to a claim of
negligence in any design, construction, repair, and correction undertaken
pursuant to this section.



(e)  Where a cane haul road is designated as a
state or county highway under subsection (b)(3), the State or county, as the
case may be, shall indemnify the owner of the cane haul road from any liability
that may arise out of the use of such cane haul road when designated as a state
highway.



(f)  For the purposes of this section:



"Cane haul road" means a road that is
part of an agricultural system of roads or ways established to take
agricultural products from the fields to processing facilities without using
the public highways.



"County highway" shall have the same
meaning as in section 264-1(a).



"State highway" shall have the same
meaning as in section 264-1(a).



"Traffic emergency zone" means an
area that is accessible by a single state highway and whose accessibility would
be compromised by major motor vehicle accidents, fires, floods, erosion, or
other factors that would cause the closure of a state or county highway and
causes or is highly likely to cause substantial endangerment to public health
and safety.



(g)  Each designation of a traffic emergency
zone shall expire within five years. [L 2007, c 141, §1]



 



Cross References



 



  Emergency use of private real property, see chapter 135.