[§264-17]  Public hearing.  Any state or
county agency which prepares proposed plans for a major public highway project
shall provide an opportunity for a public hearing at the earliest practicable
time before the proposed plans for the project are finalized and commitments
have been made by the state or county to the plans or the project.  The public
hearing shall be conducted and notice given in an adequate manner to apprise
all interested persons of the proposed routes and scope of the projects and allow
an opportunity for all interested persons to submit data, views, or arguments,
orally or in writing.  The public hearing required under this section may be
held in conjunction with a public hearing held on the project to meet the
requirement of any federal, state or county law provided the provisions of this
section are satisfied.



The proposing agency shall satisfy any
requirement for holding a public hearing under this section if adequate notice
of the opportunity for the public hearing on the project is given to interested
persons and no written requests for the hearing are received by the agency
within a reasonable time.



This section shall not apply to the
construction of highway projects where the governor has made a formal
determination that the construction of the project is urgently needed because
of an emergency, a natural disaster, or a catastrophic failure. [L 1976, c 163,
§1]