SDDOT / Project Development / Planning / Highway Classification / County Highway Systems / Revisions

POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR COUNTY HIGHWAY SYSTEM REVISIONS

The State of South Dakota, acting by and through the Secretary of Transportation, has determined that requests for revisions in county highway system mileage, as required under SDCL 31-12-2, should follow standard procedures and contain documentation described below:

The Board of County Commissioners shall forward to the Secretary of Transportation a resolution which correctly states the desired addition to or deletion from the county highway system. Relocation of a route must be considered as a deletion and addition to the system. The resolution may include any number of additions or deletions.
The resolution should state the rationale for the modification. For example, changes in county development patterns or increasing traffic on township roads would be noted on the resolution.
The resolution must be accompanied by a county map that shows the existing road system and the proposed additions or deletions marked in contrasting colors.
The resolution, if requesting deletions from the county highway system, must be accompanied be evidence that public notice had been given in an official county newspaper(s), such notice correctly describing the section or sections of the county highway being abandoned, and the time and place for action to be taken by the Board of County Commissioners. Public Notice must be published a minimum of ten (10) days prior to the meeting of the Board of County Commissioners when the action will occur. Public notice is not required for resolutions adding road segments to the county highway system.
The Secretary of Transportation will wait at least 30 days following the receipt of a resolution requesting deletion to the county highway system to formally act on the request. {The Secretary is not required to wait 30 days to formally act on a resolution for an addition.]

Please address any questions and send all resolutions to:

Larry Dean, Planning Data Manager
Division of Planning/Engineering
SD Department of Transportation
700 Broadway Avenue East
Pierre, SD 57501-2586
Phone: (605) 773-3155
email address: larry.dean@state.sd.us

GUIDING STATUTES

SDCL 31-12-1. Established highway systems perpetuated. The county highway system as heretofore designated and established in each organized county of the state is hereby perpetuated.

31-12-2. Change of county highway system -- Order of Department of Transportation. Except for minimum maintenance roads established pursuant to § 31-12-46, no county highway system may be changed, altered, or modified except by authority of and in accordance with a written executive order of the Department of Transportation. Any such change shall be shown on the map of the county highway system in the office of the county auditor and on such map in the Department of Transportation.