| (a) Purpose. Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 225,
provides for the memorial designation of roadways on the state highway
system. Subchapter A of that chapter authorizes local governmental
units, if approved by the department, to assign a memorial designation
to a part of the state highway system, and authorizes a county historical
commission to apply to the Texas Historical Commission and the department
for the marking with the historical designation of a farm-to-market
or ranch road that follows a historical route. This section prescribes
the policies and procedures by which memorial highways and historical
routes are designated.
(b) Highways designated as memorial highways in the
statute. The department will design, construct, or erect a marker
for a memorial highway designated by statute only if all costs of
designing, constructing, and erecting the marker have been donated
to the department.
(c) Transportation Commission. Texas Transportation
Code, §225.001, prohibits the Texas Transportation Commission
from naming any road, bridge, street, or highway on the state highway
system other than by designating it with the regular highway number.
(d) Local governments. Local governmental units, such
as a city or county, may submit a request to the department to assign
a memorial designation to any part or parts of the state highway system
within the local government's jurisdiction.
(1) The request to assign a memorial designation to
a part of a state highway must:
(A) be sent to the office of the local department district
in which the part to be designated is located; and
(B) include:
(i) a description and location of the marker or markers
to be erected;
(ii) a statement describing the nature and the objective
of the designation, including, if the designation is for a person,
the historical significance of the designee; and
(iii) a copy of the order or resolution of the local
government's governing body that provides the memorial designation
of the highway.
(2) The department will not approve a memorial designation
if:
(A) the highway or part of the highway is assigned
a memorial designation when the request is received, regardless of
whether the markers have been erected; or
(B) the request is to assign a memorial designation
for a living person or does not describe the designee's significance
in the state's history or in the lives of the people of this state.
(3) Two or more local governmental units may cooperate
in seeking a single continuous memorial designation for a highway
under their jurisdictions.
(e) Memorial designation markers. The department will
design, construct, or erect a memorial designation marker only if
all costs for the marker have been donated to the department.
(1) Local governmental units may furnish to the department
for installation a memorial marker of a size and type approved by
the department.
(2) The department will erect a memorial marker at
a place most suitable to the department's maintenance operations.
(3) The department will maintain the grounds surrounding
the memorial marker.
(4) A marker for a local government memorial designated
highway will be replaced only if all costs to replace the marker have
been donated to the department.
(5) Memorial markers may be erected at each end of
the designated limits, and, if applicable, at intermediate sites so
that the markers are approximately 75 miles apart.
(f) Historical routes.
(1) Application. A county historical commission may
apply to the Texas Historical Commission and the department for the
marking with a historical name of a farm-to-market or ranch road that
follows a historical route.
(2) Certification. Before the department may mark the
road with the historical name, the Texas Historical Commission must
certify that the name has been in common usage in the area for at
least 50 years. The certification must be based on evidence submitted
by the applying county historical commission, which must include affidavits
from at least five long-time residents of the area.
(3) Installation. On certification by the Texas Historical
Commission, the department will prepare and install markers along
the road indicating the road's historical name. The applying county
historical commission shall pay for the preparation of the markers.
(g) Official highway name, number, and postal address.
A memorial designation or marker placed under this section does not
replace the official name, highway number, or the postal address of
the highway.
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