Senator Leising has introduced SB 109 which imposes procedures on the state Department of Transportation if a state highway will be closed for more than five days.
If the Department of Transportation proposes to let a contract that would involve closing a state highway for at least 5 consecutive days, the Department of Transportation has to send notice to the county, the city or nearest city, and any township providing fire service to the area. Following that notice, any unit of government receiving notice can file an explanation of any objections within 30 days. If they do that, a representative from the Department of Transportation has to show up at a government meeting to offer a response to the objections. Aside from potentially enduring some verbal abuse at those meetings, however, the Department isn’t really required to do anything about the objections. The bill also doesn’t set forth any consequences should the Department fail to send out the required notice.
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