North Dakota Code 24-01-01 – Declaration of legislative intent
Adequate roads and streets provide for the free flow of traffic; result in low cost of motor vehicle operation; protect the health and safety of the citizens of the state; increase property value; and generally promote economic and social progress of the state. Therefore, the legislative assembly hereby determines and declares that an adequate and integrated system of roads and streets is essential to the general welfare of the state of North Dakota.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 24-01-01
- County road system: means the system of secondary highways designated by the county officials, the responsibility for which is lodged with the counties. See North Dakota Code 24-01-01.1
- Department: means the department of transportation of this state as provided by section 24-02-01. See North Dakota Code 24-01-01.1
- Director: means the director of the department of transportation of this state, acting directly or through authorized agents as provided in section 24-02-01. See North Dakota Code 24-01-01.1
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State highway system: means the system of state principal roads designated by the director of the department, the responsibility for which is lodged in the department. See North Dakota Code 24-01-01.1
In designating the highway systems of this state, as hereinafter provided, the legislative assembly places a high degree of trust in the hands of those officials whose duty it is, within the limits of available funds, to plan, develop, operate, maintain, and protect the highway facilities of this state, for present as well as for future use. To this end, it is the intent of the legislative assembly to make the director of the department, and the department acting through the director, custodian of the state highway system and to provide sufficiently broad authority to enable the director of the department to function adequately and efficiently in all areas of appropriate jurisdiction with specific details to be determined by reasonable rules and regulations which may be promulgated by the director, subject to the limitations of the constitution and the legislative mandate hereinafter imposed.
It is recognized that the efficient management, operation, and control of our county roads, city streets, and other public thoroughfares are likewise a matter of vital public interest.
Therefore, it is the further intent of the legislative assembly to bestow upon the boards of county commissioners similar authority with respect to the county road system and to local officials with respect to the roads under their jurisdiction.
While it is necessary to fix responsibilities for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the several systems of highways, it is intended that the state of North Dakota shall have an integrated system of all roads and streets to provide safe and efficient highway transportation throughout the state. To this end, it is the intent of the legislative assembly to give broad authority and definite responsibility to the director of the department and to the boards of county commissioners so that working together, free from political pressure and local interests, they may provide for the state an integrated system of state and county highways built upon a basis of sound engineering with full regard to the interest and well-being of the state as a whole.
Providing adequate public highway facilities, including rural and urban links, is hereby declared to be a proper public use and purpose and the legislative assembly hereby determines and declares that chapter 177 of the Session Laws of 1953 is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, for the promotion of the general welfare, and as a contribution to the national defense.