(1) The department is authorized to acquire and improve strips of land necessary for the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of scenic beauty within and adjacent to a federal-aid highway of this state, including acquisition of publicly owned and controlled rest and recreation areas, sanitary, and other facilities within or adjacent to the highway right-of-way reasonably necessary to accommodate the traveling public.

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Terms Used In Utah Code 72-6-113

  • Department: means the Department of Transportation created in Section 72-1-201. See Utah Code 72-1-102
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Highway: means any public road, street, alley, lane, court, place, viaduct, tunnel, culvert, bridge, or structure laid out or erected for public use, or dedicated or abandoned to the public, or made public in an action for the partition of real property, including the entire area within the right-of-way. See Utah Code 72-1-102
  • 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.
  • Land: includes :
         (18)(a) land;
         (18)(b) a tenement;
         (18)(c) a hereditament;
         (18)(d) a water right;
         (18)(e) a possessory right; and
         (18)(f) a claim. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Right-of-way: means real property or an interest in real property, usually in a strip, acquired for or devoted to state transportation purposes. See Utah Code 72-1-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(2) Acquisition may be by gift, purchase, or exchange but may not be by condemnation.
(3) The interest in any land authorized to be acquired and maintained under this section may be fee simple or any lesser interest, as determined by the department to be reasonably necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.
(4)

     (4)(a) Real property, or any interest in real property, acquired under this section is part of the adjacent or nearest highway and is under the jurisdiction of the department.
     (4)(b) The department may enter into an agreement with any state agency for maintenance of land acquired in accordance with this section.