318.1 DEFINITIONS.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Department" means the state department of transportation.
2. "Highway authority" means the county board of supervisors,
in the case of secondary roads, and the department, in the case of
primary roads.
3. "Highway right-of-way" means the total area of land,
whether reserved by public ownership or easement, that is reserved
for the operation and maintenance of a legally established public
roadway. This area shall be deemed to consist of two portions, a
central traveled way including the shoulders and that remainder on
both sides of the road, between the outside shoulder edges and the
outer boundaries of the right-of-way.
4. "Obstruction" means an obstacle in the highway
right-of-way or an impediment or hindrance which impedes, opposes, or
interferes with free passage along the highway right-of-way, not
including utility structures installed in accordance with an approved
permit.
5. "Officer" means any department employee, county employee,
or elected county official.
6. "Traveled portion of the right-of-way" means that area of
the highway right-of-way, not including the shoulders, on which
vehicles normally travel.
7. "Utility" means all private, public, municipal, or
cooperative owned systems for water, sewer, natural gas, electric,
telegraph, telephone, transit, pipeline, heating plants, railroads,
bridges, street lights, or traffic control signals.
8. "Utility structures" means the aboveground devices,
required by a utility, including poles, lines, and wires, used for
telephone, electric, natural gas, and other distribution or
transmission purposes, and natural gas and electrical substations.
Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §1
318.2 PURPOSE.
The purpose of this chapter is to enhance public safety for those
traveling the public roads and allow economical maintenance of
highway rights-of-way. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §2
318.3 OBSTRUCTIONS IN HIGHWAY RIGHT-OF-WAY.
A person shall not place, or cause to be placed, an obstruction
within any highway right-of-way. This prohibition includes, but is
not limited to, the following actions:
1. The excavation, filling, or making of any physical changes to
any part of the highway right-of-way, except as provided under
section 318.8.
2. The cultivation or growing of crops within the highway
right-of-way.
3. The destruction of plants placed within the highway
right-of-way.
4. The placing of fences or ditches within the highway
right-of-way.
5. The alteration of ditches, water breaks, or drainage tiles
within the highway right-of-way.
6. The placement of trash, litter, debris, waste material,
manure, rocks, crops or crop residue, brush, vehicles, machinery, or
other items within the highway right-of-way.
7. The placement of billboards, signs, or advertising devices
within the highway right-of-way.
8. The placement of any red reflector, or any object or other
device which shall cause the effect of a red reflector on the highway
right-of-way which is visible to passing motorists. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §3
Referred to in § 318.6, 318.8
See also §318.5, 318.10, and 318.11
318.4 DUTY OF HIGHWAY AUTHORITIES.
The highway authority shall cause all obstructions in a highway
right-of-way under its jurisdiction to be removed. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §4
318.5 REMOVAL AND COST.
1. An obstruction in a highway right-of-way which constitutes an
immediate and dangerous hazard shall, without notice or liability in
damages, be removed by the highway authority.
2. An obstruction not constituting an immediate and dangerous
hazard shall be removed by the highway authority without liability
after forty-eight-hour notice served in the same manner in which an
original notice is served, or in writing by certified mail, or in any
other manner reasonably calculated to apprise the person responsible
for the obstruction that the obstruction will be removed at the
person's expense. The highway authority shall assess the removal
cost.
3. Upon removal of the obstruction, the highway authority may
immediately send a statement of the cost to the person responsible
for the obstruction. If within ten days after sending the statement
the cost is not paid, the highway authority may institute legal
proceedings to collect the cost of removal. The removal costs shall
be assessed against the following persons, as applicable:
a. The vehicle owner in the case of an abandoned vehicle.
b. The abutting property owner in the case of a fence, other
than a right-of-way line fence, or other temporary obstruction placed
within the highway right-of-way by the owner or tenant of the
abutting property.
c. The owner or person responsible for placement of any other
obstruction.
4. All removals shall be without liability on the part of any
officer ordering or effecting such removal. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §5
Referred to in § 68A.406, 318.9, 318.10
Manner of service, R.C.P. 1.302--1.315
318.6 PUBLIC NUISANCE.
1. Any person who places, or causes to be placed, any obstruction
in a highway right-of-way as prohibited under section 318.3 is deemed
to have created a public nuisance punishable as provided in chapter
657.
2. If a person is found guilty of placing an obstruction within a
highway right-of-way, the court may, in addition to any fine imposed,
or judgment for damages or costs for which a separate execution may
issue, order that the obstruction be abated or removed at the expense
of the defendant. The costs for abatement or removal of the
obstruction may be entered as a personal judgment against the
defendant or assessed against the property where the obstruction
occurred, or both. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §6
318.7 INJUNCTION TO RESTRAIN OBSTRUCTIONS.
A highway authority may maintain a suit in equity aided by
injunction to restrain an obstruction in a highway right-of-way. In
such actions, the highway authority may cause the legal boundary
lines of the highway to be adjudicated provided all interested
parties are impleaded. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §7
318.8 PERMIT REQUIRED.
A person shall not excavate, fill, or make a physical change
within a highway right-of-way without obtaining a permit from the
applicable highway authority. At the request of a permittee, a
modification may be granted in the discretion of the highway
authority. Work performed under the permit shall be performed in
conformity with the specifications prescribed by the highway
authority. If the work does not conform to permit specifications,
the person shall be notified to make the conforming changes. If
after twenty days the changes have not been made, the highway
authority may make the necessary changes and immediately send a
statement of the cost to the responsible person. If within thirty
days after sending the statement the cost is not paid, the highway
authority may institute legal proceedings to collect the cost of
correction. A violation of the permit specifications shall be
considered a violation of section 318.3. A public utility subject to
section 306A.3 is exempt from this section. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §8
Referred to in § 318.3
318.9 UTILITY STRUCTURES.
1. a. A utility structure in a highway right-of-way used for
telephone, electric, natural gas, or other distribution or
transmission purposes shall be removed by the owner or operator of
the transmission lines upon written notice from the highway authority
of not less than ninety days, to the owner and operator. The notice
shall, with reasonable certainty, specify the utility structure to be
removed and shall be served in the same manner that original notices
are required to be served. If the owner or operator of the
transmission line is unable to remove the utility structure within
the required time due to circumstances beyond the control of the
owner or operator, the owner or operator shall file a request with
the highway authority for an extension of time to complete the work.
b. If the owner or operator of a transmission line needs
authorization from the utilities board or other governmental
authority to relocate a utility structure or to obtain a new private
easement right for relocation of the utility structure, the owner or
operator shall request an extension of time within which to remove
the utility structure. The highway authority shall grant an
extension of time for at least ninety days following the date
authorization is granted or the easement right is obtained.
2. Upon written application, the highway authority shall locate
the construction of new telephone, electric, or transmission lines or
parts of lines, including natural gas pipeline, for the roads within
the highway authority's jurisdiction, subject to the jurisdiction of
the utilities board under chapters 476, 478, and 479, as follows:
a. The county engineer, or the board of supervisors if a
county engineer is not available, shall locate the lines for
secondary roads.
b. The department shall locate the lines for primary roads.
3. The department and the county engineer, or the board of
supervisors if a county engineer is not available, may designate the
location of a utility structure within a highway right-of-way. A
utility structure that is not properly located within the highway
right-of-way shall be removed within a time prescribed to a
designated location. If not so removed, the highway authority may
remove the utility structure and recover costs as provided in section
318.5. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §9
Referred to in § 306.46
Manner of service, R.C.P. 1.302--1.315
318.10 FENCES.
1. A fence which constitutes an immediate and dangerous hazard
shall, without notice or liability in damages, be removed by the
highway authority. In all other cases where a fence is an
obstruction in a highway right-of-way, notice in writing of not less
than thirty days shall be given to the owner, occupant, or agent of
the land enclosed by the fence.
2. The notice shall, with reasonable certainty, specify the line
to which the fences shall be removed and shall be served in the same
manner that original notices are required to be served, or in writing
by certified mail, or in any other manner reasonably calculated to
apprise the person responsible for the fence.
3. The department and the county engineer, or the board of
supervisors if a county engineer is not available, may designate the
location of a fence within a highway right-of-way. A fence that is
not properly located within the highway right-of-way shall be removed
within a time prescribed to a designated location. If not so
removed, the highway authority may remove the fences and recover
costs as provided in section 318.5. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §10
Manner of service. R.C.P. 1.302--1.315
318.11 BILLBOARDS AND SIGNS.
1. No billboard or advertising sign or device, except a sign or
device authorized by law or approved by the highway authority, shall
be placed or erected upon a highway right-of-way.
2. A billboard or advertising sign, whether on public or private
property, that obstructs the view of any portion of a public highway
or of a railway track making the use of the traveled portion of the
right-of-way dangerous is a public nuisance and shall be abated. The
person responsible for the erection and maintenance of the billboard
or sign may be punished as provided in chapter 657. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §11
Referred to in § 331.756(57)
318.12 ENFORCEMENT.
A highway authority shall enforce the provisions of this chapter
by appropriate civil or criminal proceeding or by both such
proceedings. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1097, §12
Nuisances in general, chapter 657