Synthesis: Develop Outdoor Advertising Control Reference Manual for TxDOT
23 U.S. Code Section 131 mandates that "any State which the Secretary determines has not made provision for effective control of the erection and maintenance along the Interstate System and the primary system of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices which are within 660' of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the system, located outside of urban areas... will be reduced by amounts equal to 10 per centum of the amounts which would otherwise be apportioned to such State under section 104 of this title, until such time as such State will provide for such effective control." TxDOT faces having 10% of its federal funding withheld, which is currently $362 million, from the state budget due to not fulfilling the federal mandate. Texas lacks regulations which are used successfully by other states. It is imperative TxDOT develops a full understanding and application of federal Outdoor Advertising Control (OAC) terms and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidance to all the states. TxDOT needs to solve inconsistencies in the understanding of federal baseline provisions and in the meaning of terms implemented by TxDOT regulations as compared to other state DOTs. The Commercial Signs Regulatory Program suggests TxDOT learn best practices from other state DOTs to create ironclad language in TxDOT regulations to prevent losing litigation cases which jeopardizes $362 million in federal funds. The purpose of this project is to gather existing data from other state DOT OAC programs and from FHWA and analyze the data to determine which terms and regulations are the most successful in providing effective control of Outdoor Advertising. Researchers will determine which laws, regulations, processes, procedures and terms are effective. The final deliverable will be a research report documenting the findings of the research, including recommendations for a baseline model of standard OAC terms and regulations that are consistent with terms in the regulated industry and why these recommendations are considered most effective. The recommendations would be in-line with FHWA guidance, regulations, and law. The recommendations would ideally provide a successful model of regulation baseline for program compliance which provides effective control as required by the Texas legislature. TxDOT is not concerned with other state DOT's different statutory limitations as a limit to the analysis.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $65000
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Contract Numbers:
0-7085
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Sponsor Organizations:
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX United States 78701-2483 -
Managing Organizations:
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX United States 78701-2483 -
Project Managers:
Pridgen, Shelley
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Performing Organizations:
Center for Transportation Research
3925 W. Braker Lane
Austin, TX United States 78759 -
Principal Investigators:
Loftus-Otway, Lisa
- Start Date: 20200901
- Expected Completion Date: 20210831
- Actual Completion Date: 20210831
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Policy, legislation and regulation; Recommendations; Roadside advertising
- Geographic Terms: Texas
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01766386
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 0-7085
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Mar 2 2021 11:13AM