(1) The department is hereby authorized to acquire, either temporarily or permanently, lands, real or personal property or any interests therein, or any easements deemed to be necessary or desirable for present or future state highway purposes by gift, agreement, purchase, exchange, condemnation, or otherwise. Such lands or real property may be acquired in fee simple or in any lesser estate. It is the intention of the Legislature that all property leased or purchased from the owner shall receive a fair price.

Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 39-1320

  • Acquire: when used in connection with a grant of power or property right to any person shall include the purchase, grant, gift, devise, bequest, and obtaining by eminent domain. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • 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 the entire width between the boundary limits of any street, road, avenue, boulevard, or way which is publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Nebraska Statutes 39-101
  • Maintenance: means the act, operation, or continuous process of repair, reconstruction, or preservation of the whole or any part of any highway, including surface, shoulders, roadsides, traffic control devices, structures, waterways, and drainage facilities, for the purpose of keeping it at or near or improving upon its original standard of usefulness and safety. See Nebraska Statutes 39-101
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Right-of-way: means the right of one vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed, and proximity as to give rise to danger of collision unless one grants precedence to the other. See Nebraska Statutes 39-101
  • State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, and vehicles and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Nebraska Statutes 39-101

(2) State highway purposes, as referred to in subsection (1) of this section or otherwise in sections 39-1301 to 39-1362 and 39-1393, shall include provision for, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(a) The construction, reconstruction, relocation, improvement, and maintenance of the state highway system and highway approaches. The right-of-way for such highways shall be of such width as is deemed necessary by the department;

(b) Adequate drainage in connection with any highway, cuts, fills, or channel changes and the maintenance thereof;

(c) Controlled-access facilities, including air, light, view, and frontage and service roads to highways;

(d) Weighing stations, shops, storage buildings and yards, and road maintenance or construction sites;

(e) Road material sites, sites for the manufacture of road materials, and access roads to such sites;

(f) The preservation of objects of attraction or scenic value adjacent to, along, or in close proximity to highways and the culture of trees and flora which may increase the scenic beauty of such highways;

(g) Roadside areas or parks adjacent to or near any highway;

(h) The exchange of property for other property to be used for rights-of-way or other purposes set forth in subsection (1) or (2) of this section if the interests of the state will be served and acquisition costs thereby reduced;

(i) The maintenance of an unobstructed view of any portion of a highway so as to promote the safety of the traveling public;

(j) The construction and maintenance of stock trails and cattle passes;

(k) The erection and maintenance of marking and warning signs and traffic signals;

(l) The construction and maintenance of sidewalks and highway illumination;

(m) The control of outdoor advertising which is visible from the nearest edge of the right-of-way of the Highway Beautification Control System as defined in section 39-201.01 to comply with the provisions of 23 U.S.C. § 131, as amended;

(n) The relocation of or giving assistance in the relocation of individuals, families, businesses, or farm operations occupying premises acquired for state highway or federal-aid road purposes; and

(o) The establishment and maintenance of wetlands to replace or to mitigate damage to wetlands affected by highway construction, reconstruction, or maintenance. The replacement lands shall be capable of being used to create wetlands comparable to the wetlands area affected. The area of the replacement lands may exceed the wetlands area affected. Lands may be acquired to establish a large or composite wetlands area, sometimes called a wetlands bank, not larger than an area which is one hundred fifty percent of the lands reasonably expected to be necessary for the mitigation of future impact on wetlands brought about by highway construction, reconstruction, or maintenance during the six-year plan or program as required by section 39-2115 or an annual plan or program under section 39-2118. For purposes of this section, wetlands shall have the definition found in 33 C.F.R. § 328.3(c).

(3) The procedure to condemn property authorized by subsection (1) of this section or elsewhere in sections 39-1301 to 39-1362 and 39-1393 shall be exercised in the manner set forth in sections 76-704 to 76-724 or as provided by section 39-1323, as the case may be.

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