Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:235 – Uniform highway marking system
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:235
- Commissioner: means the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Department: means the Department of Transportation and Development. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for the purpose of vehicular travel, including bridges, causeways, tunnels and ferries; synonymous with the word "street". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- 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.
- Pedestrian: means any person afoot or utilizing a mobility aid. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- State maintained highway: means any highway in this state which is contained in the state highway system as defined by law or which is maintained by the department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Traffic control device: means all signs, signals, markings, and devices, not inconsistent with this Chapter, placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Vehicle: means every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
A.(1) The department shall adopt a manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic control devices consistent with the provisions of this Chapter for use upon highways within this state. Such uniform system shall correlate with and so far as possible conform to the system then current as approved by the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), except that the department shall develop a supplement to the manual with all symbol-based or bilingual signs that display terms in both English and Louisiana French, subject to approval by the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, which permits parish governing authorities to adopt such supplement, request that signs along state and federal highways within their boundaries be bilingual, and display terms in both English and Louisiana French. In developing the supplement, the department shall adhere to the following:
(2) The department shall coordinate with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 25:651 et seq., prior to application for approval from the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
(3) The supplement shall provide a process by which a parish governing authority may formally adopt the supplement. In the event the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration does not approve the bilingual supplement, it shall be returned to the governing authority of the parish which requested approval of a bilingual supplement. The parish governing authority may only proceed with local adoption of the supplement as it was submitted to the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration but shall not erect any bilingual sign on any state or federal highway within the parish; signs installed on parish roads shall be at the expense of the parish.
(4) The department may deviate from the system and erect advisory signs only to post advisory weight limits on state bridges where a state bridge is scheduled for replacement or strengthening within three years from the date of approval by the chief engineer of the department’s weight rating evaluation of any state bridge. In addition, the department may deviate from the criteria contained in said system for location of traffic signals to the extent that additional weighted consideration shall be given to pedestrian and vehicular traffic volumes associated with schools which are located on state highways.
(5) The department shall require that any signage on public highways which indicates maximum or minimum speed limits in kilometers also indicate such speed limits in miles per hour.
B. Local municipal and parish authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and commissioner adopted pursuant hereto, and local traffic ordinances adopted pursuant to the authority granted by La. Rev. Stat. 32:41 and La. Rev. Stat. 32:42. All such traffic control devices hereafter erected shall conform to the department’s manual or specifications. If any such device hereafter erected by a political subdivision of this state fails to conform to the manual or specifications, payment of any funds allocated to that political subdivision shall be withheld by the department until the standards established by the department are complied with.
C. No local municipal or parish authority shall place or maintain any traffic control device upon any state maintained highway without having first obtained the written approval of the department.
D. Wherever any highway crosses the boundaries of and enters into the state of Louisiana, the department may erect appropriate signs giving notice of the maximum speed limits authorized by law for each type of vehicle upon the highways of this state.
E. Proof that any state, parochial or municipal authority was at the time of any incident complained of in compliance with the provisions of the department’s traffic control devices manual shall be prima facie evidence of discharge by such authority of its obligations to the motoring public.
Acts 1962, No. 310, §1. Amended by Acts 1968, No. 182, §1; Acts 1968, No. 273, §3; Acts 1977, No. 113, §1, eff. June 22, 1977; Acts 1977, No. 211, §1, eff. July 7, 1977; Acts 1978, No. 35, §1, eff. May 31, 1978; Acts 1995, No. 282, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1125, §1; Acts 2014, No. 263, §2.