Alabama. State Transportation Dept. (1994- ).

Authorities:

Acts of Alabama, various years.

Alabama Dept. of Transportation annual report, 1993-1994.

Alabama Government Manual, 9th edition, Atlanta: Darby Printing Co., 1994.

Alabama Government Manual, 6th edition, Atlanta: Darby Printing Co., 1982.

Codes of Alabama, various years.

Markley, Anne Ethelyn. Author Headings for the Official Publications of the State of Alabama. Chicago: American Library Association, 1948.

Owen, Thomas M. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1921.

Annual Report of the State of Alabama Highway Department, 1984-1985.

Stewart, William H., Jr. The Growth of State Administration in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, 1978.

The Department of Transportation is a statutory department created to design, construct and maintain public roads and related construction on the state highway system (Ala. Government Manual, 1982).

The duties and powers of the Department of Transportation include:

1) to designate roads to be repaired, constructed and maintained and to construct, standardize, repair and maintain roads and bridges of the state;

2) to designate streets in municipalities which are part of the state highway system. The Dept. may also cooperate or contract with a municipality for paving or improving streets upon which a state educational or eleemosynary institution fronts or abuts;

3) to make and keep at the Dept. office a general highway map showing all state roads;

4) to collect information and prepare statistics relative to mileage, character and condition of roads and bridges which have been constructed with state aid;

5) to investigate and determine methods of road construction which are best adapted to various areas of the state and establish standards for maintenance of roads and bridges;

6) to supply county and municipal officials with information concerning construction of roads, bridges and culverts; the Dept. may also obtain information and assistance from municipal and county officials; and

7) to determine the character and have general supervision over the construction and maintenance of all public roads, bridges and culverts where the funds of the state are used and to have general supervision over expenditure of funds within counties for the same purpose. (Code of Ala. 1975, 23-1-40)

In addition the Dept. has the following rights and powers:

1) to adopt rules and regulations for better construction, repair, and maintenance of public roads and bridges;

2) to enter into contracts and agreements with owners and operators of telegraph and telephone lines, antenna television stations, power transmission lines, gas districts, gas, water, sewer and other pipelines which are to be constructed or operated along or across right-of-ways. The Dept. can also prescribe all rules and regulations as to the construction and maintenance of above lines;

3) to prescribe rules and regulations to prevent unnecessary trespassing upon or injury to roads, bridges and rights-of-way;

4) to prescribe rules and regulations as to weight and tonnage of vehicles; and

5) to prescribe any other rules and regulations deemed necessary to carry out the duties of the Dept. (Code of Ala., 1975, 23-1-59)

The first state agency to oversee roads in Ala., the State Highway Commission, was created by legislative act in 1911. Prior to that time roads had been largely the responsibility of counties and private individuals. The creation of the Good Roads Association in 1891 and federal highways aid legislation increased awareness of a need for state involvement (Stewart, pp. 20-21). The State Highway Commission was to be composed of a professor of civil engineering at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (A.P.I.) to be selected by the board of trustees of the school, the State Geologist, and three civilians to be appointed by the Governor. The Commission was to select a State Highway Engineer who was to be a competent civil engineer with experience in highway construction and maintenance. The State Highway Commission and State Highway Engineer together constituted the State Highway Dept. (Acts of Ala. 1911, No. 206)

The duties of the State Highway Commission included:

1) to consider all questions relating to the general policy of the Dept. and the conduct of work in general;

2) to receive and consider the annual report of the State Highway Engineer and act for the Dept. on all matters relating to recommendations, estimates and appropriations;

3) to determine the location of roads materials in the state;

4) to ascertain the most improved laws in relation to roads;

5) to hold public meetings throughout the state; and

6) to submit an annual report to the Governor.

The duties of the state Highway Engineer included:

1) to keep a record of every vote and official act of the Commission;

2) to give advice and assistance in regards to roads, culverts and bridges in the counties;

3) to attend any public meeting held by the Commission or other parties interested in road improvement and maintenance in the State;

4) to keep on file copies of all plans, specifications, and statements prepared by his office;

5) to cause to be made and kept at the Dept. a general highway plan of the State;

6) to collect information and prepare statistics relative to the mileage, the character, and the condition of the highways and bridges in different counties of the state;

7) to prepare a road map of the state;

8) to investigate and determine the methods of road construction best adapted to various sections of the state;

9) to establish standards for the construction and maintenance of highways in the various counties where State aid was extended;

10) to be available for consultation by county commissioners, boards of revenue, or other officers having authority over highways and bridges in their respective counties; and

11) to determine the character and have general supervision of the construction and repair of all roads and bridges improved under the provisions of the 1911 act. (Acts of Ala. 1911, No. 206)

The act appropriated $154,000 per annum for the State road fund, with an allowance of $2,000 to each of the counties and $20,000 for dept. expenses. Counties were expected to match funds granted by the state for work done within their limits. (Owen, p. 692)

In 1919 the act creating the State Highway Commission was repealed and a new act established the State Highway Department, which was to consist of a State Highway Commission and State Highway Engineer. The new commission was made up of the senior professor of civil engineering at A.P.I., the State Geologist, and ten other members appointed by the Governor. The duties of both the Commission and the Engineer were very similar to those authorized in the earlier act. The 1919 act set aside the entire net revenue derived from the sale of motor vehicle licenses in the state to make up the State Highway Fund. The act also made provisions for federal aid projects and established the sale of State Road Bonds to finance road building. Additionally, the act dictated that the Dept. should locate, construct and maintain roads connecting county seats in the State. (Acts of Ala. 1919, No. 646)

In Special Session, 1921, the act was rewritten to include provisions for appropriations to come to the Dept. from the state convict fund (Acts of Ala. 1921 Special Session, No. 46, Section 9). The 1921 law also gave the Dept. the right to enter into contracts and agreements with the owners or operators of telegraph or telephone lines which lay along or across public roads, bridges, and highways and the right to prescribe rules and regulations as to the construction, repair or maintenence of lines (Acts of Ala. 1921, Special Session, No. 46, Section 11).

An amendment to the law two years later changed the composition of the commission to simply three members to be appointed by the Governor (Acts of Ala. 1923, No. 358, Section 1). Each of the commissioners would have a designation, i.e., Commissioner of Construction, Commissioner of Maintenance and President (Acts of Ala. 1923, No. 358, Section 3). The duties of the commission basically remained constant, as did the duties of the State Highway Engineer who continued to be appointed by the commission. The Dept.'s work was to be funded by revenue from the sale of motor vehicle, trailer and tractor licenses, State Highway Bonds and federal aid. The 1923 amendment also gave the Dept. the power to adopt regulations governing signs, markers and advertisements on the rights-of-way of state highways. (Acts of Ala. 1923, No. 358)

In 1927 the Legislature consolidated their ideas on Ala. roads in the "Alabama Highway Code." This act, which replaced all previous legislation relating to roads, except that concerning finance, re-confirmed the three-member commission of the 1923 amendment (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article I). The code also vested the commissioners with full police powers to arrest any person violating the highway laws of the State and allowed them to designate dept. employees as deputy police officers (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article I, Section 6, 1-2). The new commission was to be made up of a Highway Director, who was to be a competent engineer with experience; a Commissioner of Maintenance; and a Commissioner of Finance and Audit (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article I, Section 10).

By 1927 the duties and powers of the commissioners had evolved to include:

1) to consider and determine all questions relating to the general policy of the Dept. and the conduct of its work and in the performance of its duties;

2) to designate roads to be constructed, repaired and maintained and to construct, standardize, repair, and maintain roads and bridges of the state;

3) to make contracts and agreements to construct or pave roads within towns which served to connect highways constructed or repaired by the Dept.;

4) to cooperate or contract with local authorities in paving and improving roads which fronted or abuted a state education or eleemosynary institution; and

5) with the consent and approval of the Governor to disburse monies appropriated for public roads. (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article I, Section 6)

The 1927 Code allowed convicts to be worked on the roads (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article I, Section 37) and dictated the "rules of the road" for motorists (Acts of Ala. 1927, No. 347, Article II).

A 1931 act levied an excise tax on gasoline, the proceeds of which benefitted the Public Road and Bridge Fund. (Acts of Ala. 1931, No. 743, Section 8)

In 1935 the Legislature established the State Aviation Commission as the Aviation Division of the State Highway Dept. (Acts of Ala. 1935, No. 493). Also in 1935 the Commission was allowed to become incorporated for the purpose of raising funds (Acts of Ala. 1935, No. 475) and was authorized to establish and promulgate rules and regulations concerning the operation of motor vehicles. The State Highway Patrol was set up to enforce rules established by the Dept. (Acts of Ala. 1935, No. 331). An act creating the Dept. of Public Safety removed many of these police-keeping and "rules of the road functions" in 1953 (Acts of Ala. 1953, No. 585). An act of 1943 also established an independent Alabama Aviation Commission, separating those previously authorized duties from the Highway Dept. (Acts of Ala. 1943, No. 248).

In 1939 the Legislature clarified the role of the Dept. and the Commission creating a State Highway Dept., which held all the rights, duties and powers previously vested in the Dept., Commission or members thereof. The act specified that the chief executive officer of the Dept. was to be the State Highway Director, who was to be appointed by the Governor and who would serve at the Governor's pleasure. (Acts of Ala. 1939, No. 13)

In 1959 the position of Chief Engineer was recreated. The Chief Engineer was to be appointed by the Highway Director and was to be a registered professional engineer with appropriate experience. The duties of the Chief Engineer were to include the technical phases of the organization, direction and coordination of the engineering activities of the Dept., subject to and under the control and supervision of the Highway Director. (Acts of Ala. 1959, No. 497)

The structure and duties of the Dept. have remained virtually unchanged since 1939 though the Dept. has experienced tremendous growth and its operations have become more complicated. Recent legislation has dealt mainly with beautification programs, increased federal aid, and contracting procedures.

The Dept. of Transportation Director serves as the chief executive officer of the Dept. He is appointed by the Governor and serves at the Governor's pleasure. The Director has the authority to enter into all contracts necessary to carry out the duties of the Dept. and to enter into agreements with other states and the federal government when necessary. Other duties of the Director include:

1) to prescribe rules and regulations governing road construction, maintenance, and the placement of utilities along public highways;

2) to determine the best method of road building for various geographical areas of the State;

3) to designate the roads to be constructed, repaired, and maintained and to direct the work;

4) to issue rules and regulations regarding vehicle weights and tonnage on public roads, bridges and highways;

5) to issue rules concerning advertisements, markers, signs and devices along State highways;

6) to provide financial assistance to individuals or businesses displaced by certain highway projects;

7) to collect statistics relative to mileage, character and conditions of all State roads and prepare an annual report to the Governor;

8) to maintain a current highway map; and

9) to be responsible for highway beautification.

The Sept. of Transportation Director serves as an ex-officio member of the Aeronautics Commission, the Alabama Resource Development Commission, the Alabama Highway Authority, the Alabama Highway Finance Corporation, the Coosa Valley Development Authority, the Publicity and Information Advisory Board, the State Safety Coordinating Committee, the Tombigbee Valley Development Authority, and the Federal Aid Highway Finance Authority.

The Assistant Dept. of Transportation Director assists the Director; his other specific duties include:

1) to advise and assist in the formulation of Dept. policies and in the transaction of day to day business;

2) to administer special projects requested by the Director;

3) to consult with county and state officials regarding highway construction, maintenance and administration; and

4) to serve as liaison with Governor's staff on legislative matters.

The following offices report to the Assistant Dept. of Transportation Director: Bureau of Personnel, Equal Employment Opportunity Section, Office of Internal Audits, Bureau of Procurement, Information and the Legal Division. The Legal Division was created by Legislative act in 1963; prior to that time the State's Attorney General provided legal counsel to the Dept.

The Chief Engineer is appointed by the Dept. of Transportation Director, subject to the Governor's approval and the approval of the State Board of Registration for Engineers and Land Surveyors. The Chief Engineer is responsible for the administration of technical phases of the organization and direction and coordination of the engineering activities of the Dept. His specific duties include:

1) to coordinate the engineering activities of the Dept.;

2) to sign the title sheet of contract plans "let" by the Dept.;

3) to coordinate with citizens, local public officials, representatives of private industry, national organizations and officials of other states on matters of mutal concern; and

4) to review day to day correspondence.

The following bureaus report directly to the Chief Engineer: Bureau of Accounts and Finance, Bureau of Equipment and Services, Bureau of Office Engineer, Bureau of Computer Services, Bureau of Planning, Design Bureau, Bureau of Bridges, Bureau of Right of Way, Bureau of Secondary Roads, Bureau of Materials and Testing, Bureau of Maintenance, and Bureau of Construction. Additionally, the state is divided into nine geographic construction and maintenance divisions with Division Engineers and support staff employed in each Division.

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145408240