- The commissioner may by order, after notice and hearing, provide for the relocation of utility facilities within a public highway, including, if required, the entire removal from the public highway of certain facilities except as necessary to serve abutting premises or as necessary to cross the highway, and may require any utility as defined in § 54-5-802 to make or suffer the specified relocation, upon a finding that the action provided for is necessitated by highway improvement determined by the commissioner as a matter of policy relating to the design, construction, location and maintenance of public highways. The commissioner shall direct and control the reasonable manner and time of effecting the relocation so as to promote the public interest in the highway improvement without undue cost or risk and without impairment of utility service, whether the commissioner undertakes the relocation on behalf of the state or requires the utility to perform the relocation. If undertaken by the commissioner, the commissioner may contract the relocation work.
- The obligations of the utility, as defined in § 54-5-802, shall be to make or suffer relocation required by the commissioner, and to relocate cooperatively and in the reasonable manner and time as prescribed by the commissioner, and to advance and pay all costs incurred in effecting relocation that the state is not authorized to pay under this part or otherwise by law. It shall not be grounds for delay in relocation that a dispute exists over the cost of relocation or the method of paying or sharing the cost.
- The commissioner is authorized to enter into an agreement with a utility as defined in § 54-5-802 with respect to any relocation, the time and manner of its accomplishment and the payment and sharing of the cost incurred in effecting relocation, all upon reasonable terms and conditions that the commissioner approves as necessary or appropriate in the interest of a public highway program in this state. No notice, hearing or other proceeding under this part shall be required.
Impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; Acts 1963, ch. 368, § 3; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; T.C.A., § 54-564.
Cross-References. Relocation of utilities for road improvement purposes, title 54, ch. 22.
- The utility shall fully comply with § 54-5-854(b), including the preparation and submission to the department of the utility's relocation plan, cost estimate and schedule of calendar days for completing the relocation, within the time period specified or within an additional time that may be allowed under § 54-5-854(b); and
- The utility shall either:
- Enter into a written agreement with the commissioner to include the relocation as a part of the department's highway construction contract; provided, however, that the agreement may provide that the utility shall perform certain relocation work with its own union employees as required under a negotiated organized labor contract; but, in that case, the utility shall be required to reimburse the department for all relocation costs if it fails to timely perform its relocation work as provided in the agreement with the commissioner; or
- Enter into a written agreement with the commissioner to remove all utility facilities that conflict with the highway construction, as determined by the department, prior to the letting of the department's construction contract, and otherwise perform and complete the utility relocation in accordance with approved relocation plans and schedule of calendar days; provided, however, that the agreement may provide that, in the event that the department does not undertake the highway construction project within a specified time, the utility shall be reimbursed for the relocation work it has timely performed in accordance with the approved plans and schedule.
- The department shall make no reimbursement payment to a utility as authorized under subsection (a), unless and until the commissioner is satisfied that the relocation has been performed in accordance with the relocation plans and schedule of calendar days approved by the department.
- To ensure that the department never pays any cost of relocation for which it cannot receive proportionate reimbursement under any federal aid highway act, if the United States department of transportation finally determines that the cost of relocation is not reimbursable to the department from federal funds, or that the cost of relocation is less than the amount reimbursed to the utility by the department, the utility so reimbursed shall repay to the department the difference between the amount reimbursed to the utility and the cost of relocation finally determined by the department.
Impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; Acts 1963, ch. 368, § 4; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; T.C.A., § 54-565; Acts 1984, ch. 817, § 1; 1999, ch. 450, § 5; 2003, ch. 86, § 2.
Cross-References. Relocation of utilities for road improvement purposes, title 54, ch. 22.
Attorney General Opinions. The department of transportation is not obligated under §54-5-804 to reimburse a utility for the cost of the relocation of the utility's facilities within county road right-of-way when the department undertakes a project for a county to replace a county bridge, OAG 03-162 (12/12/03).
Cited: Metro. Gov't of Nashville v. Bellsouth Telcomms., Inc., 502 F. Supp. 2d 747, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51454 (M.D. Tenn. July 13, 2007).
- Any party aggrieved by the order or decision of the chancery court may appeal from the order or decision to the supreme court in accordance with the rules for appeals in civil cases.
Impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; Acts 1963, ch. 368, § 5; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; T.C.A., § 54-566; Acts 1981, ch. 264, § 12.
Impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; Acts 1963, ch. 368, § 6; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; T.C.A., § 54-567; Acts 1981, ch. 264, § 12.