The commission must plan, update, publish, and administer the state transportation and primary road programs, adopt related rules, identify commercial and industrial highways, approve certain director rules, and manage advisory committees.
Said commission shall: 1. Develop, coordinate, and annually update a comprehensive transportation policy and plan for the state. 2. Promote the coordinated and efficient use of all available modes of transportation for the benefit of the state and its citizens including but not limited to the designation and development of multimodal public transfer facilities if carriers or other private businesses fail to develop such facilities. 3. Prepare, adopt, and cause to be published a long-range program for the primary road system, in conjunction with the state transportation plan adopted by the commission. Such program shall be prepared for a period of at least five years and shall be revised, brought up-to-date, and republished at least once every year in order to have a continuing five-year program. The program shall include, insofar as such estimates can be made, an estimate of the money expected to become available during the period covered by the program and a statement of the construction, maintenance, and other work planned to be performed during such period. The commission shall conduct periodic reinspections of the primary roads in order to revise, from time to time, its estimates of future needs to conform to the physical and service conditions of the primary roads. Before the last day of December of each year, the commission shall adopt and cause to be published from its long-range program, a plan of improvements to be accomplished during the next calendar year. However, in years when the federal government is reauthorizing federal highway funding, the commission shall not be required to adopt and publish the annual plan of improvements to be accomplished until at least ninety days from the enactment of the new federal funding formula. This annual program shall list definite projects in order of urgency and shall include a reasonable year’s work with the funds estimated to be available. The annual program shall be final and followed by the commission in the next year except that deviations may be made in case of disaster or other unforeseen emergencies or difficulties. The relative urgency of the proposed improvements shall be determined by a consideration of the physical condition, safety, and service characteristics of the various primary roads. 4. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A establishing the criteria to be used by the commission for allocating funds as a result of any long-range planning process. The commission shall adopt such rules and regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 17A as it may deem necessary to transact its business and for the administration and exercise of its powers and duties. 5. Identify, within the primary road system, a network of commercial and industrial highways in accordance with section 313.2A. The improvement of this network shall be considered in the development of the long-range program and plan of improvements under this section. 6. Approve all rules prior to their adoption by the director pursuant to section 307.12, subsection 1, paragraph “j”. 7. Establish and utilize such ad hoc advisory committees as determined necessary by the commission. The commission shall establish appointment provisions, membership terms, operating guidelines, and any other operational requirements for committees established pursuant to this subsection. Members of committees established pursuant to this subsection shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual expenses. [C97, §1532; S13, §1532; SS15, §1527-s1, -s2; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §4626, 4631, 4632, 4633; C46, 50, 54, 58, §307.5, 308.1, 308.3, 308.4; C62, 66, 71, 73, §307.5; C75, 77, 79, 81, §307A.2] 84 Acts, ch 1043, §1; 86 Acts, ch 1245, §1926; 88 Acts, ch 1019, §1; 89 Acts, ch 134, §4; 90 Acts, ch 1253, §120; 92 Acts, ch 1100, §2; 96 Acts, ch 1064, §1; 96 Acts, ch 1126, §2; 98 Acts, ch 1075, §7; 2002 Acts, ch 1063, §7, 8, 16; 2005 Acts, ch 20, §3; 2015 Acts, ch 123, §17 – 20; 2016 Acts, ch 1073, §95; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §74