Public Acts of 2001 Chapter 31

COMPILER’S NOTE: The following act is a public act of special application and is not codified in Tennessee Code Annotated.

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain directional signs for Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Cemetery on Interstate Highway 24 at Exit 4, (U.S. Highway 79) both eastbound and westbound.

SECTION 2. The directional signs provided for in Section 1 shall contain sufficient information, including standard directional symbols, to indicate that U.S. Highway 79 westbound toward Dover is the closest and most direct route in Tennessee to Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Cemetery in Dover, Stewart County.

SECTION 3. The erection of such directional signs shall be within the guidelines prescribed by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

SECTION 4. This act shall become operative only if the Federal Highway Administrator advises the Commissioner of Transportation in writing that the provisions of this act shall not render Tennessee in violation of federal laws and regulations and subject to penalties prescribed therein.

SECTION 5.

(1) This act shall become operative only if Stewart County, Tennessee, either admits the estimated cost of the erection of such signs to the Department of Transportation within one (1) year of the effective date of this act or manufacturers such signs in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2). Stewart County shall make such payment prior to any expenditure by the state for manufacture or installation of such signs. The department shall return any unused portion of the estimated cost to Stewart County within thirty (30) days of the erection of such signs. If the actual cost exceeds the estimated cost, Stewart County shall remit an amount equal to the difference in such costs to the department within thirty (30) days of receiving an itemized invoice of the actual cost from the department.
(2) Stewart County may manufacture and erect such signs provided that such signs are manufactured and erected pursuant to state and federal guidelines and approved by the department. (3) Nothing in subdivisions (1) and (2) shall be construed to preclude the use of grant funding, if available, to manufacture and erect the signs authorized by this act.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2001, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed: March 22, 2001.