H-740                _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 133

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Dellwo, Taylor, Padden, Day, Silver, Barrett and Kremen

Read first time 1/21/85 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

AN ACT Relating to highway information panels; and amending RCW 47.42.046.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 80, Laws of 1974 ex. sess. as amended by section 223, chapter 7, Laws of 1984 and RCW 47.42.046 are each amended to read as follows:

          The department is authorized to erect and maintain specific information panels within the right of way of the interstate highway system to give the traveling public specific information as to gas, food, or lodging available on a crossroad at or near an interchange.  Specific information panels shall include the words "GAS," "FOOD," or "LODGING" and directional information and may contain one or more individual business signs maintained on the panel.  The erection and maintenance of specific information panels shall conform to the national standards promulgated by the United States secretary of transportation pursuant to sections 131 and 315 of Title 23, United States Code and rules adopted by the state department of transportation.  A motorist service business shall not be permitted to display its name, brand, or trademark on a specific information panel unless its owner has first entered into an agreement with the department limiting the height of its on-premise signs at the site of its service installation to not more than fifteen feet higher than the roof of its main building.  The department shall charge reasonable fees for the display of individual business signs to defray the costs of their installation and maintenance.  Lodging activities, regardless of size, located within five miles of an interstate highway system interchange shall be allowed the opportunity to maintain a specific information panel upon the interstate highway system if:

(1) The lodging activity was located upon the main interstate access route through the area before the construction of the interstate highway system; and

(2) The business volume of the lodging activity was decreased or diminished because of the construction of the interstate highway system and the subsequent change in routing of interstate traffic.