R926-14-5. Criteria Required of a Highway to Be Considered for Designation as a State Scenic Byway

(1) A road being considered for state scenic byway designation must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) the nominated road must possess at least two unusual, exceptional, or distinctive intrinsic qualities, as defined;

(b) the nominated road may be either a planned or existing route and in the case of a planned route, legal public access, safety standards and all-weather pavement must be guaranteed at completion of construction;

(c) roadway safety on the nominated road must be evaluated against and guided by American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) safety standards for federal aid primary or secondary roads;

(d) the nominated road must have strong local support for byway designation and the proponents must demonstrate this support and coordination;

(e) the nominated road must accommodate recreational vehicles or provisions should be made for travel by recreational vehicles;

(f) the nominated road need not lead to or provide connection to other road networks; it may be dead-ended, or provide only a single outlet for traffic;

(g) the nominated road need not be open during the winter months, but seasonal road closures must be clearly posted, shown on applicable maps, and specified in any promotional literature; and

(h) the nominated road may include portions of the Interstate Highway System, but only if the Interstate component is a small part of the mileage of the overall nominated scenic byway and is included primarily for continuity of travel.

(2) It is the intent of these criteria to be restrictive in nature so as to limit the number of designated state scenic byways in order to maintain the quality and integrity of the scenic byway system.