Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
For those sections of freeway routes where business signs are to be installed,
any business establishment meeting the following criteria will be considered
for placement of a business sign on a specific service panel.
b) General Criteria
1) GAS: Must be open 7 days a week for a
minimum of 12 hours a day. It shall have normal service station goods and
services, which are on-site phone access, gas, oil, water, and restroom. An
attendant must be present at the business at all times the business is
open.
2) FOOD: Must be open any 6
days a week and serve at least two meals per day, or remain open for a minimum
of 6 hours each day. It shall be certified by the Illinois Department of Public
Health or local health department and have a restroom and on-site phone
access.
3) LODGING: Must be open 7
days a week. It shall have on-site phone access, restroom and sleeping
accommodations. At least half of the accommodations shall be available to the
general public and shall not be restricted to members only.
4) CAMPING: Must be open 7 days a week for at
least 6 months of the year. It shall have camping and parking accommodations,
restroom, on-site phone access, and drinking water. At least half of the
accommodations shall be available to the general public and shall not be
restricted to members only.
5)
24-HOUR PHARMACY: Must be open continuously 24 hours
per day, 365 days per year, with an Illinois-licensed
pharmacist present and on duty in the pharmacy at all times.
c) Distance to Business
1) In a nonurbanized area, a business
providing gas, food, lodging, or a 24-hour pharmacy must be within three road
miles from a freeway interchange, while a business providing camping must be
within 20 road miles.
2) In an
urbanized area, a business providing gas, food, lodging or a 24-hour pharmacy
must be within one road mile from a freeway interchange, while a business
providing camping must be within five road miles.
3) The distance to each business
establishment will be measured as the travel distance between the end of the
appropriate exit ramp and the business establishment. The distance to a
business on a crossroad will be measured along the centerline of the crossroad
from the end of the appropriate exit ramp to the center of the primary entrance
to the business. Where the business is located along an intersecting road, the
distance will be measured along the centerline of the crossroad to the
centerline of the intersecting road and then measured along the centerline of
the intersecting road to the center of the primary entrance to the business.
Where an entrance serves more than one business, the driving distance using the
proper marked driving aisles from the entrance to the parking space available
for patrons nearest the business will be added to the distance measured along
the crossroad or intersecting road. In the event the Department cannot
determine which business establishment is closest to the appropriate exit ramp,
priority for the available space will be determined by lottery, coin toss, or
any other fair and impartial method determined by the Department. The affected
businesses will be allowed to witness such action.
4) Signing will be allowed for a business
establishment on each freeway from which it qualifies. If a business
establishment meets the criteria at more than one interchange on any one
freeway, signing will be allowed only from the interchange providing the most
direct and best route in each direction from that freeway to the business
establishment. In determining the most direct and best route, the Department
will consider all relevant conditions including the directness of the route,
congestion of the route, speed of travel, length of travel, and ease of
locating the facility.
d) Business Signing Priorities
1) A specific service panel shall have a
maximum of six business logo signs. Where there are more businesses of a
specific service type eligible for and desiring signing than the number of
signs and service panels permitted, those businesses nearest the exit ramp
intersection with the crossroad will be given first priority for signing.
Because each exit at an interchange is treated separately, a business
establishment may be eligible to sign for only one direction of travel along a
freeway.
A) When additional requests are
received for a service type that has an existing full specific service panel,
the Department may install a second specific service panel for that service
type. When additional requests are received for a service type that has an
existing full panel and there are four existing service panels at the
interchange, a second specific service type may be combined with an existing
specific service panel based on the requirements of Section
542.300(a)(1)
and the following:
i) The service type that is full may be
displayed on the service panel displaying a service type of lesser priority
(see Section
542.300(a)(4)
) that has the least number of logo signs installed.
ii) A service type that is full will only be
combined with a service type of higher priority as a last option.
iii) At least one space will remain available
for the existing service type that is being combined at the time the service
panel is being modified.
iv) An
existing service panel displaying more than three existing Level 1 signs will
not be modified.
v) If there is
more than one service type requesting Level 2 signs at the same time, the
service type with the highest priority will be considered first in determining
the ability to display Level 2 signs.
B) When considering a second specific service
panel, the Department will take into consideration the number of other services
available at the interchange, the interest expressed by qualified businesses
and tourism attractions in the logo signing program, and the anticipated future
development of the area.
2) A business with Level 1 signs will not
have its signs removed because of a nearer business as long as it continues to
meet the established criteria and continues to pay annual fees. A business with
Level 1 signs cannot choose to have its signs relocated to a second specific
service panel. This provision does not apply to Level 2 signs (see subsection
(d)(7)).
3) Once businesses are
selected for a particular panel, the eligible business closest to the
interchange from which an application was received will have its sign placed on
the available space closest to the top left of the panel, and the second
closest business will be on the next available space horizontally. On panels
for single-exit interchanges, after spaces on the top row are filled, signs
will be placed along the next row or rows in the same manner. Signs will be
arranged similarly for double-exit interchanges, except the business at the
first exit will have signs on the top portion of the panels and businesses at
the second exit will have signs at the bottom portion of the panels. If a
business leaves the program and subsequently reapplies and is accepted back
into the program, its new sign will be placed on the panel in the same place as
its previous sign if the space is available or, in the event the previous space
has been assigned to another business, in the closest available space to its
previous space. Once placed on a panel, requests from a business to relocate
its business sign to other available locations on the panel will not be
honored.
4) The Department will
remove individual business signs within 15 calendar days after a business
leaving the program for any reason and such empty space on the specific service
panel will constitute public notice that such space is available for another
qualifying business. When such removal of individual business signs causes
space to become available on any specific service panel and where the panel
had, up to that time, the maximum number of individual business signs allowed,
the qualifying business closest to the interchange that submits a valid
application, including the required application fee, within 45 calendar days
after such removal, not counting the removal date, and that is open to the
public on or before the end of the 45 day time period, will be allowed to
display its business sign in the available space. If no qualifying business
submits its application within the 45 day period, the first qualifying business
that submits a valid application and that is open to the public at the time the
application is submitted, will be allowed to display its business sign in the
available space. When the Department installs a second specific service panel,
the qualifying businesses closest to the interchange that submit a valid
application within 45 calendar days after the installation date of the service
panel, and that are open to the public on or before the end of the 45-day time
period, will be allowed to display their business signs in the available
spaces. The installation of a second specific service panel will constitute
public notice that the space is available for qualifying businesses.
5) When a business closes due to remodeling,
or due to an act of God, including, but not limited to, fire or flood, the
business shall notify the Department in writing of the closure within 30
calendar days. The complete demolition of a business' building will be
considered to be remodeling as long as the new business building is constructed
on the existing site. Following closure, the business signs will be removed and
returned to the business. If the business remains closed after six months, the
space will be declared available. In any event, if the allowable closure period
extends to the subsequent fiscal year, the annual rental fee for the business
must be paid for that year or the space will be declared available. If the
business does not notify the Department in writing within 30 calendar days
after the closure, and the Department becomes aware of such closure, the
closure will be considered permanent, the business will lose its signing
priority and the space will be declared available. When a space is declared
available, a new application must be submitted for inclusion in the program and
its priority will be evaluated among all the other eligible businesses desiring
signing at the interchange in question.
6) Loss of Signing Priority
A) If any of the following changes occur, the
business will lose its signing priority and the space will be declared
available:
i) When the service type changes
(i.e., a gas station changing to a food establishment).
ii) When a business closes its current
location to move to a new location.
iii) When the business closes
permanently.
B) If the
business reopens, wishes to take part in this program and is still eligible for
signing under this program, and if a space has been declared available, the
business shall submit a new application and its priority will be evaluated
among all the other eligible businesses desiring signing at the interchange in
question.
7) Level 2
signs will be removed by Department personnel, regardless of how long they have
been installed, when the business no longer meets the requirements of this
Part, is in arrears on annual payments, or for any of the reasons listed in
subsection (d)(6). If not already removed for any other reason, businesses with
Level 2 signs that have been installed more than five years will have their
signs removed at the end of the fifth fiscal year for which they have prepaid.
Removal will only apply if there are no spaces available on the second specific
service panel displaying the Level 2 signs at the end of the fifth fiscal year.
Businesses with Level 2 signs that are removed for this reason that wish to
have their signs reinstalled will be required to reapply and their priority
will be evaluated among all the other eligible businesses desiring signing at
the interchange in question. The available spot or spots on the second specific
service panel will be filled as specified in subsection (d)(4). When Level 1
signs are removed because a business is no longer part of the program, the
business with Level 2 signs at the same interchange, of the same service type,
and that is closest to the interchange will have its business signs relocated
to the removed Level 1 signs' former spaces. The relocated signs will become
Level 1 signs and will no longer be subject to removal after a five year
period. Businesses cannot choose to keep their signs on the second service
panel.
e) Location of
Business
1) Business on the Crossroad
Where a business establishment providing gas, food, lodging,
camping, or a 24-hour pharmacy is on the crossroad, it will be signed on a
freeway panel if it is visible to the motorists from the crossroad, or if a
sign is on the business site advising motorists of the appropriate entrance to
the establishment.
2)
Business Not on the Crossroad
A) Where a
business establishment providing gas, food, lodging, or a 24-hour pharmacy is
not on the crossroad, it will be signed on a freeway panel if it is visible to
the motorists from the crossroad, or if it is visible from a road intersecting
the crossroad and has a trailblazer assembly placed on the crossroad advising
motorists where to turn. The Department will place such trailblazer signs on
state highway crossroads for the fee established in Section
542.600(b)(2).
Where the crossroad is under local agency jurisdiction, trailblazer signs will
not be required if legible signs with directional information are present
advising motorists where to turn. If such signs are not present, a business
needing the signing will be allowed to participate in the program only if the
business can arrange with the appropriate local agency for the erection and
maintenance of such legible signs with directional information on all roads
under the jurisdiction of the local agency. This provision applies to those
businesses that receive approval of their applications on or after January 1,
2012.
B) A campground not on the
crossroad can be signed on a freeway panel regardless of the number of turns
required if legible signs with directional information are present advising
motorists where to turn. The Department will erect trailblazer signs along
State-maintained highways for the fee established in Section
542.600(b)(2).
f) No business will be
allowed more than one space on an individual specific service panel; however, a
business could qualify for a business sign on more than one type of panel;
e.g., both food and lodging.