Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1) The Utah State Scenic Byways Committee
has authority to designate and de-designate scenic backways.
(a) The network of scenic backways is already
extensive and the committee intends to limit the number of backways in order to
maintain the quality and integrity of the scenic backway system. For this
reason, the likelihood of new designations is low, but proposals for new
backway routes will be considered.
(b) Backway routes that are improved after
designation to the point of meeting the criteria required of state scenic
byways may be presented to the committee for consideration of a re-designation
to scenic byway status.
(2) Scenic backways do not qualify for the
National Scenic Byways Program nor are any of them part of the National Highway
System. They are not subject to any federal regulations pertaining to
designated scenic byways, including outdoor advertising restrictions, and they
are not eligible for federal byway grants.
(3) The authority and responsibility for
maintaining the intrinsic qualities for which each scenic backway was
designated, including the regulation of outdoor advertising, rests with the
cities, towns, counties and resource agencies through which the route passes.
(a) Preserving the intrinsic qualities of and
quality of life along each backway corridor, as determined locally, is
dependant on local zoning and signing ordinances.
(b) Except for routes on state highways, the
Utah Department of Transportation holds no oversight authority on backway
routes.
(4) Installation
and maintenance of scenic backway wayfinding signs is a local responsibility.
(a) The design, size, and installation
details of the signs are maintained by the Utah Office of Tourism, in
consultation with the Utah Department of Transportation, for continuity across
the state and to ensure conformity to the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Controls.
(b) Historically, the
UDOT Traffic and Safety Division has allowed local agencies and local
committees to purchase scenic backway signs from its sign shops and through its
outside vendors under its sign contracts, to help provide statewide continuity
and to help reduce taxpayer costs through shared volume buying.
