CHAPTER 319

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 38-229, 88-251, as amended, and 38-258
of the Code of Virginia, as amended, relating to the powers of the
State Highway Commission to construct projects under the State
Revenue Bond Act and to the financing of the construction of such

projects.
[H 477]
Approved March 18, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 33-229, 33-251, as amended, and 33-258 of the Code of Vir-
ginia be amended and reenacted as follows:
_ § 33-229. General powers of Commission.—The State Highway Com-
mission may, subject to the provisions of this article:
(1) Acquire by purchase or by condemnation, construct, improve,
operate and maintain any one or more of the projects hereinbefore men-
tioned and included in the undertaking hereinhefore defined in this article;
| (2) Issue revenue bonds of the State, to be known and designated as
“State of Virginia Toll Revenue Bonds”, payable solely from earnings, to
pay the cost of such projects; *

(3) Fix and collect tolls and other charges for the use of such
projects:

(4) Construct grade separations at intersections of any projects with
public highways, streets or other public ways or places, and change and
adjust the lines and grades thereof so as to accommodate the same
to the design of such grade separations; the cost of such grade separations
and any damage incurred in changing and adjusting the lines and grades
of such highways, streets, ways and places to be ascertained and paid by
the Commission as a part of the cost of the project;

(5) Vacate or change the location of any portion of any public high-
way, street or other public way or place and reconstruct the same at such
new location as the Commission shall deem most favorable for the project
and of substantially the same type and in as good condition as the original
highway, street, way or place, the cost of such reconstruction and any
damage incurred in vacating or changing the location thereof to be ascer-
tained and paid by the Commission as a part of the cost of the project;
and any public highway, street or other public way or place vacated or
relocated by the Commission shall be vacated or relocated in the manner
provided by law for the vacation or relocation of public roads, and any
damages awarded on account thereof shall be paid by the Authority as
part of the cost of the project; |

(6) Make reasonable regulations for the installation, construction,
maintenance, repair, renewal and relocation of pipes, mains, sewers,
conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles and other equipment and appli-
ances herein called “public utility facilities,” of the Commonwealth
and of any municipality, county, or other political subdivision or
public utility or public service corporation owning or operating the same
in, on, along, over or under the project, and whenever the Commission
shall determine that it is necessary that any such public utility facilities
Should be relocated or removed, the Commonwealth or such municipality,
county, political subdivision, public utility or public service corporation
shall relocate or remove the same in accordance with the order of the
Commission, provided, however, the cost and expense of such relocation
or removal, including the cost of installing such public utility facilities in
a new location or locations, and the cost of any lands or any rights or
interests in lands, and any other rights acquired to accomplish such reloca-
tion or removal shall be ascertained and paid by the Commission as a part
of the cost of the project, and the Commonwealth or such municipality,
county, political subdivision, public utility or public service corporation
may maintain and operate such public utility facilities with the necessary
appurtenances, in the new location or locations for as long a period and
upon the same terms and conditions as it had the right to maintain and
operate such public utility facilities in their former location or locations;
and.

(7) Acquire by the exercise of the power of eminent domain any
lands, property, rights, rights of way, franchises, easements and other
property, including public lands, parks, playgrounds, reservations, high-
ways or parkways, or parts thereof or rights therein, of any municipahty,
county or other political subdivision, deemed necessary or convenient for
the construction or the efficient operation of the project or necessary in
the restoration, replacement or relocation of public or private property
damaged or destroyed.

The cost of such projects shall be paid solely from the proceeds of
State of Virginia Toll Revenue Bonds or from such proceeds and from
any grant or contribution which may be made thereto pursuant to the
provisions of this article.
§ 33-251. Competing bridges, ferries and tunnels.—No bridge or
tunnel other than those specified in § 83-228 for the use of the traveling
public shall hereafter be constructed and operated by the State or by any
county, municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State, or by
any agency or instrumentality copartnership, association or corporation,
within ten miles of any terminus of any project acquired or constructed
under the provisions of this article, and no franchise shall hereafter be
granted for the operation of a ferry within ten miles of any project for
the acquisition or construction of which revenue bonds shall have been
authorized under this article, except under a written permit granted by
the Commission, which is hereby exclusively authorized to grant such
permits under the terms and conditions hereof. No such permit shall be
granted by the Commission until it shall ascertain by an investigation,
including a hearing upon such notice and under such rules as the Commis-
sion may prescribe, that there is an urgent public need for the operation
of such bridge, tunnel or ferry and that its operation will not affect the
revenues of any such project of the State so as to impair the security of
any revenue bonds issued for the acquisition or construction of such
project.

*&

In the event the Commission shall finance the construction under this
article of the project described in paragraph (j) of subsection (2) of
§ 33-228, then and in such event the Commission may continue to operate
the projects described in paragraphs (g) and (i) of said subsection (2)
pending the completion of the project described in said paragraph (j) and
until the opening of said project to traffic, and thereafter the Commission
shall cease to operate the projects described in said paragraphs (g) and
(i) and the proceeds from the sale or salvage of any of the properties
included in said projects shall be deposited to the credit of the reserve
account in the sinking fund created for the bonds issued in connection
with such financing.

The distance of ten miles hereinabove mentioned in this section shall
be measured in a straight line between the nearest points of such
projects. * However, nothing in this article shall apply to any existing
ferry route, temporarily discontinued, if said ferry was established prior

1940.

§ 33-253. Revenue refunding bonds and revenue bonds for combined
purposes.— * Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this article
and without regard to any other restrictions or limitations contained in
this article, the Commission is hereby authorized to provide by resolution
(a) for the issuance of revenue refunding bonds of the State for the pur-
pose of refunding any revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this
article and then outstanding, including interest to the earliest call date
of such outstanding bonds and premiums, if any, payable on such call date,
and (b) for the issuance of a single issue of revenue bonds of the State for
the combined purpose of providing funds (i) to pay the cost of either or
both of the projects described in paragraphs (b) and (j)of subsection (2)
of § 38-%28 of this article in event the commission has decided or shall
decide to construct either or both of said projects under authority here-
tofore granted, and (ii) to refund revenue bonds of the State there-
tofore issued wnder the provisions of this article and then outstand-
ing, including interest to the earliest call date of such outstanding bonds
and premiums, if any, payable on such call date. For the purposes of this
§ 33-253 the word “project” shall, in relation to the project described in
said paragraph (3), include approach highways thereto and bus facilities
for the transportation of passengers through or over said project if the
Commission shall deem % advisable to construct such approach highways
or acquire such bus facilities; and the term ‘cost of the project’ shall, in
relation to the projects described in said paragraphs (b) and (j), include
an amount sufficient to reimburse the Commission for expenditures or
advances theretofore made by the Commission on account of the cost of
either or both of said projects, and shall, in relation to the project described
in said paragraph (j), include provision of a sum, deemed by the Com-
mission to be sufficient for the purpose, to be utilized by the Commisston
for the payment of employment severance benefits to employees of the
Commission rendering services in connection with the projects mentioned
in paragraphs (g) and (i) of subdivision (2) of said § 38-288, and shall
include the cost of constructing approach highways and of providing bus
facilities if the Commission shall deem it expedient to construct such
approach highways or acquire such facilities as a part of the project
described in said paragraph (j). In the event bonds shall be issued for
the combined purpose set forth in clause (b) of this section, such amount
of the proceeds of such bonds as may be required, together with other
funds available for such purpose, for the redemption of the outstanding
bonds to be refunded shall be deposited by the Commission in trust with
the trustee under the trust indenture securing such outstanding bonds for
the sole and exclusive purpose of paying and redeeming such bonds, and
the balance of such proceeds shall be used solely for the payment of the
cost of the project or projects to be constructed.

The issuance of such bonds, the maturities and other details thereof,
the rights of the holders thereof and the duties of the State and of the
Commission in respect to the same shall be governed by the foregoing
provisions of this article in so far as the same may be applicable.