A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the department of transportation, in conjunction with other state agencies, to study the use of highway signage as a means of improving north carolina residents' and tourists' awareness of state parks and trails in this state, as recommended by the lrc committee on cultural and natural resources.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the State Parks and Recreation Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Commerce, and Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, shall study the use of highway signage as a means of improving the North Carolina residents' and tourists' awareness of State parks, including the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The study shall include an examination of at least all of the following:
(1)	Whether signs currently located on or near highways in this State are sufficient in number, location, and size and presentation to make travelers on the highways of this State aware of the existence and location of all State parks, including the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
(2)	Whether signs currently located on or near highways in this State adequately inform travelers that portions of the roads they travel on are part of the current route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
(3)	What measures could be taken to improve the efficacy of highway signage in achieving the goals described in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this section.
(4)	What the costs and benefits of implementing the measures described in subdivision (3) of this section would be.
SECTION 2.  No later than May 1, 2015, the Department of Transportation shall report the results of the study required by this act to the chairs of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and to the Fiscal Research Division.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.