The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Active project--A highway project for which any phase of development has been programmed or an investigation and planning expense (IPE) authorization issued. A project is considered active until construction is completed and the project is placed under maintenance.
2. (2) American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)--An association of state highway and transportation officials.
3. (3) Clear roadside policy--A policy to increase safety, improve traffic operation, and enhance the appearance of highways by designing, constructing, and maintaining highway roadsides as wide, flat, and rounded as practical and as free as practical from physical obstructions above the ground and travelway such as trees, drainage structures, massive sign supports, utility poles, and other ground-mounted obstructions.
4. (4) Common carrier--A person who owns, operates, or manages a pipeline or any part of a pipeline in the State of Texas for the transportation of crude petroleum to or from the public for hire, or engages in the business of transporting crude petroleum by pipeline. A common carrier may transport oil, oil products, gas, salt brine, fuller's earth, sand, clay, liquefied minerals or other mineral solutions.
5. (5) Controlled access roadway--A highway on which owners or occupants of abutting lands and other persons are denied access to or from the highway except as authorized by the department.
6. (6) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
7. (7) Design vehicle load (HS-20)--A design load designation used for bridge design analysis representing a three-axle truck loaded with four tons on the front axle and 16 tons on each of the other two axles. The HS-20 designation is one of many established by AASHTO for use in the structural design and analysis of bridges.
8. (8) District engineer--The chief administrative officer in charge of one of the 25 districts of the department.
9. (9) Executive director--The executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation.
10. (10) Frontage roads--A street or road auxiliary to, and located on the side of, an expressway or freeway that segregates local traffic from high-speed through traffic and provides service to abutting property and control of access.
11. (11) High and low pressure gas lines--High pressure gas lines are pipelines that carry a gaseous substance and that are operated or may reasonably be expected in the future to operate at a pressure of over 60 pounds per square inch. Conversely, low pressure gas lines are those with an operating pressure not expected to exceed 60 pounds per square inch.
12. (12) Low volume highways and low volume farm-to-market roads--Any roadways other than controlled access highways which carry a traffic volume of 750 vehicles per day or less and upon which projected traffic volume at the design year is not anticipated to exceed 1,500 vehicles per day.
13. (13) Noncontrolled access roadway--A highway on which owners or occupants of abutting lands or other persons have access to or from the highway.
14. (14) Outer separation--The area between the traveled way of a roadway for through traffic and a frontage road or street.
15. (15) Pavement structure--The combination of the surface, base course, subbase, and a minimum eight inches of stabilized subgrade material which supports the traffic load and distributes it to the roadbed. A minimum of eight inches of subgrade stabilization is to be considered a part of the pavement structure.
16. (16) TMUTCD--The most recent edition of Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways.
17. (17) Utilities--All lines and/or their accessories within the highway rights of way except those for highway-oriented needs. Such utilities may involve underground, surface, or overhead facilities either singularly or in combination. Accessories are any attachments, appurtenances, or integral parts of the utility (i.e., fire hydrants, valves, gas regulators, etc.). The placing of accessories within the highway right of way will be determined by such factors as type, size, safety, availability of space, etc.

Source Note:The provisions of this §21.31 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective May 29, 1989, 14 TexReg 2366; amended to be effective March 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 2055.