Measures of Jiangsu Province on Administration of Affairs Concerning Countryside Highways

· Document Number：Decree No. 55 of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province

· Area of Law： Traffic and Transport

· Level of Authority： Local Government Rules

· Date issued：04-12-2009

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Jiangsu Province

Decree of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province
(No. 55)
Measures of Jiangsu Province on Administration of Affairs Concerning Countryside Highways, discussed and adopted at Twenty-ninth Executive Meeting of the Provincial People's Government on April 7, 2009, are hereby promulgated and shall enter into effect as of June 1, 2009.
Governor: Luo Zhijun
April 12, 2009
Measures of Jiangsu Province on Administration of Affairs Concerning Countryside Highways
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Highway Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Highways and other laws and regulations, in light of the specific situation of this Province, and for the purposes of strengthening the construction, maintenance and administration of countryside highways and promoting economic and social development in the countryside.
Article 2 The Measures apply to the planning, construction, maintenance and administration of countryside highways within the administrative region of this Province. Where there are other provisions in the laws and regulations, those provisions shall apply.
The term "countryside highways" used in these Measures includes county roads, township roads and village roads.
Article 3 The construction, maintenance and administration of countryside highways shall follow the principles of unified leadership at different levels, giving equal stress to administration and maintenance, and coordinated development.
Article 4 Local people's governments at different levels shall strengthen the organization of leadership, supervision and inspection of work of countryside highways, and take effective measures to raise funds for construction, maintenance and administration, as well as to build administration systems for countryside highway maintenance and to support and promote countryside highway development.
People's governments at the county level are responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance and administration of countryside highways in their respective administrative region, shall organize and coordinate with relevant departments to do well the work of countryside highways, and shall incorporate the work of countryside highway into the annual work targets of the people's governments at the county level so as to be assessed.
People's governments at the town (township) level are responsible for the construction, maintenance of township roads and village roads, and organize and coordinate with villager committees to do well the construction, maintenance and administration of countryside highways.
Villager committees, under the guidance of local people's governments, shall organize villagers to support and cooperate in the work of construction, maintenance and administration of country highways in their respective administrative villages on a voluntary and democratic basis, following the standardized procedure of one meeting for one case.
Article 5 The competent department of transportation of the provincial people's governments shall be in charge of the work of countryside highways within the province. The competent department of transportation of people's governments of cities (divided into districts) and counties (cities and districts) shall be in charge of the work of countryside highways in their respective administrative region.
The competent department of transportation of local people's governments at or above the county level may designate highway management institutions to perform the administrative responsibility for countryside highways according to laws. The competent department of transportation of counties (cities and districts) without highway management institutions may designate institutions dispatched (directly affiliated to) by municipal highway management institutions to perform the administrative responsibility for countryside highway according to law.
Such departments as development and reform, finance, land resources, public security, construction, water resources, agriculture, forestry, environment protection of people's governments at or above the county level shall do well the work of countryside highway according to their respective obligations.
Article 6 Countryside highways shall be subject to the protection by the State. No unit or individual may break, damage, or illegally occupy countryside highways, or interfere with regular construction, maintenance and administration.
Any unit or individual has the right to report and charge acts that break and damage countryside highways and endanger the security of countryside highways. Units and individuals that report the acts may get appropriate rewards.
It is forbidden for any unit or individual to set up check-posts, collect fees, impose fines or intercept vehicles on countryside highways.
Chapter II Planning and construction
Article 7 Plans in respect to countryside highways shall be formulated in the light of the needs of the local economic and social development in the countryside and needs to construct new socialist countryside, connected to the network of main roads, coordinated with planning such as general planning for towns, townships plans and village plans.
Countryside highway planning shall be formulated according to the Measures of Formulating Plans of Countryside Highways formulated by the competent department of transportation of the Province.
Article 8 The formulation and approval of plans in respect to county roads and township roads shall be dealt with according to relevant provisions of Highway Law of the People's Republic of China. Plans in respect to village roads shall be formulated by the people's governments of towns (townships) with the assistance of the competent department of transportation of the county (city, district) after opinions are solicited from relevant departments at the same level, reported to the people's governments of the county (city, district) for approval and submitted to the competent municipal transportation department for the record.
Where the approved plans for countryside highway need revision, the original organ of formulation shall put forward revision plans and submit them to the original approving organ for approval.
Article 9 Names and indexes of county roads and township roads shall be set by the competent transportation department of the people's governments of the Province according to relevant provisions of the competent department of transportation of the State Council.
Names and indexes of village roads shall be set by the competent department of transportation of the people's governments of cities (divided into districts) according to relevant provisions of the competent department of transportation of the Province.
Article 10 The competent department of transportation of counties (cities, districts) shall propose annual construction suggestion plans according to countryside highway plans and in light of local specific situations, which, after the approval by people's governments of counties (cities, districts), shall be summarized, examined and submitted to the competent provincial department of transportation by the competent transportation department of the cities divided into districts.
The competent provincial department of transportation together with the provincial departments of development and reform, finance release annual construction plans according to the development requirement of countryside highway of the province.
Article 11 Countryside highway constructions shall be undertaken according to relevant provisions of the state and province, in conformity with prescribed technical standards of highway construction.
The new and reconstructed county roads shall reach the highway standards above the third grade; the new and reconstructed township roads should reach the highway standards above the fourth grade; the new and reconstructed village roads should reach the standards set by the competent transportation department of the Province.
Shoulders of single-lane countryside highway shall be hardened concurrently with construction. Construction of bridges over countryside highways shall be carried out along with the construction of highways.
Article 12 Units of countryside highway construction shall formulate and submit documents for approval on environment impact assessment according to provisions.
Article 13 Standards for erecting safety management facilities, such as traffic signs and lines shall be formulated by the competent transportation department of the Province.
Safety management facilities such as traffic signs and lines shall be put up along with the construction and reconstruction of county roads and township roads according to technical standards; traffic warning signs shall be put up in dangerous sections of highways in the course of constructing and reconstructing village roads. Countryside highways may not pass completion acceptance examination and may not be put to use if safety management facilities are not put up according to standards.
Signs of slowing down or stopping to give way shall be posted according to technical standards where countryside highways intersect state roads or provincial roads.
Article 14 Countryside highway construction shall follow the principle of protecting farmland and economical use of land. If conditions are favorable, existing highway subgrade and bridges shall be made use of. Demolishing and removing of facilities such as ground buildings, buildings and underground pipelines shall be reduced.
Article 15 People's governments of at the county (city, district) and township (town) level shall establish and improve quality management system for countryside highway construction.
The competent transportation department shall strengthen technical guidance, supervision and inspection on the quality of countryside highway construction and establish effective supervision management systems.
Article 16 Bidding for countryside highway construction shall be carried out according to relevant provisions of the state and the Province. After completion, countryside highways shall be checked by the competent transportation department of the Province and be put to use after acceptance examination of handover and completion is conducted according to relevant provisions of the state and passed as qualified.
Chapter III Maintenance
Article 17 Maintenance of countryside highways follows the principles of focusing on prevention, combining prevention and control, and combining professional maintenance and villager maintenance. Countryside highways shall be maintained according to relevant norms and standards formulated by the competent transportation department of the State Council and the Province, so as to keep them regularly in a good technical state.
Road management institutions at the county (city, district) level and people's governments at the township (town) level shall evaluate road conditions according to the methods of examining and evaluating the quality of highway maintenance regulated by the competent transportation department of the State Council and the Province, and report data on road condition regularly.
Article 18 Road management institution of transportation departments at the county (city, district) level shall reinforce the maintenance of county roads and provide technical guidance to and supervise the quality of the maintenance of township roads and village roads.
People's governments at the township (town) level shall clearly define relevant institutions and persons responsible for daily maintenance of township roads and village roads and take effective measures to support road management institutions on the maintenance of county roads.
Villager committees shall educate villagers to consciously cherish and protect roads and jointly maintain road condition and road appearance of countryside highways.
Units and individuals along the countryside highways shall support and coordinate the maintenance of countryside highways.
Article 19 People's governments at the township (town) level shall bring into play the role and initiatives of villager committees and villagers in maintaining roads, strictly carry out the responsibility system of villager committees to assist maintenance, implement the responsibility system of units and individuals along the countryside highways maintaining condition and appearance of the road area in front the their gate, and gradually establish scientific and complete township road and village road maintenance systems.
Article 20 Planning on countryside highway maintenance shall be formulated according to methods on planning countryside highway maintenance regulated by the competent transportation department of the Province.
Transportation departments at the county (city, district) level are responsible for formulating the annual suggestions and plans on county road maintenance, and report them to transportation departments at the city (divided into districts) level for approval. People's governments at the township (town) level are responsible for formulating the annual suggestions and plans on township road and village road maintenance and report them to transportation departments of the county (city, district) for approval.
Article 21 Maintenance projects on countryside highways are categorized into four kinds, namely, minor repair, repair, overhaul and improvement work according to engineering nature, scales and difficulty levels of technology.
The improvement work, repairs and overhauls of countryside highways shall be specialized, mechanized and marketed gradually, and qualified units shall be selected through a public tendering process, based on merits, to take charge of maintenance and guarantee the quality of countryside highway maintenance.
Units along the countryside highways are encouraged to fund minor repairs of township roads and village roads. Villagers living along the countryside highways are also encouraged to volunteer to work on the minor repairs.
Article 22 Road management institutions at the county (city, district) level and people's governments of the townships (towns) shall strengthen the petrol on countryside highway maintenance and in case of roads severely damaged by natural disaster shall immediately organize rush repairs or take measures to remove dangers and report to the local people's governments alongside in time; if rush repairs cannot be undertaken timely, people's governments alongside shall lose no time to organize repairs or take measures to remove dangers, so as to restore the operation of the roads as soon as possible.
If maintenance personnel of the people's governments of townships (towns) find the infringement of road properties and rights of countryside highways, they shall stop and handle the act in time; if infringements cannot be stopped or corrected, they shall report to the road management institutions of the county (city, district) in time.
Article 23 Road management institutions of county (city, district) and people's governments of township (town) shall strengthen the maintenance and management of facilities such as traffic signs and lines of countryside highways.
If bridges over countryside highways fail to conform to relevant technical standards as required, maintenance units shall post signs of load limits and take measures to conform to technical standards as required.
Article 24 Road management organizations of county (city, district) and people's governments of township (town) shall according to requirements of greening planning and technical standards on road maintenance, organize greening of countryside highways by combining the real situation of countryside highways, and adjusting to local conditions.
The greening on both sides of township roads and village roads can be combined with minor repairs of township roads and village roads, following the principle that the one who plants will possess it and thus benefit therefrom.
Chapter IV Highway Administration
Article 25 Road management institutions entrusted by the competent transportation department at the county (city, district) level are responsible for road administration of county roads and township roads, investigate and punish illegal acts according to law.
People's governments of townships (towns), villager committees as well as units and individuals along countryside highways shall support and cooperate with road management organizations to do well the work of road administration of countryside highways.
Article 26 People's governments of township (town) shall organize village committee and units and individuals along the village roads to protect road properties and rights of village roads; if village roads are damaged, compensation shall be made to people's governments of township (town).
Article 27 The following acts are forbidden on the countryside highways and within the area 1 meter wide from the outer edges of the side ditches (intercepting drains, road protection channel of slope foot and hard road surface) of countryside highways:
(1) putting up stands or stalls, storing things, dumping refuse, putting up obstructions, digging ditches to divert water, or using roadside ditches to discharge waste matters;
(2) grain threshing and sunning, flooding road to irrigate, planting and harvesting, burning waste like straw, piling feces to compost, leaking pollutant;
(3) using bridges over countryside highways to carry out line operation, pulling and hoisting work, setting up high voltage electricity lines and inflammable or explosive pipes or lines not up to the standard;
(4) stacking inflammable or explosive goods, working on fire and building facilities at the opening of bridges over countryside highways;
(5) driving oversized, overloaded or over-limit vehicle on countryside highways at or under the fourth level;
(6) driving vehicle with goods falling on the ground;
(7) damaging, moving without authorization or altering ancillary facilities of roads;
(8) other acts damaging or polluting countryside highways and impeding the smooth traffic of countryside highways.
Article 28 The construction control area for village roads is set within an area of not less than 3 meters wide starting 1 meter away from the outer edges of hard road surface of roads, or of slope foot lines of roads, if any, or of side ditches of roads, if any.
Within construction control areas of village roads, it is forbidden to construct buildings or structures except facilities built for the needs of road protection and maintenance and those necessary to farmland water conservation and irrigation, electricity power, telecommunications and water supply. Laying of pipelines and cables and other facilities within the construction control areas of roads shall be administrated by people's governments of township (town).
Article 29 Village committees shall, according to the requirements of people's government of township (town), designate persons specially to patrol village roads regularly to stop acts that damage road properties and rights in time, and to report to road management institutions of county (city, district) should they find acts in violation of article 27 sub-paragraph (3), (4), (5), (6). Road management institutions of county (city, district) shall deal with them according to law.
Article 30 Without authorization, no unit or individual is allowed to occupy or dig the roads for own uses. If it is necessary to occupy or dig roads for own uses, or cross county roads or township roads, it shall be dealt with according to the Highway Law of the People's Republic of China and Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Highways, and other relevant laws, regulations and rules. The act of occupying or digging roads for own uses, crossing county roads or township roads, if necessary, shall be managed by people's governments of township (town).
Article 31 Damages caused to the roads by such acts as occupying or digging roads for own uses, crossing and driving vehicles exceeding limits set on countryside highways shall be compensated according to law. Compensations for road property damage shall be used for road property restoration and road right maintenance according to provisions.
Chapter V Fund raising and administration
Article 32 Funds of countryside highway construction and maintenance shall be raised following the principle of being raised by counties and townships, subsidized by provinces and cities and diversified investment sources from the society. People's governments of county (city, district) and township (town) are responsible for raising funds for constructing and maintaining countryside highways. People's governments of the Province and city (divided into districts) shall provide subsidies according to standards formulated by the state and province.
Article 33 The sources of funds for countryside highway construction and maintenance mainly include:
(1) financial funds allocated by people's government at all levels;
(2) special funds subsidized by the state and province;
(3) funds for the use of village road construction and maintenance raised by villager committees through the method of "one meeting for one case";
(4) social donation from enterprises and individuals or funds raised through auction, transferring rights of entitling countryside highways (bridges) and transferring rights of developing road resources;
(5) funds raised through other channels.
Article 34 The provincial competent department of transportation, together with the provincial departments of development and reform and finance and other relevant provincial departments, shall make overall arrangements for annual construction plans for the funds for countryside highway construction subsidized by the state and province, which shall be distributed according to standards made by the people's government of the Province.
Article 35 Annual plans shall be formulated according to the relevant state and provincial provisions for the funds of countryside highway maintenance subsidized by the state and province, which shall be allocated in line with the procedures of fiscal budget management.
Financial departments of city (divided into districts), and county (city, district) shall, together with the competent transportation department at the same level, make overall arrangements of funds for countryside highway maintenance and allocate them according to procedures of fiscal budget administration.
Article 36 Funds of countryside highway construction and maintenance shall be supervised and taken charge of at different levels, and used exclusively for designated purposes. No unit or individual is allowed to withhold, misappropriate or divert funds.
The specific measures for managing funds of countryside highway construction and maintenance shall be formulated by the provincial department of transportation together with the provincial department of finance.
The competent transportation department shall strengthen administration of funds for countryside highway construction and maintenance, establish and complete financial administrative work and improve efficiency of the utilization of funds.
Article 37 The departments of transportation, finance and auditing shall supervise and inspect the use of funds for countryside highway construction and maintenance according to law.
Chapter VI Legal Liabilities
Article 38 The countryside highway construction and maintenance which do not conform to standards provided shall be ordered by the competent transportation departments to be rectified within a prescribed period of time; where rectification is refused, the competent transportation department may designate other units to construct and maintain countryside highways, and the expenses are borne by the one who is responsible.
Article 39 Anyone who, in violation of the provisions in the first, second, sixth and eighth subparagraphs of Article 27 of these Measures, damages or pollutes road surface of county roads or village roads, or impedes the smooth operation of roads, shall be ordered to stop illegal acts and a fine of not less than RMB 500 yuan but not more than RMB 5000 yuan may concurrently be imposed by the competent transportation department of county (city, district).
Anyone who, in violation of the provisions in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh paragraph of Article 27 of these regulations, infringes countryside highways and their ancillary facilities, shall be ordered to stop the illegal acts and a fine of not more than 30,000 yuan may be concurrently imposed by transportation department of county (city, district).
Article 40 Anyone who, in violation of the provisions in the second paragraph of Article 28 of these Measures, establish buildings or structures within control areas of village roads, shall be ordered to demolish and remove them within a prescribed period of time and a fine of not more than 30,000 yuan may concurrently be imposed by the competent transportation department of county (city, district); where he or she fails to demolish and remove them within the time limit, the competent department of transportation shall demolish and remove them, and the relevant expenses shall be borne by the builders.
Article 41 Where laws, regulations or rules punish the acts in violation of the provisions of the Measures, the provisions of laws, regulations or rules shall prevail.
Article 42 For dereliction of duty, practice of favoritism or malpractice, abuse of power on the part of the functionaries of the departments of transportation, highway administrative institutions or people's government of township (town), administrative sanctions shall be given to according to law; where a crime is constituted, the criminal liabilities shall be investigated according to law.
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 43 The term "county roads" in these Measures refers to public roads connecting the site of people's governments of the county and that of people's governments of the township (town), between major commodity production and distribution centers, and between townships (towns), examined and confirmed by the transportation department of the Province, including the roads between counties and roads connecting counties to the outside, which do not belong to national highways or provincial highways.
The term "town road" in these Measures refers to public roads connecting the sides of people's governments of township (town) and roads between administrative villages, examined and confirmed by the transportation department of the Province, including roads between townships and roads connecting townships to the outside, which do not belong to national highways, provincial highways, or county roads.
The term "village road" in these Measures refers to public roads examined and confirmed by the transportation department of the Province, for the service of rural residents' production and life, between administrative villages, connecting administrative villages and reserved sites for planned villager residence and connecting administrative villages and the outside, which do not belong to national highways, provincial highways, county roads or town roads.
Article 44 Plans to build countryside highways in flood basin and retention areas shall conform to relevant provisions of construction and administration of flood basin and retention areas.
Where construction of countryside highways in flood basin and retention areas may be used as evacuating roads, people's governments of county (city, district) and township (town) shall make an overall arrangement for construction.
Article 45 The Measures shall enter into effect as of June 1, 2009.