Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1216
By Senator Jones
35-00802-21 20211216__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to renaming transportation facilities;
3 revising the names of specified transportation
4 facilities; directing the Department of Transportation
5 to take all steps necessary within budgeted funds to
6 implement the renaming; providing for certain
7 approvals by affected municipalities and Miami-Dade
8 County before new road signage is installed on
9 specified transportation facilities; authorizing the
10 county to designate an official to facilitate the
11 local renaming notification process; authorizing the
12 county to seek written concurrence from the United
13 States Postmaster General of the transportation
14 facility name changes and to provide a copy of such
15 concurrence to the Traffic Engineering and Operations
16 Office within the department; requiring the department
17 to determine a transition period for the renaming of
18 the transportation facilities; requiring that existing
19 names of such transportation facilities remain as
20 aliases during the transition period until the
21 renaming is fully implemented; requiring that signage
22 be removed and replaced in a phased approach;
23 prohibiting persons or entities affected by the name
24 changes from being required to update state driver
25 licenses and identification cards, state and local
26 licenses, permits, registration, and similar
27 authorizations until expiration or in the normal
28 course of renewal or replacement; providing
29 construction; providing an effective date.
30
31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
32
33 Section 1. Renaming of specified roads as South Harriet
34 Tubman Highway and West Harriet Tubman Highway; implementation.—
35 (1) That portion of South Dixie Highway/U.S. 1/S.R. 5 from
36 the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line to S.R. 9A/I-95 Northbound in
37 Miami-Dade County is renamed “South Harriet Tubman Highway/U.S.
38 1/S.R. 5.”
39 (2) That portion of West Dixie Highway/S.R. 909 from N.E.
40 119th Street to N.E. 163rd Street in Miami-Dade County is
41 renamed “West Harriet Tubman Highway/S.R. 909.”
42 (3) The Department of Transportation is directed to take
43 all steps necessary within previously budgeted funds to
44 implement the renaming as described in subsections (1) and (2).
45 (4) Before signage is installed within the jurisdiction of
46 an affected municipality, the governing body of that
47 municipality shall hold a public hearing and approve the road
48 renaming. Notwithstanding this requirement or any other
49 provision of state law, nothing shall prevent signage from being
50 installed in a particular municipality or the unincorporated
51 area of Miami-Dade County once that municipality or the county,
52 as appropriate, has approved the renaming.
53 (5) Miami-Dade County may designate an official to
54 facilitate the local renaming notification process, which may
55 include the county’s submission of a formal letter or comparable
56 electronic correspondence to the Traffic Engineering and
57 Operations Office within the Department of Transportation, all
58 local affected municipalities, the property appraiser and local
59 address authority, E911, local law enforcement agencies, utility
60 providers, the local authority responsible for street signs, the
61 public works departments, animal services departments, and
62 affected property owners, notifying these persons and entities
63 of the renaming and outlining how the county will change
64 references to the road name on signage and other traffic control
65 devices.
66 (6) Within 60 days after the effective date of this act,
67 Miami-Dade County may seek a written concurrence from the United
68 States Postmaster General of the approved name change, and may
69 provide a copy thereof to the Traffic Engineering and Operations
70 Office within the Department of Transportation.
71 (7) The Department of Transportation shall determine a
72 transition period during which the renaming process will be
73 fully implemented. The existing road names specified in
74 subsections (1) and (2) must remain as aliases during the
75 transition period until the renaming is fully implemented and
76 all preexisting signage bearing the former names has been
77 replaced.
78 (8) Signage bearing the former road names must be removed
79 and replaced in a phased approach in accordance with the
80 standard practice and normal timeframe of sign maintenance and
81 replacement so as to mitigate the fiscal impact of this act.
82 (9) Notwithstanding any other provision of state law, any
83 person or entity whose home or business address is affected by
84 this act may not be required to update any state driver license,
85 state identification card, or other state or local license,
86 permit, registration, or similar authorization until expiration
87 or in the normal course of renewal or replacement.
88 (10) This act may not be construed to require:
89 (a) The expenditure of funds by the Department of
90 Transportation beyond those already allocated to it for the
91 specified purpose as of the effective date of this act.
92 (b) Any business or other entity to change the name of its
93 business or other identifying information, business cards, or
94 stationary or incur other such expenses as a result of the
95 renaming.
96 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.