Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 86 - Miscellaneous highway provisions.
86.195 - Specific information signs.

86.195 Specific information signs.
(1) Definitions. Unless defined differently in this section, the terms used in this section are defined in accordance with the manual of uniform traffic control devices adopted by the department under s. 84.02 (4) (e). In this section:
(am) “Business" includes an attraction, whether public or private, described in sub. (3) (e).
(ar) “Business sign" means a separately attached sign mounted on the rectangular sign panel to show the brand, symbol, trademark, or name, or combination of these, for a motorist service available on a crossroad at or near an interchange or an intersection.
(c) “Motorist service" means a business which qualifies under sub. (3).
(d) “Specific information sign" means a rectangular sign panel which displays:
1. One or more of the words “GAS", “FOOD", “LODGING", “CAMPING", or “ATTRACTION";
2. Directional information; and
3. One or more business signs.
(2) Signs and fees.
(a) Except as provided in par. (ag), the department may authorize the erection and maintenance of a specific information sign upon the request of any person within the right-of-way of a federal-aid primary highway or within the right-of-way of a federal-aid secondary highway under the jurisdiction of the department, except that no specific information sign may be erected within any city, village or town unless the specific information sign is erected in compliance with rules promulgated by the department for such signs in a city, village or town.
(ag) On and after May 8, 1990, the department may not authorize the erection of a specific information sign under par. (a) unless the highway is one of the following highways under the jurisdiction of the department:
1. I 43 from I 90 at Beloit to USH 41 at Green Bay.
2. I 90 from the state line in Rock County to the state line in La Crosse County.
3. I 94 from the state line in Kenosha County to the state line in St. Croix County.
4. STH 11 from STH 81 west of Monroe to STH 50 at Delavan.
5. STH 11 from I 43 at Elkhorn to STH 32 at Racine.
6. STH 13 from STH 97 at Marshfield to STH 182 at Park Falls.
7. STH 16 from STH 67 at Oconomowoc to I 94 at Waukesha.
8. STH 21 from I 94 north of Tomah to CTH “Z" in the town of Strongs Prairie in Adams County and from STH 13 north of the village of Friendship in Adams County to I 41 at Oshkosh.
9. STH 23 from STH 44 at Ripon to I 43 at Sheboygan.
10. STH 26 from I 90 at Janesville to USH 41 south of Oshkosh.
11. STH 29 from I 41 at Green Bay to I 94 northwest of Elk Mound.
12. STH 33 from I 41 at Allenton to STH 32 at Port Washington.
13. STH 36 from STH 50 at Springfield to STH 100 southwest of Milwaukee.
14. STH 50 from STH 120 at Lake Geneva to STH 32 at Kenosha.
15. USH 53 from I 94 at Eau Claire to I 535 at Superior.
16. STH 57 from I 43 at Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay.
16m. STH 172 from I 43 southeast of Green Bay to I 41 at Ashwaubenon.
17. USH 2 from USH 53 east of Superior to the state line in Iron County.
18. USH 8 from the state line in Polk County to USH 53 west of Cameron.
19. USH 8 from USH 51 southeast of Bradley to STH 47 at Monico.
20. USH 10 from STH 13 south of Marshfield to STH 42 at Manitowoc.
21. USH 12 from the state line in Walworth County to STH 67 north of Elkhorn.
22. USH 12 from I 90 east of Madison to I 90 north of Wisconsin Dells.
23. USH 18 from STH 35 at Prairie du Chien to USH 151 east of Dodgeville.
24. USH 41 from STH 181 at Milwaukee to the state line in Marinette County.
25. USH 45 from I 41 at Richfield to STH 28 at Kewaskum.
26. USH 45 from I 41 at the city of Oshkosh to USH 8 at Monico.
27. USH 51 from STH 78 north of Portage to USH 2 at Hurley.
28. USH 63 from I 94 south of Baldwin to USH 2 west of Ashland.
29. STH 64 from the state line in St. Croix County to the easternmost junction with USH 63 east of New Richmond.
30. USH 78 from I 90 south of Portage to USH 51 north of Portage.
31. USH 141 from I 43 northwest of Green Bay to the state line in Marinette County.
32. USH 151 from STH 11 south of Dickeyville to CTH “WH" northeast of Fond du Lac in Fond du Lac County.
33. STH 441 between the Roland Kampo Bridge and I 41 in the city of Appleton, designated as the Tri-County Expressway, in Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties.
34. USH 53 from I 90 at the city of Onalaska to STH 35 north of Holmen.
35. USH 14 from USH 12/18 at Madison to STH 138 at Oregon.
36. USH 12 from CTH “P" southeast of the city of Whitewater in Walworth County to Tri-County Road in Rock County.
(b)
1. Subject to sub. (4) (c), upon the request of any person, the department may authorize the installation and maintenance of a business sign on an existing specific information sign.
3. The person requesting installation of a business sign shall provide, at his or her expense, a business sign which meets specifications established by the department.
4. Nothing in this section prohibits a person requesting installation of a business sign under sub. (3) (e) from advertising or displaying information on any sign under s. 84.30, subject to any limitation on such signs under s. 84.30.
(c) A person who requests the erection or installation of a sign under par. (a) or (b) shall pay to the department an annual permit fee of $40 to cover administrative costs and the cost of inspection of the signs erected or installed under this section. In addition, the person requesting a sign under par. (a) or (b) shall pay a fee for the manufacture, installation and maintenance of the specific information sign and the installation and maintenance of the business sign.
(d) The department shall contract for the erection, installation and maintenance of signs under this section. The department may require the contractor to provide liability insurance for purposes of this section.
(3) Motorist services. Specific information signs may only include business signs for the following categories of motorist services: “GAS", “FOOD", “LODGING", “CAMPING", and “ATTRACTION". To qualify for display on a specific information sign a business must meet the following standards for the respective category of motorist service:
(a) “GAS" shall have:
1. Vehicle services including fuel, oil and water;
2. Restroom facilities and drinking water;
3. Continuous operation of at least 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for freeways and expressways, and continuous operation of at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for other highways, provided automotive fuel is available under the energy fuel allocation program established under P.L. 93-159; and
4. Public telephone.
(b) “FOOD" shall have:
1. Licensing or approval, where required:
2. Regular operation at least 5 days a week, opening for service no later than 10 a.m. and remaining open until at least 7 p.m.;
3. Fifty percent of the sales price, as defined in s. 77.51 (15b), of the business is from the sale of food and food ingredients, as defined in s. 77.51 (3t), that are taxable under subch. III of ch. 77 or that are bakery items produced by the seller; and
4. Public telephone.
(c) “LODGING" shall have:
1. Licensing or approval, where required;
2. Adequate sleeping accommodations; and
3. Public telephone.
(d) “CAMPING" shall have:
1. Licensing or approval, where required;
2. Adequate parking accommodations; and
3. Modern sanitary facilities and drinking water.
(e) “ATTRACTION" shall have all of the following:
1. A primary purpose of providing amusement, historical, cultural, or leisure activities to the public.
2. Regional significance. For purposes of this subdivision, an agricultural research station owned or managed by a university has regional significance regardless of the number of visitors to the station.
3. Adequate parking accommodations.
(4) Location.
(a) Specific information signs shall be located so as to take advantage of natural terrain, to have the least impact on the scenic environment and to avoid visual conflict with other signs within the highway right-of-way.
(b) The relative location of successive specific information signs near a particular intersection shall be in the following order, as seen by the traveling public: “ATTRACTION", “CAMPING", “LODGING", “FOOD" and “GAS".
(c) No business sign under sub. (3) (e) may be erected or maintained on a highway for a business that is more directly reached by any other highway on which specific information signs are authorized under sub. (2). No more than one business sign under sub. (3) (e) may be erected or maintained on a highway, for each direction of travel, for the same business.
(5) Criteria.
(a) Distance to services.
1. Except as provided in subds. 2. to 4., a motorist service may not be located more than 3 miles from the federal-aid primary or secondary highway on which the specific information sign for the motorist service is erected.
2. Except as provided in subds. 3. and 4., if no business in the category of motorist service is available within the 3-mile limit, the limit in subd. 1. may be extended in 3-mile increments to a maximum distance of 15 miles from the federal-aid primary or secondary highway until a business in the category of motorist service is reached.
3. Except as provided in subd. 4., if no business in the category of motorist service is available within the 3-mile limit, the limit in subd. 1. may, on or after May 8, 1990, be extended to a maximum distance of not more than 5 miles from the highway.
4. A business in the category of motorist service specified in sub. (3) (e) may not be located more than 30 miles from the federal-aid primary or secondary highway on which the specific information sign for the motorist service is erected.
(b) Number of signs permitted. No more than 4 specific information signs for each category of motorist service may be erected along an approach to an interchange or intersection. No specific information sign may contain more than 6 business signs.
(c) Conformity with discrimination laws. Each business identified as a motorist service on a specific information sign shall, as a condition of eligibility for erection, installation and maintenance of a sign under this section, give written assurance to the department that the business conforms with all applicable laws concerning the provisions of public accommodations without regard to race, religion, color, sex or national origin.
(6) Composition.
(a) Specific information signs and business signs shall have a blue reflectorized background with a white reflectorized border and white reflectorized legend. Sign panels may be illuminated.
(b) The design, lettering, spacing and size of specific information signs and business signs shall conform with the federal standards on specific information signs adopted under 23 USC 131 (f) on November 1, 1982 and with the manual of uniform traffic control devices adopted by the department under s. 84.02 (4) (e).
(7) Exit ramp signs. If motorist services are not visible from the ramp terminal at single exit interchanges on freeways and expressways, specific information signs shall be installed along the ramp or at the ramp terminal and may be provided along the crossroad.
(8) Seasonal services. Any sign for a “LODGING" or “CAMPING" motorist service which is operated on a seasonal basis shall be removed or covered during off seasons. The cost of removal and replacement or covering and uncovering shall be included in the fee paid.
(9) Sign removal.
(a) A sign may be removed upon the following grounds:
1. Failure to comply with the applicable motor service standards under sub. (3).
2. Failure to comply with the assurance of nondiscrimination required by sub. (5) (c).
3. Failure to pay the permit fee or the fee for the erection, installation or maintenance of a sign.
(b) Contested cases concerning removals under this subsection shall be heard and decided by the division of hearings and appeals.
(c) Sign removal shall not affect a sign requester's liability for unpaid fees.
(10) Compliance with federal law.
(a) Subsections (2) to (8) are adapted from and in substantial conformity with the federal standards promulgated by the U.S. secretary of transportation under 23 USC 109 (d), 131 (f) and 315 as codified in 23 CFR 655.301 to 655.310 (1980).
(b) If, after November 1, 1982, the federal standards become more restrictive, the department shall submit proposed legislation to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature, as designated by the presiding officer of each house to bring this section into compliance with the federal standards. The department may promulgate an emergency administrative rule under s. 227.24 which supersedes this section until such time as the legislature acts on the legislation submitted under this paragraph or until the expiration of the effective period of the rule under s. 227.24 (1) (c) or (2), whichever comes first.
History: 1981 c. 362, 391; 1985 a. 29; 1985 a. 182 s. 57; 1987 a. 137; 1987 a. 403 s. 256; 1989 a. 98, 315; 1991 a. 265, 269, 315; 1993 a. 16, 237, 246; 1997 a. 124, 237; 1999 a. 9; 2005 a. 63, 136, 309; 2007 a. 55; 2009 a. 2, 28, 153; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 360; 2021 a. 244.

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