1999 Montana Legislature

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SENATE BILL NO. 89

INTRODUCED BY S. STANG

Montana State Seal

AN ACT REQUIRING THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO DESIGN AND THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ERECT SIGNS IDENTIFYING VISITOR INFORMATION CENTERS.



     WHEREAS, the 1989 Legislature passed House Bill No. 550, requiring the Department of Commerce and other agencies to study the feasibility of constructing and operating visitor information centers to benefit the traveling public and enhance tourism; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce reported the results of the study to the 1991 Legislature, recommending the establishment of seven visitor information centers located near entrances to the state; and

     WHEREAS, the report stated that visitor information centers had the potential to enhance the quality of visitors' experiences while in Montana, increase word-of-mouth promotion about Montana destinations, improve visitors' images and perceptions of Montana as a vacation destination, increase visitors' length of stay and expenditures in Montana, and increase the likelihood of return visits to Montana; and

     WHEREAS, visitor information centers were constructed near the communities of Culbertson, Shelby, Dillon, Wibaux, Hardin, St. Regis, and West Yellowstone; and

     WHEREAS, the visitor information centers are community-based, with the Department of Commerce providing partial funding for maintenance and staffing; and

     WHEREAS, signs along the highway notifying the traveling public of the presence of visitor information centers are inadequate and many tourists are missing the opportunity to learn of each area's services and unique historic and recreational opportunities.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:



     Section 1.  Visitor information centers -- signs. (1) Subject to the provisions of federal law, the department of commerce shall design and the department of transportation shall erect signs identifying the Montana visitor information centers established and maintained by the department of commerce and in existence on October 1, 1999.

     (2)  (a) Each visitor information center must have two signs identifying it to the traveling public.

     (b)  The first sign must be erected at the nearest practical location to the border of the state along the highway leading to the visitor information center and must indicate the number of miles to the visitor information center.

     (c)  The second sign must be erected along the highway at the exit leading to the visitor information center or at the nearest practical location to the visitor information center where the sign may be easily seen and read by the traveling public. This sign must contain directions to the center and the information that is provided at the center.



     Section 2.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 60, chapter 2, part 2, and the provisions of Title 60, chapter 2, part 2, apply to [section 1].

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Latest Version of SB 89 (SB0089.ENR)
Processed for the Web on April 8, 1999 (11:07AM)

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