To amend sections 5511.09 and 5589.081 of the Revised Code to permit local jurisdictions to request the Director of Transportation to designate a name for a bridge that is part of the highway system and to allow the use of retractable studded snow tires any time of year so long as the studs are not extended during prohibited times.

SECTION 1. That sections 5511.09 and 5589.081 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 5511.09.  Within a county, any highway or bridge that is part of the state highway system may be officially assigned a distinctive name, commemorative of an historical event or personage or a commonly accepted and appropriate name, by which the highway or bridge is known. Upon agreement of the governing bodies of the county and each township and municipal corporation within the county through which the highway extends or in which the bridge is located, a request for approval of the highway or bridge name may be submitted to the director of transportation. The agreement shall be indicated by a resolution from each governing body in support of the proposed highway or bridge name. The resolution may not be withdrawn, amended, or repealed for thirty days following receipt of the resolution by the requesting authority, or during the time the request is pending before the director.

Within thirty days after receipt of such a request, the director shall inform the requesting authority of his the director's decision. If the director approves the request, the requesting authority may, at its own expense, may erect markers indicating the name of the highway or bridge within the county, provided that any marker so erected shall conform to the law of this state and to federal law and shall be in accordance with the directives for the signing of named memorial highways included in the manual adopted by the department of transportation under section 4511.09 of the Revised Code.

Only one name per county shall be assigned to a highway or a bridge under this section, and the name shall apply to the entire extension of the highway or the entire portion of the bridge within the county. A name assigned to a state highway or part thereof or a bridge under this section may be altered or abolished, pursuant to approval of the director, in the same manner as provided for assignment of the original name.

This section shall not in any way modify, limit, or restrict the authority of a municipal corporation to designate within the municipal corporation, the name of a highway or a bridge that is part of the state highway system. If a municipal corporation has acted pursuant to its authority and designated the name of a highway or bridge within the municipal corporation, no other name may be assigned to that highway or bridge under this section.

Sec. 5589.081.  (A) For purposes of this section, "studded tire" means any tire designed for use on a vehicle and equipped with metal studs or studs of wear-resisting material that project beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire; and "motor vehicle," "street or highway," "public safety vehicle," and "school bus" have the same meaning meanings as given those terms in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) No (1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, no person shall operate any motor vehicle, other than a public safety vehicle or school bus, that is equipped with studded tires on any street or highway in this state, except during the period extending from the first day of November of each year through the fifteenth day of April of the succeeding year.

(2) A person may operate a motor vehicle that is equipped with retractable studded tires with the studs retracted at any time of the year, but shall operate the motor vehicle with the studs extended only as provided in division (B)(1) of this section.

(C) This section does not apply to the use of tire chains when there is snow or ice on the streets or highways where such chains are being used, or the immediate vicinity thereof.

SECTION 2. That existing sections 5511.09 and 5589.081 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.