Section 54-5-131 - Public hearings(a) State highway projects funded totally from state appropriations shall be subject to public hearings only in the following instances:(1) The commissioner determines that the public interest would be served if a public hearing was held; or(2) The commissioner determines that the project:(A) Requires the acquisition of significant amounts of right-of-way; or(B) Substantially changes the layout or function of connecting roadways or of the project roadway.(b) The department shall hold the hearings at convenient locations before plans for the project are finally adopted, and shall consider the economic and social effects of the proposed location of the proposed highway, as well as its impact on the environment, and its consistency with the goals and objectives of any urban planning as may have been adopted by the community.Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; T.C.A., § 54-579; Acts 1980, ch. 516, § 1; 1985, ch. 218, § 1.