(a) At least 60 days prior to any action by the Department of Transportation abandoning a segment of road and removing the same from the State highway system for maintenance, except roads abandoned on request of the county commissioners under G.S. 136-63, the Department of Transportation shall notify by registered mail or personal delivery all owners of property adjoining the section of road to be abandoned whose whereabouts can be ascertained by due diligence. Said notice shall describe the section of road which is proposed to be abandoned and shall give the date, place and time of the Department of Transportation meeting at which the action abandoning said section of road is to be taken.
(b) In keeping with its overall zoning scheme and long-range plans regarding the extraterritorial jurisdiction area, a municipality may keep open and assume responsibility for maintenance of a road within one mile of its corporate limits once it is abandoned from the State highway system.