By Chavez H.C.R. No. 85 77R2961 NBH-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, While the North American Free Trade Agreement 1-2 (NAFTA) has boosted the economy in Texas and the nation, the 1-3 increase in heavy truck traffic has caused excessive wear on county 1-4 and city roads that lie within the border commercial zone; and 1-5 WHEREAS, According to the Texas Border Infrastructure 1-6 Coalition more than 77 percent of U.S.-Mexico trade passes through 1-7 the Texas border region annually; in 1999 this amounted to 4.4 1-8 million trucks crossing the Texas-Mexico border carrying $127.6 1-9 billion worth of commerce; and 1-10 WHEREAS, Many of these trucks exceed the weight limits 1-11 imposed by both federal and state law, causing extensive damage to 1-12 public roads and bridges, especially the "off-system" roads that 1-13 are maintained by counties and municipalities, most of which are 1-14 not designed to handle these heavy commercial trucks; and 1-15 WHEREAS, The Texas Department of Transportation estimates 1-16 that there are more than 17,000 miles of load-posted roadways in 1-17 Texas; many of these roadways are Farm-to-Market roads that were 1-18 built in the 1940s and 1950s using design standards for a legal 1-19 weight limit of 48,000 pounds, or approximately 60 percent of the 1-20 weight of some of the heavier trucks today; and 1-21 WHEREAS, There are approximately 7,250 deficient bridges on 1-22 off-system roads in Texas, and while the Texas Department of 1-23 Transportation is in the process of upgrading these bridges, the 1-24 scope of the bridge rehabilitation required means that, at current 2-1 funding levels and practices, it could take decades to complete the 2-2 undertaking, assuming no more bridges become deficient; it is 2-3 important, therefore, that trucks be weighed before they are 2-4 permitted to operate in the commercial border zone, so as not to 2-5 cause further infrastructure damage; and 2-6 WHEREAS, In addition to contributing to the destruction of 2-7 transportation infrastructure, overweight trucks pose safety 2-8 hazards for other vehicles sharing the roads; the University of 2-9 Michigan Transportation Research Institute estimates that as the 2-10 weight of a truck goes from 65,000 to 80,000 pounds, the risk of an 2-11 accident involving a fatality increases by 50 percent; and 2-12 WHEREAS, County and city governments within the commercial 2-13 border zone would benefit greatly from having additional weigh 2-14 stations situated in their jurisdictions and additional law 2-15 enforcement officers to conduct weight inspections of commercial 2-16 vehicles traveling on roads that they maintain; and 2-17 WHEREAS, While the entire nation benefits from NAFTA, the 2-18 local governments along the Texas-Mexico border must bear the high 2-19 cost of overweight truck inspections and repairing damage to the 2-20 roads resulting from the increase in heavy commercial vehicle 2-21 traffic on the off-system roads; now, therefore, be it 2-22 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-23 hereby urge the United States Congress to create a federal category 2-24 under the NAFTA agreement, for NAFTA traffic-related infrastructure 2-25 damage, to provide counties and municipalities with funding for 2-26 commercial vehicle weigh stations within the 20-mile commercial 2-27 border zone; and, be it further 3-1 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 3-2 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 3-3 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 3-4 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the 3-5 Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 3-6 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 3-7 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.