By: Ogden S.B. No. 1763
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to vehicle weights.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 623.0113, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 623.0113. ROUTE RESTRICTIONS. (a) Except as provided
by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and (c), a permit issued under
Section 623.011 does not authorize the operation of a vehicle on:
(1) the national system of interstate and defense
highways in this state if the weight of the vehicle is greater than
authorized by federal law; or
(2) a bridge or county road for which a maximum weight
and load limit has been established and posted by the Texas
Transportation Commission under Section 621.102 or the
commissioners court of a county under Section 621.301, if the gross
weight of the vehicle and load or the axles and wheel loads are
greater than the limits established and posted under those
sections.
(b) The restrictions under Subsection (a)(2) do not apply if
a bridge described by Subsection (a)(2) provides the only public
vehicular access from an origin or to a destination by a holder of a
permit issued under Section 623.011, and the holder provides at
least two hours' prior notice of the needed access to the office of
the county sheriff by telephone or other means of communication.
(c) The restrictions under Subsection (a)(2) do not apply if
a county road described by Subsection (a)(2) provides the only
reasonable public vehicular access from an origin or to a
destination. Reasonable public access must be less than 33 percent
longer than the most direct access from an origin or to a
destination.
(d) The provisions of Subsections (a) and (c), relating to
the restrictions on the use of a county road, apply only after a
county has submitted the maximum weight limit of the county road as
provided by Section 621.301 and the department has added the county
road to the database of the maximum weight and load limit of each
county road located in the state and has added that information to
the Roadway Information and Load Restricted Bridge Map currently
maintained through an electronic database developed by the
department for the state bridge infrastructure and made available
through the department's Internet website.
(e) Any weight restriction for a county road, established
prior to September 1, 2001, is subject to the provisions of Section
621.301(a).
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.