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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.