TO: | Honorable Steve Ogden, Chair, Senate Committee on Infrastructure Development and Security |
FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | SB1763 by Ogden (Relating to vehicle weights.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
---|---|
2004 | $0 |
2005 | $0 |
2006 | $0 |
2007 | $0 |
2008 | $0 |
Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from STATE HIGHWAY FUND 6 |
---|---|
2004 | ($3,087,465) |
2005 | ($3,087,465) |
2006 | $0 |
2007 | $0 |
2008 | $0 |
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to clarify that route restrictions currently in place for bridges with posted maximum weight limits also apply to county roads where maximum weight limits are posted by a county commissioners court. The bill includes a stipulation that the holder of a permit issued under Section 623.011 must provide to the office of the county sheriff a minimum 2-hour notice of a needed access prior to crossing a load zoned bridge that provides the only vehicular access to or from the permit holder's origin or destination when the weight of the vehicle and load is greater than the posted limits. The bill would both include and exempt county roads from the restrictions for reasons and conditions specified in the bill, and would require the restrictions for a county road established prior to September 1, 2001, to be subject to the load limits established by the commissioners court of a county with the concurrence of the Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2003.
TxDOT estimates that during the period while the agency is developing a county road load zoned database, significant damage could occur to existing county roads because all load limits would, in effect, be removed by the provisions of the bill. TxDOT estimates the cost to repair the damage would be $2,000 per lane mile for 2,930 miles of failed county roads over a 5-year period, for a total cost of $1,172,000. Further, TxDOT estimates that the cost to the counties for the engineering analysis of load zoned county roads required by the bill would be $1,600 per analysis and anticipates 11,720 analyses, for a total of $18,752,200. Cumulative statewide damage repair and load zoned analysis would have a combined total of $19,924,200. Because road repair projects vary in length of time for completion, it is assumed this amount would be spread out over several years.
The total fiscal impact to each county would vary depending on the number of county roads and bridges that would be affected per county, the extent of needed repairs, and the number of engineer analyses required.
Source Agencies: | 601 Department of Transportation
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LBB Staff: | JK, JO, RR, RT, DLBa, MW
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