By: Alvarado, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 2682

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2009; May 8, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security; May 23, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 23, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2682 By: Wentworth

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of municipalities to alter speed limits.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 545.356, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(b-1) The [Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), the] governing body of a municipality, for a highway or a part of a highway in an urban district in the municipality that is not an officially designated or marked highway or road of the state highway system, [is 35 feet or less in width, and along which vehicular parking is not prohibited on one or both sides of the highway,] may declare a lower speed limit of not less than 25 miles per hour, if the governing body determines that the prima facie speed limit on the highway is unreasonable or unsafe.

(b-2) Subsection (b-1) applies only [does not apply] to a two-lane, undivided highway or part of a highway that is abutted solely by residential property [has four or more lanes used for vehicular travel].

(d) The governing body of a municipality that declares a lower speed limit on a highway or part of a highway under Subsection (b-1), not later than February 1 of each year, shall publish on its Internet website and submit to the department a report that compares for each of the two previous calendar years:

(1) the number of traffic citations issued by peace officers of the municipality and the alleged speed of the vehicles, for speed limit violations on the highway or part of the highway;

(2) the number of warning citations issued by peace officers of the municipality on the highway or part of the highway; and

(3) the number of vehicular accidents that resulted in injury or death and were attributable to speed limit violations on the highway or part of the highway.

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, 2009.

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