84R11274 JRR-D
By: Huffines S.B. No. 1607
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to five-year signature transportation projects of the
Texas Department of Transportation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 201.623 to read as follows:
Sec. 201.623. FIVE-YEAR SIGNATURE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.
(a) The department shall designate as a five-year signature
transportation project:
(1) one transportation project that will be completed
not later than August 31, 2020; and
(2) one transportation project that will:
(A) begin no earlier than the completion of the
project designated under Subdivision (1); and
(B) be completed not later than the earlier of
five years after the date the project began or August 31, 2025.
(b) A five-year signature transportation project designated
under Subsection (a):
(1) must be given priority for department resources,
including available funding and staff time, over other department
projects;
(2) must use existing rights-of-way;
(3) may not contain any form of tolls or managed lanes;
(4) may not be financed through the issuance of debt;
and
(5) must directly impact not less than 20 percent of
department districts.
(c) The department shall work with the federal government to
obtain all necessary approvals or waivers of required approvals in
order to ensure that each five-year signature transportation
project is complete by the deadlines described by Subsection (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, 2015.