89R11572 AND-D
By: Alvarado S.B. No. 2347
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the process of establishing speed limits on a highway or
road near a prekindergarten.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.355(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commissioners court of a county may declare a lower
speed limit of not less than:
(1) 30 miles per hour on a county road or highway to
which this section applies, if the commissioners court determines
that the prima facie speed limit on the road or highway is
unreasonable or unsafe; or
(2) 20 miles per hour:
(A) in a residence district, unless the roadway
has been designated as a major thoroughfare by a city planning
commission; or
(B) on a county road or highway to which this
section applies that is located within 500 feet of a
prekindergarten, an elementary, secondary, or open-enrollment
charter school, or an institution of higher education, if approved
under Section 545.357.
SECTION 2. Sections 545.357(a), (b), (c), (d), and (e),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a municipality in which a
prekindergarten, a public or private elementary or secondary
school, an open-enrollment charter school, or an institution of
higher education is located shall, on request of the operator of a
prekindergarten or the governing body of a school or institution of
higher education, hold a public hearing at least once each calendar
year to consider prima facie speed limits on a highway in the
municipality, including a highway of the state highway system, near
the prekindergarten, school, or institution of higher education.
(b) If a county road outside the state highway system is
located within 500 feet of a prekindergarten, a public or private
elementary or secondary school, an open-enrollment charter school,
or an institution of higher education that is not in a municipality,
the commissioners court of the county, on request of the operator of
a prekindergarten or the governing body of a school or institution
of higher education, shall hold a public hearing at least once each
calendar year to consider the prima facie speed limit on the road
near the prekindergarten, school, or institution of higher
education.
(c) A municipal governing body or commissioners court, on
request of the operator of a prekindergarten or the governing body
of a school or institution of higher education, may hold one public
hearing for all prekindergartens, public and private elementary and
secondary schools, open-enrollment charter schools, and
institutions of higher education in its jurisdiction.
(d) The Texas Transportation Commission, on request of the
operator of a prekindergarten or the governing body of a school or
institution of higher education, shall hold a public hearing at
least once each calendar year to consider prima facie speed limits
on highways in the state highway system that are near
prekindergartens, public or private elementary or secondary
schools, open-enrollment charter schools, or institutions of
higher education.
(e) On request of the operator of a prekindergarten or the
governing body of a school or institution of higher education
following a public hearing held under this section, the
commissioners court, municipal governing body, or Texas
Transportation Commission, as applicable, shall conduct an
engineering and traffic investigation for the highway or road that
is the subject of the request. On review of the results of the
investigation, the commissioners court, municipal governing body,
or Texas Transportation Commission has the same authority and
discretion to alter prima facie speed limits as provided by Section
545.353, 545.355, or 545.356, as applicable. Following each public
hearing held under this section, the operator of a prekindergarten
or the governing body of a school or institution of higher education
may make only one request under this subsection for an engineering
and traffic investigation.
SECTION 3. Section 545.357(f), Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
(4) "Prekindergarten" means a facility that primarily
provides prekindergarten services.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.