Appleton Post-Crescent: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs transportation bills in Appleton
Thursday, November 10, 2011
APPLETON — Gov. Scott Walker signed nine transportation bills Wednesday that he said would strip away some regulation while maintaining safety on the state's roads.
Walker, who spoke at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton before signing the bills at his freight industry summit, said moving freight is not only about transportation, but workforce development.
"These pieces of legislation allow us to make very reasonable accommodations and allow us to protect our infrastructure based on logic and common sense," Walker said.
Some of the new laws strip the requirements for permits from the Department of Transportation for special loads.
For instance, Assembly Bill 253 repeals a previous law for vehicles carrying poles, pipe or girders in excess of 40 feet. The new limit is 65 feet for a single vehicle without a permit and 120 feet for a two-vehicle combination.
Steve Krieser, executive assistant for the DOT, called the previous law a "bureaucratic burden" that did not reflect laws in bordering states.
"You might have a storm incident with heavy damage to utility poles. Utilities were rushing to get replacements — transporting them through other states without problem," Krieser said. "When they get to our border they have to stop, get detained, go through our process to get a permit, and it's difficult. This ensures the free flow."
Revenue generated by permits that have been repealed will be made up by savings in creating the permits in the first place, Krieser said.
The other eight bills signed into law were:
» AB 64: Allows the DOT to issue modular home movement permits for single trips in a single load, instead of its components.
» AB 248: Allows the DOT to issue consecutive month permits for vehicles transporting overheight loads of hay or straw.
» AB 252: Extends the annual end date for the exception related to seasonal weight limits for agricultural crops.
» AB 254: Increases the maximum length of single vehicles without a permit from 40 to 45 feet.
» AB 267: Allows for certain three-vehicle combinations on highways without a permit.
» SB 215: Lowers registration fees for semis weighing between 12,000 and 14,000 pounds from $283 to $123.
» SB 222: Allows the DOT to issue overweight permits for vehicles that have six or more axles transporting sealed loads not to exceed 90,000 pounds.
» SB 223: Allows the DOT to issue overweight permits for vehicles with six or more axles transporting certain agriculture products.
