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5/11/04-The House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee voted May 10 to reject a proposal that sought to slow truck traffic on major highways in the state.
HB1068, sponsored by Rep. Dan Morrish, D-Jennings, would have made permanent the 55 mph speed limit for big rigs on Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya Basin.
The bill also would have made permanent the regulation that tractor-trailers with 10 or more wheels remain in the right lane of I-10 while traveling over the basin.
Gov. Mike Foster ordered both provisions last September after a truck driver and four others died in an 11-vehicle pileup accident on I-10 between Butte La Rose and Whiskey Bay.
Since then, trucks have been limited to 55 mph and travel in the right lane. Other vehicles, however, are allowed to travel in the left lane and run up to 60 mph.
Foster ordered the truck restrictions as part of a pilot program that will be evaluated after three years.
HB1068, sponsored by Rep. Dan Morrish, D-Jennings, would have made permanent the 55 mph speed limit for big rigs on Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya Basin.
The bill also would have made permanent the regulation that tractor-trailers with 10 or more wheels remain in the right lane of I-10 while traveling over the basin.
Gov. Mike Foster ordered both provisions last September after a truck driver and four others died in an 11-vehicle pileup accident on I-10 between Butte La Rose and Whiskey Bay.
Since then, trucks have been limited to 55 mph and travel in the right lane. Other vehicles, however, are allowed to travel in the left lane and run up to 60 mph.
Foster ordered the truck restrictions as part of a pilot program that will be evaluated after three years.