Senate Bill No. 68

(By Senator Love)

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[Introduced January 14, 2004; referred to the Committee on Transportation; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16A-18 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing a reduced toll for motorcycles using the West Virginia turnpike.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-16A-18 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM AUTHORITY.

§17-16A-18. Cessation of tolls; commuter pass system.

(a) Except as provided herein, when all bonds issued under the provisions of this article in connection with any parkway project or projects and the interest thereon shall have been paid or a sufficient amount for the payment of all such bonds and the interest thereon to the maturity thereof shall have been set aside in trust for the benefit of the bondholders, such project or projects, if then in good condition and repair to the satisfaction of the commissioner of the state division of highways, shall be transferred to the state division of highways and shall thereafter be maintained by the state division of highways free of tolls: Provided, That the parkways authority may thereafter charge tolls for the use of any such project and for the reconstruction, improvement, maintenance and repair thereof, except as may be limited by applicable federal laws, and pledge such tolls to the payment of bonds issued under the provisions of this article in connection with another project or projects, or any combination thereof, but any such pledge of tolls of a parkway project to the payment of bonds issued in connection with another project or projects shall not be effectual until the principal of and the interest on the bonds issued in connection with the first mentioned project shall have been paid or provision made for their payment.
(b) No later than the first day of February, one thousand nine hundred ninety, the parkways authority shall discontinue, remove and not relocate all toll collection facilities on the West Virginia Turnpike as the same existed on June first, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, except for the three main toll barriers and collection facilities, and provided solely that the provisions of section eighteen-a are complied with, the toll collection facilities at the intersection of U.S. Route 19 (Corridor "L") and said turnpike: Provided, That nothing herein may be construed to prohibit placement of new tolls to the extent permitted by federal law for any new expressway, turnpike, trunkline, feeder road, state local service road, or park and forest road connected to the West Virginia Turnpike and constructed after the first day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine.
(c) Effective the first day of July, two thousand four, a motorcycle, as defined in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code may be charged a reduced toll to travel on the West Virginia Turnpike.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a reduced toll for motorcycles using the West Virginia Turnpike

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.