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Summit County, CO Colorado
DENVER — Rep. Dan Gibbs’ once-troubled chain law bill has inched along to its final stopping point.
House Bill 1229 passed out of the Senate on Wednesday by a 33-1 vote, and is on the way to Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk, awaiting his signature.
The freshman legislator from Silverthorne proposed the measure in an attempt to ramp up the penalties for truck drivers who don’t abide by chain law restrictions, many times spinning out and causing the interstate to close, which keeps tourism dollars out of the mountains.
The bill would increase the penalty from $100 to $500 for commercial truck drivers who are caught without chains when the chain law is in effect, and from $500 to $1,000 for truck drivers who don’t chain up and block a lane of traffic as a result.
The bill was originally opposed by the Colorado Motor Carriers Association and the Teamsters, however legislators were able to strike a compromise with the two during a series of meetings and both groups supported the legislation by the time it left the House Transportation Committee in mid-March.
During that time, the Colorado Department of Transportation committed $2.475 million to add new chain-up areas along the I-70 corridor and improve existing chain stations. That work will begin this summer.
<I> Nicole Formosa can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at nformosa@summitdaily.com. </I>
DENVER — Rep. Dan Gibbs’ once-troubled chain law bill has inched along to its final stopping point.
House Bill 1229 passed out of the Senate on Wednesday by a 33-1 vote, and is on the way to Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk, awaiting his signature.
The freshman legislator from Silverthorne proposed the measure in an attempt to ramp up the penalties for truck drivers who don’t abide by chain law restrictions, many times spinning out and causing the interstate to close, which keeps tourism dollars out of the mountains.
The bill would increase the penalty from $100 to $500 for commercial truck drivers who are caught without chains when the chain law is in effect, and from $500 to $1,000 for truck drivers who don’t chain up and block a lane of traffic as a result.
The bill was originally opposed by the Colorado Motor Carriers Association and the Teamsters, however legislators were able to strike a compromise with the two during a series of meetings and both groups supported the legislation by the time it left the House Transportation Committee in mid-March.
During that time, the Colorado Department of Transportation committed $2.475 million to add new chain-up areas along the I-70 corridor and improve existing chain stations. That work will begin this summer.
<I> Nicole Formosa can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at nformosa@summitdaily.com. </I>
