Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2395, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:

4. Designation by counties and municipalities. County commissioners and municipal officers may designate public ways other than those in subsection 3 and impose restrictions within their respective jurisdictions similar to those made by the Department of Transportation under subsection 3 on state aid highways and bridges or other public ways within a municipality or county.

SUMMARY

Current law does not allow municipalities or counties to impose restrictions on the gross weight, speed, operation or type of equipment operated on state aid highways. The option available to municipalities and counties that wish to regulate such roads is to take over the roads as town roads. That option, however, results in a loss of highway funds to the municipality or county.

This bill allows municipalities and counties to regulate state aid highways and bridges in the same manner in which they are presently able to regulate other public ways within their jurisdictions, while leaving those roads as state aid highways and while allowing the municipality to continue to receive its share of the highway funds to maintain those roads.