Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2354-B is enacted to read:

§2354-B.__Pilot project to allow commercial vehicles at

Canadian weight limits to travel from Canadian

border at Houlton to New Limerick and from the

Canadian border at Calais to Baileyville

1.__Pilot project.__Notwithstanding section 2354, the Commissioner of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety and the Department of the Secretary of State, is authorized to conduct a pilot project that allows certain commercial vehicles at Canadian gross vehicle weight limits to travel from the Canadian border at Houlton to New Limerick and from the Canadian border at Calais to Baileyville.__ This pilot project must include the following conditions and components.

A.__The only allowable routes of travel under the pilot project are as follows:

(1)__Travel from the United States-Canada border at Houlton westerly on U.S. Route 2 to the intersection of U.S. Route 1, then north on U.S. Route 1 to the intersection of U.S. Route 2, then westerly on U.S. Route 2 to the Station Road in New Limerick;

(2)__Travel from the United States-Canada border at Houlton westerly on U.S. Route 2 to the intersection of U.S. Route 2-A, then westerly on U.S. Route 2-A to the railyard on Bangor Road in Houlton; and

(3)__Travel from the United States-Canada border in Calais north on U.S. Route 1 to Main Street in Baileyville.

B.__Allowable truck configuration under this pilot project must be limited to:

(1)__A 3-axle truck tractor with a 3-axle semitrailer at a gross vehicle weight of 108,900 pounds; and

(2)__A 3-axle truck tractor with a semitrailer- semitrailer combination, configured as a B-train double with 8 axles total, at a gross vehicle weight of 137,700 pounds.__The weight of the 2nd semitrailer may not exceed the weight of the first semitrailer.