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603 KAR 5:250. Selection of National Truck Network highways and reasonable access to these highways


Published: 2015

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      603 KAR 5:250.

Selection of National Truck Network highways and reasonable access to these

highways.

 

      RELATES TO: KRS

189.221, 189.222, 23 C.F.R. Part 658

      STATUTORY

AUTHORITY: KRS 189.222, 23 C.F.R. Part 658

      NECESSITY,

FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 189.222 authorizes the Secretary of

Transportation to establish reasonable size limits for motor vehicles using the

State Primary Road System. 23 CFR Part 658 requires the states to establish

access review procedures certified by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

for purposes of allowing the operation of specified vehicles beyond the

original limits of the National Truck Network as authorized by the Surface

Transportation Appropriations Act of 1982. This administrative regulation is

promulgated in order to provide for the procedures for the selection of

additional highway segments to be included in the National Truck Network and

terminal and service facility access review procedures to be administered by

the Department of Highways.

 

      Section 1.

Definitions. (1) "STAA vehicle" shall mean a vehicle which exceeds

the dimension limits set forth in 603 KAR 5:070, Section 1, but which does not

exceed the dimensions prescribed by 603 KAR 5:070, Section 2(2). This includes

the larger vehicles authorized by the Surface Transportation Assistant Act of

1980 as amended and 23 CFR Part 658.

      (2)

"National Truck Network (NTN)" shall mean the system of highway

routes in Kentucky described in 603 KAR 5:070, Section 3, and Appendix A to 23

CFR Part 658.

      (3)

"Reasonable access" shall mean the right for an STAA vehicle to

access a terminal or service facility under the provisions of 23 CFR Part

658.19.

      (4)

"Service facility" shall mean any commercial facility that provides

repair, fuel, food, or rest to an STAA vehicle or its operator.

      (5)

"Terminal" shall mean any location where freight either originates,

terminates, or is handled in the transportation process, or where commercial

motor carriers maintain operating facilities.

 

      Section 2. 23

CFR Part 658. Selection of the National Truck Network highways and access to

terminals and services by STAA vehicles shall be governed by 23 CFR Part 658.

 

      Section 3. Right

of Access Without Review. Access to terminal and service facilities shall be

allowed for STAA vehicles up to five (5) driving miles from the National Truck

Network on state-maintained routes and up to one (1) mile on any

nonstate-maintained route except where STAA vehicles are prohibited from using

a route following the provisions set forth in Section 5 of this administrative

regulation.

 

      Section 4.

Automatic Access by Special Vehicles. (1) Household goods transporters

automatic access. An STAA vehicle operated by a household goods carrier who has

been certificated as a household goods carrier by either the Interstate

Commerce Commission or the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet under the provisions

of KRS Chapter 281 shall have access between any points needed for the loading

and unloading of the motor vehicle except where STAA vehicles specifically are

prohibited from using a route following the provisions set forth in Section 5

of this administrative regulation.

      (2) Short

semitrailers automatic access. An STAA vehicle being operated in a truck

tractor-semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length which

does not exceed twenty-eight and one-half (28 1/2) feet shall have access to

any route except where STAA vehicles specifically are prohibited from using a

route following the provisions set forth in Section 5 of this administrative

regulation.

 

      Section 5. Use

of Route Prohibited. Any route within the one (1) mile or five (5) mile

automatic access allowance set forth in Section 3 of this administrative

regulation or in the automatic access allowed by the provisions of Section 4 of

this administrative regulation that has significant, clearly-evident safety

problems may by Transportation Cabinet official order or local ordinance which

has been reviewed and approved by the Transportation Cabinet be closed to use

by STAA vehicles provided there is compliance with the following:

      (1) If the

prohibition of use is on a state-maintained route, an official order for that

purpose shall be issued by the Transportation Secretary with the approval of

the State Highway Engineer.

      (2) If the

prohibition of use relating to a locally-owned highway is the result of action

by a local jurisdiction, that jurisdiction shall provide the State Highway

Engineer with copies of the appropriate ordinance for review by the Department

of Highways in order to ensure consistency of the local ordinance with 23 CFR

Part 658. The Transportation Cabinet shall either approve, disapprove or offer

changes to the local ordinance within thirty (30) days of receipt of the

ordinance. If the Transportation Cabinet fails to act within the thirty (30) days,

the local ordinance shall become effective on the 31st day.

      (3) Any route

normally falling within the five (5) mile or one (1) mile automatic access

which is prohibited for use by STAA vehicles under the provisions of this

section shall be identified by the placement of a traffic sign by either the

Department of Highways or the local government unit having jurisdiction over

the route.

      (4) Any route

normally falling within the five (5) mile or one (1) mile automatic access

which is prohibited for use by STAA vehicles under the provisions of this

section shall be identified in 603 KAR 5:070.

 

      Section 6.

Request for New Route to be Available to STAA Vehicles or Terminal and Service

Facility Access Review. Any owner or operator of an STAA vehicle who has need

to operate a STAA vehicle on a publicly-owned highway route segment not set

forth in 603 KAR 5:070 or who cannot reach a terminal or service facility

through the access provisions of Section 3 of this administrative regulation

and the highway segments set forth in 603 KAR 5:070 may request review of a

specific route by the following procedures:

      (1) The

applicant shall file a written request addressed to the Division of Planning,

419 Ann Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40622, in an envelope plainly marked "STAA

Route Review";

      (2) The

applicant currently shall mark on a state highway map the routes the applicant

travels within Kentucky. The applicant shall also provide a written description

of these routes;

      (3) The

applicant shall mark on the same map used in subsection (2) of this section the

proposed route to be reviewed and, if appropriate, mark the terminal or service

facility proposed to be used by STAA vehicles. The applicant shall also provide

a written description of the route desired to be traveled in Kentucky, the

reason why the route is desired to be used, and furnish any other appropriate

proof of need to use the route;

      (4) The

applicant shall describe the STAA motor vehicle proposed to be operated by the

applicant over the route, including kingpin distance of trailers as measured to

the center of the rear axle and the amount of rear overhang as measured from

the center of the rear axle to the rear of the trailer. These dimensions shall

not exceed a forty-one (41) foot kingpin distance nor a rear overhang of five

(5) feet; and

      (5) The

applicant shall agree to supply a tractor-semitrailer vehicle combination in

which the semitrailer is fifty-three (53) feet long and 102 inches wide and the

tractor is a standard model rather than a short, snub-nosed model and driver

for use in demonstrating vehicle performances on the route requested to be

reviewed within thirty (30) days.

 

      Section 7.

Access Review Procedure. (1) After receipt of a "Request for Terminal or

Service Facility Access Review" which meets the requirements of Section 6

of this administrative regulation, the Transportation Cabinet shall have ninety

(90) days in which to inspect the route as specified in Section 8 of this

administrative regulation, make a recommendation as to whether the route should

be approved as an access route, obtain the approval of the State Highway

Engineer, and obtain the secretary's approval of an official order designating

the route as part of the access routes for the NTN system, if so warranted.

Otherwise, it shall notify the applicant that the request has been refused.

      (2) In making

its findings, the Transportation Cabinet shall consider all of the factors set

forth in Section 8 of this administrative regulation. Failure to meet any one

(1) of the application requirements set forth in Section 5 of this

administrative regulation shall be grounds for denial of a request for access

review.

      (3) Failure by

the Transportation Cabinet to either approve or reject the request within the

ninety (90) day period shall constitute automatic approval of this request.

      (4) If the route

requested for terminal or service facility access is locally-owned and not

state-maintained, the Department of Highways shall immediately notify the

jurisdictional unit of government of the request. The local government unit may

also review the request and respond to the Department of Highways with its

recommendations within sixty (60) days.

      (5) If a route

requested for terminal or service facility access is of sufficient dimensions

and geometrics that there is no question by the Transportation Cabinet of its

suitability for inclusion as an access route to the NTN, the route may be

included as an access route to the NTN by the Department of Highways without

the tests prescribed in Section 8 of this administrative regulation.

 

      Section 8.

Provision for Over-the-road or Template Tests. A test drive of the terminal or

service facility access review route shall be accomplished except where

as-built planimetric plan drawings are available at a sufficient scale for use

of template measures. In these cases the template measures may be substituted

for an STAA vehicle test drive over the route. Where no suitable as-built plans

exist, the applicant-furnished STAA dimension test vehicle shall be driven over

the route and the vehicle's performance recorded so as to provide a permanent

record demonstrating the adequacy or inadequacy of its performance. The test

drive shall be performed at or near the highway segment speed limit in order to

approximate actual conditions.

 

      Section 9.

Engineering and Safety Criteria. Any route requested for terminal or service

facility access review in which the test drive or template measures required by

Section 8 of this administrative regulation found the route to be inadequate

shall be subjected to an engineering and safety analysis. After a route

inadequacy is shown by the test imposed under Section 8 of this administrative

regulation any one (1) of the following design deficiencies shall disqualify a

route from further consideration for inclusion in the National Truck Network:

      (1) A two (2)

lane, two (2) directional route which has a lane width of less than ten (10)

feet;

      (2) A route

which has a structure on which the bridge weight allowance is less than 80,000

pounds for use by a tractor semitrailer combination with five (5) or more axles

or is less than 73,500 pounds for use by a straight truck with four (4) or more

axles;

      (3) A route

which has an underpass that has a vertical clearance of less than thirteen (13)

feet six (6) inches);

      (4) A route

which has a bridge structure with a width, measured curb to curb, of less than

twenty-two (22) feet;

      (5) A route

greater than one (1) mile in length where the sight passing distance over fifty

(50) percent of any segment of the route is restricted to lengths less than

1,500 feet;

      (6) A route

where a combination of two (2) or more of the following conditions on any

segment of the route is of a magnitude to constitute a clearly-evident safety

hazard;

      (a) There exists

high degrees of horizontal or vertical curvature;

      (b) The roadway

shoulders are less than four (4) feet in width; or

      (c) There is a

narrow bridge on the road segment;

      (7) A route on

which the turning radii of urban intersections are insufficient, as measured by

template or on-site observation, to permit safe turning maneuvers by an STAA

vehicle or a route on which the operation of an STAA vehicle constitute a

safety hazard to other vehicle operators or public or private property by

reason of vehicle off-tracking or opposing lane encroachment; or

      (8) A route on

which the incidence of traffic accidents is of a magnitude to indicate that any

portion of the route is unsafe for use by STAA vehicles.

 

      Section 10.

Request for New NTN Route for Use by STAA Vehicles. After receipt of a request

for a new NTN route for use by STAA vehicles which meets the requirements of

Section 5 of this administrative regulation and which was not submitted in

order to reach a terminal or service facility, the Transportation Cabinet shall

subject the requested route to the engineering and safety analysis set forth in

Section 9 of this administrative regulation. (17 Ky.R. 3066; Am. 3468; 18 Ky.R.

280; eff. 7-2-91.)