A massive slate of changes to North Carolina’s transportation laws advanced in the state Senate Wednesday, touching on everything from e-bikes to delivery drones, toll roads, left-lane drivers, speed-limit rules, driver’s licenses and more.
Among other changes, the newly rewritten text of House Bill 1094 would:
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- Let people renew their driver’s licenses early, before they expire.
- Allow the DMV to give people involved in car wrecks the unredacted copy of their accident report.
- Privatize the signs on highway exits that point people to local gas stations, restaurants and hotels.
- Explicitly authorize local governments to regulate battery-powered e-bicycles.
- Require children and teens to wear helmets on faster e-bikes.
- Loosen the rules for drones or self-driving vehicles, intended for delivery companies, to allow them to be larger and move faster.
Members of the Senate Transportation Committee had almost nothing to say about the bill as it was rushed through committee Wednesday, indicating that it’s likely heading to fast passage in the chamber before heading back to the state House for final approval.
Committee leaders said all the changes have been pre-approved by House leaders in closed-door discussions, so the bill could quickly arrive to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk.
The committee room was packed with lobbyists for affected industries and groups, but none of them or any other members of the public commented on any piece of the bill.
Infrastructure planning
The transportation committee on Wednesday also considered Senate Bill 1010, which would revamp much of the way North Carolina handles future infrastructure projects. It would set up a new committee, with members appointed by the legislature, governor and state treasurer. That committee would be in charge of coming up with long-term plans for building new roads, utilities, hospitals and more.
Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, said that with North Carolina regularly ranking as among the fastest-growing states in the country, there needs to be a more thoughtful strategy for growth than the current piecemeal approach in which dozens of big decisions are handled by just as many state agencies or local governments — often with little discussion between agencies or strategy focused on how those decisions might impact development decades down the line.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Lee said of centralizing the state’s planning decisions. “I think it will set us on a really strong path moving forward to help us get a strong infrastructure plan in all areas of health care, transportation, and safety.”
It would also direct that work to be privatized in some cases. It was met with strong approval from the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business advocacy group.
“North Carolina's continued economic growth depends on infrastructure systems capable of supporting a rapidly expanding population, evolving industries and increasing business demands,” Chamber lobbyist Cameron Dawson said. “Infrastructure today extends far beyond roads and bridges. Energy reliability, water and wastewater capacity, housing availability, supply chain resilience, broadband access, and site readiness are all increasingly central to our state's long-term competitiveness.”
Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, suggested the bill be expanded even further to include schools and energy infrastructure. Lee said the group he’s proposing to create would have the ability to add those areas of focus if it so desired. But the first step, he said, is simply to create the group to let it all get started.
“Nothing is going to happen without the legislature moving forward with a plan, and the governor as well,” Lee said. “That's why we've kind of got it set up this way.”
The committee didn’t vote on the bill immediately; it’s expected to come up for debate again before moving forward.