A handful of bills in the California Legislature that would have taken a big bite out of truckers’ and other drivers’ pocketbooks have died.

Two bills offered by state Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, were for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Go California” transportation package. The package is designed to speed up construction and prevent the use of transportation funds to fill gaps in the state’s general budget fund.

For highway users, it could mean more privatized toll roads and truck-only lanes.

The bills would have allowed the California Department of Transportation to hire private companies to design and build highways, rather than use Caltrans engineers for designs that are then put out for bids from contractors. The legislation also would have let private companies finance and build toll roads, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

The state would own the new roads, the private companies would be allowed to charge tolls on them for up to 35 years. At that point, the state would assume control of the tolls.

SB371 aimed at speeding up road construction by assigning both design and construction phases to a single contractor.

SB561 would have authorized public-private partnerships to help finance highways. It also cited the potential use of high-occupancy toll lanes as well as paved the way for truck-only lanes.

Runner told the San Bernardino County Sun that SB561 could have helped pay for the long-envisioned High Desert Corridor spanning from Interstates 5 and 15 “either as a toll expressway or as a commercial tollway,” Runner said. “As a tollway, a special toll would be established for trucks, but not for cars.”

Both bills were held in the Senate Appropriations Committee at the deadline for bills to advance out of their originating chamber, effectively killing them for the year.

A companion measure – AB850 – by Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, remained in the Assembly Appropriations Committee at the deadline.

Another piece of legislation, also part of Schwarzenegger’s road plan, met the same fate. AB1266, sponsored by Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, would have allowed Caltrans to start road construction as soon as the design is finished for each phase of a project. It is intended to speed up work for less money.