| By Bob Weaver
Truckers in a four-county area are being ticketed because of new
weight limits being placed on bridges.
The enforcement is hitting gravel, building supply, concrete and
asphalt haulers, in addition to timber operators, and in some cases
does not give haulers any option to move their loads.
There may be a problem with the Corder Bridge at the Calhoun-Roane
line on US 33-119. There are three bridges on W.Va. 16 between
Arnoldsburg and Big Otter that have new lower limits.
The Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council says Calhoun, Roane, Wirt and
Jackson County have been targeted with the changes.
Lower weight limits have been posted on dozens of regional bridges, a
result of changes made by the West Virginia Legislature.
The new limits are an off-shoot of legislation that increased the
allowable weight limits for coal trucks from 65,000 to 120,000
pounds.
The issue appears to have regulation and enforcement glitches that
are unfair to haulers other than coal.
The U. S. 33 bridge in Spencer has a posted limit of 64,000 pounds,
which essentially blocks most hauling traffic through the town. The
DOH said this week the weight limit on the Spencer bridge was not
correct and will be increased.
A meeting was held in Parkersburg with Fred VanKirk of the
WDOT, representatives from the PSC Motor Carrier Weight
Enforcement Division and a host of people from Roane, Jackson and
Calhoun counties.
The issue appears to be centered on a bill passed by the 2003
legislature (SB 583), known as the Coal Resource Transportation
System (CRTS) bill.
Jim Mylott, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council,
says he believes in the 2004 session some technical corrections were
made to that legislation.
One of those amendments required that the DOT review the weight
limits on all state roads and raise those limits to 80 thousand pounds,
where appropriate.
Mylott says the legislation is "highly technical."
"Suffice it to say that it appears that the new weight limits are
restricting the ability of some truckers to carry a full load," he
said.
"It will or could have a major impact on the rural areas of the state,"
said Mylott.
Grantsville businessman "Tink" Erlewine said he was ticketed in
Mineral Wells for what he considered to be a small load of material,
but it exceeded a lower limit declared by new signage on the
bridge.
"The state raised the weight limits for the roads, then they lowered
the bridge limits," said Delegate Bob Ashley (Republican) from Roane
County.
Ashley said some truck owners were convinced by highway
officials to buy permits to haul larger loads ended up getting
shortchanged because they could not haul those loads across the
bridges.
Erlewine said this happened to him.
Most tractor-trailers are not affected because they are allowed to haul
larger loads because the weight is more evenly distributed.
Ashley said "Probably 80 percent of the trucks in this area are not
tractor-trailers. They are the tandem-axles that have a lower weight
limit."
Trucks headed to Roane and Calhoun from I-77 at Mineral Wells have
problems with a bridge in Mineral Wells and another near the
Wood-Wirt County line. A bridge at Reedy is supposed to be posted
with lower limits.
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