Seasonal weight restrictions are in effect on roads in Berrien and Van Buren counties.
Van Buren County Road Commission Managing Director Bret Witkowski tells us the seasonal restrictions limit how heavy vehicles can be at a time when the roads are most likely to fall apart.
“Heavy trucks need to be 35% less of their capacity weight because right now you’ve got the moisture from the thaw coming through the road, and this is when there can be a lot of damage, and obviously, heavy vehicles cause a lot of that damage,” Witkowski said.
And Witkowski says there is a lot of damage happening right now. As the weather warms and the ground thaws, you’ll start to see potholes everywhere.
“And we are out patching as much as and fast as we can to get to those, but we’re right now just chasing our tail and with the frost and a thaw just making it worse right now.”
Witkowski says farm vehicles and utility vehicles are exempt from weight restrictions because they pay a special fee to make up for the damage they might do. He says right now there are about 80 paid exemptions in effect around Van Buren County. Otherwise, the weight restrictions apply to all large vehicles, like semis.
Witkowski says people do get caught violating the rules. The road commission has a weigh master who goes out and checks when violations are reported. He tells us violators often are caught and then have to pay up.
