“The weight limit for large vehicles on Jefferson County-maintained roads has been reduced from 85,000 pounds to 68,000.
County Judge Gerald Robinson confirmed the change Thursday, adding he posted the new weight limit on county roads going into the jurisdiction. The change also comes at a time when citizens have voiced their opinions about the condition of their roads, feeling Jefferson County isn’t doing enough to keep them up.
“The road construction of a county road is not the same as a state highway,” Robinson explained. “We don’t have the base. We don’t have the foundation for a road to handle that type of weight.”
Robinson explained the county has not tried to fund for the road base because the weight limit on most of the county roads is anywhere from 64,000 to 68,000 pounds. He said large-vehicle truckers tend to traverse county roads instead of state highways because they don’t want to run into officials from the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), supposedly fearing they may overload the roads.”