“Hancock County commissioners are opposing a proposed pilot program designed to allow larger gross weights for trucks traveling on interstates.

At their April 1 meeting, the commissioners unanimously approved sending letters to U.S. Rep. Jefferson Shreve, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and U.S. Sen. Todd Young, stating their “strong opposition to any efforts to increase truck weight limits.” The letter was written by commissioner Gary McDaniel, with fellow commissioners Bill Spalding and Jeannine Gray also signing the letter.

McDaniel writes in the letter that Hancock County’s roads and bridges were not built to hold trucks weighing over 90,000 pounds, and increasing truck weights would pose a significant danger and safety risk to the county’s infrastructure.

“Our county is already facing substantial infrastructure challenges, with many of our bridges classified as poor or structurally deficient,” McDaniel writes in the letter. “Increasing truck weights would only accelerate the deterioration of these critical assets and drain resources that are already stretched thin.”

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