Houston County Commission places resolution opposing Senate Bill 110 on Monday agenda

The Houston County Commission placed on its Monday agenda a resolution opposing Senate Bill 110, which county leaders say would raise allowable truck axle and gross weights and increase wear on local roads and bridges.

The resolution, read aloud by the Chairman, said the county opposes SB 110 because higher allowable weights would "tear up our county roads" and reverse progress made under the Rebuild Alabama Act. The Chairman read figures included in the draft resolution alleging the bill "is estimated to cause $54,900,000 in additional damage to county roads annually" and would require the Alabama Department of Transportation to spend an extra "$150,000,000 each year" on repairs. The Chairman added that SB 110 "provides no additional funding, leaving taxpayers to cover the costs."

The matter was added to the agenda by unanimous consent: "Any objection to placing this item on the agenda? No objection," the Chairman said.

County Engineer (title shown in the meeting) urged opposition as well, saying, "we definitely do not wanna encourage any increases in weight on our roads," and warned the commission that increased weights would accelerate pavement deterioration. The commission discussion included a restatement of current weight limits cited in the meeting: a gross vehicle weight limit of 80,000 pounds and an axle limit described in the discussion as 40,000 pounds for tandem axles and 20,000 pounds for a single axle; the Chairman said he did not want to accept an increase to 22,000 pounds per axle.

The Chairman noted that higher axle weights can "increase pavement wear by 30%" for relatively small increases in vehicle weight, language drawn from the resolution text. The draft also states increased weights could affect stopping distances, raise crash risks and force weight restrictions on listed bridges; the Chair read those bridge counts as "8 state maintained and 348 county maintained bridges."

County staff reported they have taken local advocacy steps: County Engineer said he and a colleague recently traveled to Montgomery to meet with a senator about the bill. No formal vote on the resolution occurred at this meeting; the commission scheduled full consideration of the resolution at the public meeting and public hearing set for 10 a.m. Monday.

The commission and staff described the addition to the agenda as preparatory: the resolution will be considered at the Monday meeting, when commissioners can debate and vote on a final text.