When Should Agencies Post Weight Limits on Local Highways in New York State?

Abstract

Most highways in New York State, United States, are maintained by local agencies, so decisions about operations and maintenance for low-volume roads are critical. Local highway officials use existing tools and methods to manage their highway networks. Posting of weight limits is done for a variety of reasons such as: structural limits on bridges, setting of truck routes through a community, and seasonal posting. A simple low-volume pavement model was developed using with the Cornell Pavement Frost Model to review various approaches to seasonal posting of roads and streets. Using a simple model for timing of seasonal posting can be a very effective tool for a local highway agency. The Cornell Local Roads Program developed such a spreadsheet tool currently being tested by local towns in New York State. The tool only requires a simple pavement model and average air temperature data.