Road Restrictions
See the Road Restriction Map
For more info, visit the MnDOT website
All streets are posted 5 ton, unless otherwise posted
The following streets are posted 9 ton: | The following streets are posted 7 ton: |
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Why do we enforce Road Restrictions?
Every spring, cities, counties, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation restrict the weight of vehicles allowed on certain roads. Many people look at this as an unnecessary restriction of commerce or a penalty that should be circumvented as an important method of protecting a very expensive investment.
One truck trip with an axle load of 10 tons is equivalent to 2000 plus automobile trips on any given road. In spring, when the roadbeds are going from winter’s frozen solid condition to normal summer conditions, there is a time when the pavement base turns to mush and offers little to no support for the blacktop surface. This situation occurs at different times and different depths on roads depending on moisture levels in the soil, soil temperatures, and freeze/thaw cycles.
Just one heavy load on a road can cause microscopic cracks that are forced to open wider by freeze/thaw cycles until more moisture is allowed into the road base. This process is the road’s self-destruction program that produces potholes, alligator cracking, and eventually, total road failure. That one heavy load could cause damages worth $25,000 per mile.
Don’t look at road restrictions as some sort of handicap that is imposed on the trucking and construction industry, but consider road restrictions as a way to protect and preserve our valuable road system.
Watch for load limit signs in early spring!
Other Agencies
Sherburne County Public Works 763.765.3300
Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)