WHEREAS Section 14 of the Motor Transport Act allows municipalities to limit gross weight borne by an axle or axle group, subject to regulations;AND WHEREAS Alberta Regulation 127/98, s.12(3) was revised in 1998 to increase the allowable axle weight for some users, including domestic water haulers, from 80% to 90%;AND WHEREAS axle weight limits are placed on certain roads due to the weakness of the road structure in order to reduce damage to gravel and cold-mix roads, thus reducing maintenance costs;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties request the Government of Alberta to amend Section 14 of the Motor Transport Act to authorize municipalities to determine the appropriate axle weights for local roads within their respective jurisdictions that they are responsible for, and NOT be subject to regulations which would limit this authority.

Alberta Regulation 127/98, s.12(3) (Motor Transport Act) has provided for exemptions from imposed road bans for trucks hauling certain materials, such as bread, mail and domestic drinking water.A change to this regulation in August 1998 allows these trucks to haul even more during road bans; the axle weight limit was increased from 80% to 90% (regardless of road bans).It is understood that allowing larger loads will result in a lower delivered material cost, however, the damage to the roads will increase.The impact on Strathcona Countys extensive cold-mix network (over 400 km) of the “extra” 10% increases potential road damage by 200%. Given an unchanged service level, local taxpayers will bear the cost of this additional road damage, which will be much more than what could be expected to be saved on the delivered material price.It is therefore believed that because local governments (or municipalities) have the authority and the responsibility to maintain their road network they, too, should have full authority without restrictive regulations to control axle weight limits to those networks.