It appears local farmers will not be affected by the ban on big trucks on Indianola’s Airport Road, at least not this year.
At Monday’s Sunflower County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Attorney Johnny McWilliams clarified that the “no thru truck” policy regarding heavy trucks on Airport Road has not officially begun.
This comes after several local farmers raised issue with the timing of the decision made by the supervisors at the Aug. 6 meeting of the board.
After an open discussion, the county’s decision-makers voted to hold off on starting the exclusion of big trucks on Airport Road until January 2019.
In the interim, they will publicize a hearing for Nov. 5 to get the public’s views on the matter.
“Come on in and explain to us what you would do about it,” McWilliams said.
County Engineer Ron Cassada said that the “no thru truck” ruling does not impede anybody on Airport Road that does farming. He said Airport Road is a 57,650-pound limit route just like MS 448 and MS 442, they were all designed for the same type traffic.
“But it’s not near the structure of 442 or 448,” said Cassada.
He explained that the restriction was never meant to put anyone out of business and that the 57,650-pound roadways are supposed to be used to get the heavy loads to the nearest highway properly designed to handle the excessive weight of the big trucks.
Farmers can get harvest permits that allow them to haul up to 84,000 pounds, which is 5 percent above the 80,000-pound limit on US 49 and US 82.
By way of example, Cassada shared how a trucker who used MS 442 to cut across from US 49 with an 84,000 pound load to get to US 61 got a ticket/citation for trying to travel that road.
“They can’t do that,” he said, “In reality they’re supposed to come all of the way down to 82 then over and up. That’s your route,” Cassada said.
He said heavy trucks are not supposed to be on those routes unless they are farming in that area.
“To me that’s getting picky, but that’s the way it is with MDOT roads,” he said.
McWilliams said some of the comments made by the farmers were likely based on their perception that the order was either already in effect or going into effect within a few days. And according to McWilliams, “That was just not correct because we did not have the ordinance prepared.”
However, McWilliams said he has since prepared the document, but it requires a specific date to be official.
If they do not specify a date then it would become law 30 days after it is signed. McWilliams suggested that before signing they should consider if there were other roads in other districts that should also have those restrictions that way they can all be done at once.
Local farmers, some who did not want to be identified, were concerned that the county had overstepped its bounds by making the designation. Their contention was that the road was a state-aid road and was designated as a farm-to-market throughway.
Cassada said he is not sure of the origin of that phrase, but he would research it.
“Every time it comes up, it stirs up a hornets nest,” said Cassada.
He said farmers inquiring about the status of the road had approached him and he explained, “It (Airport Road) is a state-aid route and it is eligible for state-aid funds, but it is a county road. It is different from a MDOT road, which is owned by the state.”
Cassada said the county could establish truck routes on its roads just like any municipality.
District 4 Supervisor Dennis Holmes, who made the initial motion at the early August session, said he too has met with several farmers and they asked if the board would consider putting off the change since they were in the midst of harvesting their crops.
Concern was also raised about the businesses located in the airport’s industrial park not being able to receive their products that are delivered on the big rigs, but Holmes assured. “Any businesses located in the industrial park at the airport can get traffic coming in and out bringing product to that business. That doesn’t affect those businesses going to the airport.”
In order for the ban to become effective in January, it must be voted on and approved in December.
The county plans to make repairs to Airport Road next year. Cassada said the county doesn’t have the money to fortify the road to accommodate the weightier trucks, but if they did it would solve their problem.
“So it all comes down to economics. You fix what you can,” said Cassada.
