Are load limit signs relevant for local councils in 2021? - NHVR

Abstract

Heavy vehicles need access to roads to move people and to provide communities with goods and services. When accessing a road, vehicles often cross structures like bridges and culverts. Bridges and culverts are a physical structure that allows passage over an obstacle. Within Australia, the majority of roads are owned and managed by local governments. As part of the management of these roads, local governments can regulate road access by opting to post load limit signs leading up to bridges and culverts, that can restrict the access of heavy vehicles. These signs provide basic details on the maximum load limit that can use the structure. A driver of a vehicle must not drive past a load limit sign if the vehicle weighs more than the amount shown on the sign. Load limit signs were originally intended to assist with providing certainty of access for heavy vehicles while also ensuring the asset could carry the vehicle load. The classification and configurations of both structures and heavy vehicles have changed significantly over the past 30 years making the load limit signs somewhat irrelevant. So has this regulation provided the intended outcome of access certainty or are load limit signs restricting heavy vehicle access without sound justification? This paper discusses the use of load limit signs and the relevancy of them given the significant changes to the types of heavy vehicle configurations used in Australia in 2021.