Menominee County Imposes Temporary Weight Restrictions on Roads Beginning March 5

Menominee County announced on its Departments webpage that "Temporary Weight Restrictions: Effective Thursday March 5, 2026, at 6:00 a.m., temporary weight restrictions will be imposed and enforced on all roads in Menominee County – until further notice (except those designated as all seasons). More Info." The line appears multiple times on the county posting and sets the local start time at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

County officials cited the seasonal purpose behind the move consistent with statewide practice. The Daily Press explained the same rationale: "This time of year, when ice melts beneath pavement and leaves water that seeps deeper into the ground or evaporates, the puddles and gaps created under road surfaces makes the streets fragile and susceptible to cracks and potholes." MDOT’s guidance likewise notes that "Weight restrictions remain in effect until the frost line is deep enough to allow moisture to escape and the roadbeds regain stability."

Menominee’s action sits alongside a separate Michigan Department of Transportation action on state trunklines. MDOT imposed weight restrictions effective 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, on trunkline highways in a broad geographic arc across the Lower and Upper Peninsula. MDOT emphasizes that "County road commissions and city public works departments put in place their own seasonal weight restrictions, which usually but not always coincide with state highway weight restrictions."

The Menominee County notice contains no numeric axle-load or tonnage limits in the captured posting and provides no list of roads designated "all-seasons." By contrast, nearby Delta County’s published restrictions show most non–all-season roads reduced by 35 percent per axle and concrete pavements reduced by 25 percent, a figure tied to Michigan law. The Menominee posting also offers no enforcement contact, permit procedure, or fine schedule in the text captured.

Technical enforcement practices described by MDOT are included in the regional context: "Signs are generally posted to indicate which routes have weight restrictions in effect," and "Drivers must follow the speed limits for weight restricted roads, per state law." The Daily Press reported that affected Upper Peninsula counties include Alger, Delta, Dickinson, Iron, Luce, Mackinac, Marquette, Menominee and Schoolcraft Counties.

Historical municipal data compiled by We‑energies lists a Menominee County line naming Darrell W. Moilanen with telephone (906) 753-6914 and the 2025 entry "Restrictions removed south of Cty Rd 352 / G-12 (Stephenson) 3/20/25." That entry appears to be a historical note and not the 2026 order now posted on the county website.

Gaps remain in the county posting: the Menominee Departments page repeats the effective-date sentence but stops midphrase in one captured copy: "The restriction was posted on the county’s Departments webpage and is inten" which truncates the notice. Missing from the posting are numeric weight limits, a public list or map of "all-season" roads, the agency or official responsible for enforcement, and any exemptions for municipal, utility, fuel-delivery, garbage, parcel or emergency vehicles.

The restriction is in effect "until further notice." For record and follow-up, the Daily Press reporter on the regional coverage is R. R. Branstrom (rbranstrom@dailypress.net), MDOT issued the Feb. 12, 2026 release announcing trunkline timing, and the We‑energies municipal compilation lists Darrell W. Moilanen at (906) 753-6914 for Menominee County records. The County Road Association of Michigan framed the economic angle succinctly: "one of the most common business interactions with a county road agency concerns seasonal weight restrictions," a note that underscores the immediate operational impact on loggers, farmers and trucking operators as Menominee County implements its March 5 order.