Stutsman County Enforces 7-Ton Seasonal Road Load Limits March 9, 2026

Stutsman County will begin enforcing seasonal weight and access restrictions on all county roads at 7:00 a.m. Monday, March 9, 2026, with patrols from the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Department and the North Dakota Highway Patrol standing by to issue citations and ensure compliance. The county highway department posted the restriction notice and named Jesse Christianson as the issuing highway superintendent.

The county notice set specific axle and gross-weight caps that will govern haulers and farm operators on county routes. The posted limits read: “SINGLE AXLE – NOT TO EXCEED 14,000 LBS, TANDEM AXLE – NOT TO EXCEED 14,000 LBS PER AXLE, THREE AXLES OR MORE (GROUP) – NOT TO EXCEED 12,000 LBS PER AXLE, THE MAX GROSS WEIGHT ON AXLE GROUPS OF DIVISIBLE LOADS 36,000 LBS, GROSS WEIGHT NOT TO EXCEED 80,000 LBS, and GROSS WEIGHT ON ‘ACCESS ROADS’ NOT TO EXCEED 80,000 LBS.”

Newsdakota published the county’s capitalized public notice in full: “STUTSMAN COUNTY WILL BE ENFORCING THE FOLLOWING ROAD RESTRICTIONS ON ALL COUNTY ROADS BEGINNING AT 7:00 A.M. MONDAY MARCH 9th, 2026. 7 TON LOAD RESTRICTIONS AND ACCESS ROAD LIMITATIONS.” The same item included the signatory line: “BY ORDER OF THE STUTSMAN COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT JESSE CHRISTIANSON, STUTSMAN COUNTY HWY.SUPT.”

Enforcement responsibilities are stated plainly in the county postings and regional headlines: “Enforcement will be by the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office and the North Dakota Highway Patrol.” Access roads in Stutsman County will be signed to indicate where the access-road gross-weight cap of 80,000 pounds applies; the county notice does not list which specific roads are designated as access roads.

Statewide context from the North Dakota Department of Transportation underscores why counties issue these spring limits. The NDDOT says, “The NDDOT uses computer modeling which is verified by subsurface temperature probes to determine when to place spring load restrictions on the highways.” The agency advises, “If motorists have overweight loads to move, consider doing it before seasonal load restrictions are placed.” For updates, NDDOT directs motorists to call 511, consult the agency’s ND Roads map and its load-restrictions page, and to enroll in GovDelivery email and text alerts; the department’s main office is at 608 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505-0700, phone 701-328-2500.

One of the early drafts of local coverage carried a truncated explanation of the rationale for the order: “The move is the standard spring 7-ton (and similar) load limitation intended to protect county gravel and surfaced roads while subgrade and” — the line ends in mid-sentence and is printed here verbatim because the original notice fragment was incomplete.

Stutsman County’s restrictions take effect across all county roads at 7:00 a.m. March 9, 2026, with signed access roads and joint enforcement by county and state patrols; county officials posted the order under the name Jesse Christianson, Stutsman County Hwy. Supt.