(Host) Senator Patrick Leahy plans to co-sponsor a bill that would help keep heavy trucks out of Vermont’s small towns.
Trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds are currently not permitted on the interstate highways.
A federal law exempted Vermont and Maine from that requirement in 2010, but that law has expired.
Leahy and Maine Senator Susan Collins announced Monday they will introduce legislation that would permit heavier trucks to stay on highways.
Cory Gustafson is with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.
He says there are a number of reasons why the legislation is important.
(Gustafson) "There’s certainly the safety issue, there’s a concern for pedestrians, and motorists when you have those large heavy trucks running through the towns, the impact of those weights on local roads and bridges."
(Host) Gustafson says there are also quality-of-life issues.
(Gustafson) "We promote the small town, and having those trucks going through with the noise and the exhaust and the fumes is a little bit contrary to that idea."
(Host) A similar effort last year was unsuccessful when the larger budget bill that it was attached to failed to get through Congress.