Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Enforcement of new weight limits that were to take effect Monday on several state highways in the Fayetteville Shale area has been deferred, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said today.

The department said it would hold a series of public meetings in the near future to discuss options for slowing down the deterioration of roads in areas that have seen a boom in the natural gas industry. Dates and locations will be announced later.

Spokesman Randy Ort said the department received numerous questions about the new limits. He said the natural gas industry was “in the loop” regarding the new limits, but other industries questioned whether they would have to obey them as well.

“Under Arkansas law there are certain exemptions that apply to agricultural and timber interests in certain conditions,” he said.

Ort said the department “could have gone ahead and implemented them and just let everything sort itself out over the next few weeks, but we thought, no, we’ll just go up there, we’ll hold some public meetings, gather some input.”

The new limits would have affected 133 miles of highways in Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Independence, Van Buren and White counties. Ort said he expects “some restrictions” to be imposed, but the department will decide after the public meetings whether to change its original plan.