Minnesota Highways, April 1952

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VOL. 1, NO. 6
1246 University Ave., St. Paul 4, Minn.
APRIL,  1952
Zone Defense Works for Highways
Cookie Takes a Powder
A month short of 17 years ago,
the reception desk of the department was graced by a new, attractive receptionist whose smile
welcomed the first of thousands
of visitors to the Central Office.
jng that 17 years, this re-
Ipfibnist has probably met more
persons and come to know them
as they returned their visits than
any other employee.
The gal's none other than Haz-
elle "Cookie" Cook who leaves her
work at the reception and mail
desks the middle of April for a
new assignment.
The new assignment is an apartment in New Ulm, where Hazelle
moves to join her husband, Warren, who has taken over the Nash
agency, the Southside Motors.
We all wish her luck and know
she'll not be too far away. But if
you wish to send her a birthday
greeting next February, the address will be 404 Minnesota
Street, New Ulm, Minnesota.
A new zone plan for imposing load restrictions on trunk
highways in Minnesota went into operation this year. Developed through a study over many years, this zone plan
provided a uniform method of announcing proposed restrictions and an easier way of announcing the effective dates of
those restrictions.
Reactions to the zone plan have been very favorable.
Truck operators and haulers almost without exception have
approved the zoning after they had the opportunity to try it
out. Much needless delay and former gripes caused by alleged
lack of sufficient advance warning were eliminated this year.
In the Central Office where road
restriction information and bulletins are released, Roy Nelson, Jack
Griffin, and their gang have been
unanimous in declaring that the
present plan has eliminated many
headaches for them.
How the  plan  worked
The state had been divided into
four zones based on weather
records and previous experience in
spring thaws and breakups. The
boundaries were established along
easily identified highways. The
areas involved within the zones
were those that records showed
followed a uniform pattern of successively  imposed   restrictions.
Prior to the imposition of any
road restrictions, a 17 by 22 inch
map showing the proposed load
limits was issued to truckers and
transportation agencies. All the
roads in the trunk highway system
were coded by descriptive symbols
to show what load limit might be
expected to be placed along those
routes. These ranged from three to
seven tons, or no restriction on cer-
BRIDGE VETERAN  RETIRES
Sigurd Anders von Mehren entered the retired list last month
when he left the Bridge Division
after 20 years of service with the
Highway Department. As rocking
chair member No. 6, Sig has moved
east to be near his two sons,
Arthur, a law prof at Harvard, and
Robert, who lives in New York
City. Sig's address is 276 Harvard
St.. Suite 3, Cambridge, Mass.
One out of two persons now living in  America  has  been  or will
be injured in a motor vehicle ac-
jnt before lie dies .  .  . unless
'(■sent rate is greatly reduced.
HAROLD E. CHARD
November  1,   1893
March   1,   1952
tain   paved   roads,   the   maximum
permissible load per axle.
The interested agencies were
advised in advance what restrictions would be placed and the approximate time that they would be
effective. This was one of the reasons for favorable reaction. The
hauler would know over his entire
route what the restrictions would
be as of a certain day.
Three   day   warning   given
The trucking industry received
its first warning of the imposition
of restrictions by newspaper and
radio three days before the effective time of March 12, noon, for
zone 1. The next day zone 2 was
restricted, while restrictions were
imposed on March 15 and 20 for
zones 3 and 4.
Along with newspaper and radio
releases, which were given adequate publicity as a public service
on the part of these media, individuals who had desired the information were sent bulletins by mail.
This is the first year in the
operation of road information
and restrictions that the transportation people knew what
the legal load limits would be
at a given time throughout
the entire area.
Highway signs were erected
along the various types of roads
showing the posted limits and will
remain in place as long as those
limits are in effect. No permits
for overweight axle loads exceeding legal or posted weights will be
issued during the period of restriction.
ZONE—(Continued  on page 3)