A. All Village Streets:
1. Established: A weight limitation is imposed upon all village streets within the village prohibiting trucks with a gross weight of 3.5 tons per axle or more from traveling on said village streets.
2. Exceptions:
a. The following vehicles shall be exempt from the weight limitations imposed by this subsection: emergency vehicles; school buses; village vehicles; garbage trucks; utility trucks (e.g., electricity, gas, water, telephone, cable TV); vehicles delivering heating oil, LP gas or water to residences within the village; and vehicles delivering chemicals, supplies, repair parts, and other such items to Caterpillar Trail public water district.
b. All trucks that are not listed in Subsection 2.a. and larger than those specified in Subsection A.1 of this Section may travel on village streets only for the purpose of making local freight deliveries. Said trucks shall proceed to and from the delivery point via the shortest direct route.
3. Signs Posted: This weight limitation shall take effect when signs designating the weight limitation prescribed herein are erected at or near each location where said highway enters the village, and no earlier than seven (7) days after notice of the existence of this weight limitation, said weight limitation shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the village.
4. Violation; Penalty: When any vehicle is operated in violation of this subsection, the owner or driver of the vehicle shall be deemed guilty of a violation, and either the owner or the driver of the vehicle may be prosecuted for the violation. Any person, firm or corporation convicted of violating this subsection shall be fined fifty dollars ($50.00) for any weight exceeding the posted limit up to the axle or gross weight limit allowed a vehicle as provided in 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/15-111, subsection (a) or (b), and seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per every five hundred (500) pounds or fraction thereof for any weight exceeding that which is provided in 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/15-111, subsection (a) or (b).
5. Interpretation: This subsection shall not prohibit the adoption of or serve to repeal any previously adopted stricter weight limitations applying to particular weather, season, or soil conditions.
B. February 15 Through May 15:
1. Weight Limit Established: Except as provided in subsection B2 of this section, it shall be unlawful to operate any vehicle not hereinafter exempted upon any street under the jurisdiction of the village board of trustees from February 15 through May 15 of each year if the gross weight of said vehicle on the road surface shall exceed seven thousand (7,000) pounds per axle.
2. Application To Other Dates: If the street committee of the village, or any member thereof, determines that, by reason of climate conditions in a particular year, it is necessary to impose the weight limitation stated in subsection B1 of this section on dates other than from February 15 through May 15, it shall make that determination in a document to be filed with the village clerk, stating the alternate dates. Under no circumstances, however, may the total number of days for which the weight limitation is imposed exceed ninety (90) in any one calendar year.
3. Signs Posted: From February 15 through May 15 of each year, or upon such other dates as the street committee of the village, or any member thereof, may determine, as provided in subsection B2 of this section, village employees shall erect or cause to be erected and maintained signs designating the applicable weight limitation at each end of each village street affected, and this subsection shall not be effective as to any particular street until such signs are erected and maintained.
4. Exemptions: The following vehicles shall be exempt from the weight limitations imposed by this subsection: emergency vehicles; school buses; village vehicles; garbage trucks; utility trucks (e.g., electricity, gas, water, telephone, cable TV); vehicles delivering heating oil, LP gas or water to residences within the village; and vehicles delivering chemicals, supplies, repair parts, and other such items to Caterpillar Trail public water district.
5. Violation; Penalty: When any vehicle is operated in violation of this subsection, the owner or driver of the vehicle shall be deemed guilty of a violation, and either the owner or the driver of the vehicle may be prosecuted for the violation. Any person, firm or corporation convicted of violating this subsection shall be fined fifty dollars ($50.00) for any weight exceeding the posted limit up to the axle or gross weight limit allowed a vehicle as provided in 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/15-111, subsection (a) or (b), and seventy five dollars ($75.00) per every five hundred (500) pounds or fraction thereof for any weight exceeding that which is provided in 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/15-111, subsection (a) or (b). (Ord. 287, 3-21-1991; amd. 2012 Code; Ord. 445, 1-27-2000; Ord. 546, 2-24-2005; Ord. 569, 3-23-2006; Ord. 847, 4-21-2022)