Routt County oversize loads need a state and county route check

A wide, tall, or heavy load is a route puzzle long before it is a driving day. Two separate permit systems decide where it can legally go, and they do not overlap.

On the state side, a CDOT oversize or overweight permit is limited to the designated highways listed on the permit, and nothing more. The permit holder is the one responsible for contacting any cities and counties for the permission or permits their roads require. Routt County, for its part, keeps separate instructions for oversize and overweight permits through Public Works.

Here is where loads come unstuck. A trailer can be perfectly legal on the state-highway portion of the trip and still need a county permit the moment it turns onto a county road. Drivers who treat the CDOT permit as a green light for the whole route can find themselves stopped on the last few miles, which in this corner of the Rockies often means a narrow ranch-country road with no easy place to turn an oversize rig around.

The fix is to map the entire route first, end to end, then clear it in two passes: CDOT for the state highways and Routt County Public Works for the county roads. Handle both before the wheels roll and the moving day takes care of itself.