WASHINGTON – Maine’s congressional delegation sent a letter to the head of the Federal Highway Administration on Monday seeking support for legislation that would give the FHWA authority to temporarily lift weight limit restrictions on federal highways.

In the letter, the four delegation members expressed “serious concern” about a fatal accident last week in downtown Bangor when an 80-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed by a fuel truck that was forced off the interstate highway system because it was over the federally mandated 80,000 pound weight limit.

“Safety must be our number one priority on roads and highways – which is why we support this commonsense proposal to grant the FHWA the authority to temporarily raise weight limits on federal highways,” said the four delegation members in a joint release. “We absolutely must ensure that Mainers are not confronted with the unnecessary risk of having trucks drive on small roads that pass through towns and neighborhoods instead of the interstate. We will also continue to work to raise the federal interstate weight limit so that Maine can have the same weight exemption for heavy trucks that over half the states in the country already have.”

The letter to acting FHWA administrator J. Richard Capka was signed by U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Tom Allen.

In May of last year, Snowe and Collins introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to allow trucks carrying up to 100,000 pounds to travel up Interstate 95 to the Canadian border in Maine. Michaud and Allen introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House.