Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas says he is frustrated by weight limits on Vermont’s highways, which truckers increasingly want to use now that they’re barred from a bridge across the Connecticut River.

“We have to get the feds to give us permission, even for the temporary use of the interstate, and it’s very frustrating,” Douglas said in a recent interview. “New Hampshire has higher weight limits than we do. What sense does that make? An interstate highway system, you’d think, would be uniform.”

Douglas’ comments came as truckers continued to be barred from a bridge on U.S. Route 4 linking White River Junction and Lebanon, N.H. That bridge has been operating under a 20,000-pound weight limit since it was discovered that rust and corrosion had caused it to deteriorate.

Truckers who might switch from that bridge to the nearby Interstate 89 bridge across the river have been limited by an 80,000-pound weight limit on Vermont’s interstates. New Hampshire’s limit on the interstates is 99,000 pounds, meaning the heaviest of trucks can’t cross the river because they’re not allowed to enter Vermont.

Truckers, Vermont transportation officials and U.S. Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Paul Hodes, D-N.H., have asked for a federal waiver that would allow the heaviest rigs to join the lighter ones and use a short stretch of Vermont interstate to get to White River Junction.

Congressional approval would be needed for such a change, but Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is taking a go-slow approach to that idea.