Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette) Red Barn Road, which extends between Canal Road and N Superior Road in Stanton Twp, is one of many gravel roads in Houghton County. Houghton and Ontonagon County Road Commissions both lifted load restrictions on all paved roads most gravel roads today.

HOUGHTON COUNTY — Houghton and Ontonagon Road Commissions have lifted load limit restrictions for paved and most gravel roads according to a joint-announcement came from both offices Friday.

The lifts come as seasonal restrictions, which were initiated on March 4, are ending. Houghton County Road Commission Engineer/Manager, Kevin Harju, said the road commissions typically lift their restrictions around this time. Last year’s restrictions were lifted on May 13.

“A lot of the gravel roads, probably 60 to 70 gravel roads, [restrictions] will remain in effect,” he said. “Those are just saturated roads that will still need to be restricted to prevent further damage to them.”

The spring weight restrictions put a 35 percent weight reduction on loads and are put on by local counties when they start to see thawing, Harju said.

Paved roads are good to go, but certain gravel roads still remain an issue for certain weights and will stay restricted until further notice. According to Harju, the same gravel roads are usually under restrictions following the end-of-season lift.

“Historically it’s the same gravel roads that remain restricted, and we update our website usually twice a week when those gravel roads can come off,” he said.

Despite the near record-breaking snowfall this winter, Harju said the thaw did not pose any serious issues for Houghton County roads.

“This was actually one of our better spring thaws,” he said. “I know a lot of the northern lower counties have severe flooding damage. We were spared from that this year.”

Harju’s sentiment was echoed by Ontonagon County Road Commission Manager, Ryan DeHut. He said the last big snowstorm missed the area and provided an appropriate environment for roads to prepare for the next season.

“We had a pretty good high-water event on the south end of the county,” he said. “But honestly, because that last storm kind of missed us… that’s probably the reason why we fired out as well as we did.”

According to DeHut, half a dozen Ontonagon County gravel road restrictions will remain in effect after the May 12 lift. He said if people are confused on which roads are still under the weight restriction to call his office.

Houghton County Road Commission’s website is updated twice a week for when gravel roads come off the restricted list, Harju said.

The road commission offices’ phone numbers are: Houghton County at (906) 482-3600 and Ontonagon County at (906) 884-2332.