STILLWATER, Okla. —
Payne County Commission approved an agreement Monday that means the pipeline company TransCanada will pay for any damage heavy trucks and equipment cause while constructing the southern section of the Keystone XL pipeline.
TransCanada expects to begin construction soon on the pipeline that will carry crude oil south from Cushing to refineries in Texas. Payne County had a similar agreement with the company when it built the smaller Keystone pipeline a few years ago.
Commissioner Zach Cavett, whose district includes Cushing, said the exact route TransCanada trucks will take is in the process of being finalized. Cavett said the original route included Norfolk Road as the final path south to the county line, and he asked them to use Highway 18, which the company has agreed to.
The county doesn’t have agreements for some of the day-to-day oil and construction traffic, but Cavett said the size of the project for TransCanada and the amount of increased traffic meant an agreement was necessary.
“The daily truck traffic is something I don’t think we’d be able to get any agreement with because it’s just a part of the economy,” he said.
County officials have placed more emphasis recently on keeping daily truck traffic from other heavy trucks and equipment on roads that can support it.
The Sheriff’s Department has appointed a deputy specifically to focus on overweight trucks using the wrong roads.
“It’s obvious that we’re going to have heavy trucks down some of our paved roads and our gravel roads, but what we’re trying to do is eliminate trucks from using a county hard-surfaced road to save them a mile or two (to) use a gravel road,” Cavett said.
He added that if trucks can drive a little longer to prevent causing costly road damage, they should do so.
“It’s better for the county for them to drive out of their way a few miles than tear up a $300,000-per-mile road,” Cavett said.
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