Some Zachary students are starting off the new school year with a longer-than-usual walk to catch a school bus, after several bridges in the district were closed to heavy vehicle traffic.
Ten bridges within the Zachary Community School District, along with 42 others in East Baton Rouge Parish, were reclassified into lower weight limits by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Kyle Cutrer, location manager with First Student, the school system’s transportation contractor, said his company and district officials only recently were informed of the updated bridge restrictions.
Those bridges now prohibit vehicles that weigh more than 10 tons, with some limiting vehicles to just 5 tons. A school bus weighs more than 15 tons — without fuel or children aboard, Cutrer said…