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Niobrara oil drilling saps county road budgets

Local officials know their rural roads were never meant to handle this kind of industrial traffic. “We’ve seen some of the roads disintegrate. These roads were designed for pickups and horse trailers, not the 100,000-pound loads we’re seeing,” said State Rep. Matt Teeters, R-Veteran. Laramie County Road and Bridge Supervisor Don Beard said bad weather conditions worsen the damage caused by heavy trucks. “They don’t care if the road is frozen, if it’s raining, or snowing, too hot, too dry, too windy, or too cold. They’ll operate on those roads and that’s where the damage begins to occur,” Beard said.

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